Best Prevention for Child Sexual Abuse is Open Communication Nonprofit launches #KeepKidsSafe campaign to get families talking SEATTLE—New research suggests that approximately one in four girls and one in 20 boys report experiencing childhood sexual abuse before the age of 18. Working on breaking the taboo of talking about sexual abuse, Committee for Children is launching a six-week campaign this week called #KeepKidsSafe, to educate parents and caregivers about the importance of starting conversations with their children about sexual abuse, model how to start those conversations, and encourage people to share what they learn with everyone they know. Read More
Committee for Children Sponsors Points of Light Civic Accelerator: Fall 2014 Program Now Accepting Applications SEATTLE—Committee for Children (CfC), the nation’s leading nonprofit provider of social-emotional curricula, has teamed up with Atlanta-based nonprofit Points of Light to find and support innovative ventures in social-emotional learning during the fall 2014 Civic Accelerator. This fall’s 12-week accelerator program provides both nonprofit and for-profit startups with valuable advice, mentoring, and networking opportunities with the goal of equipping them to seek investments and scale their social innovations. It also offers $50,000 in funding to the top candidates, as selected by their social-enterprise peers. Read More
Lawmakers Working to Give Students Vital Skills Congressional briefing focuses on research linking social skills, academics WASHINGTON, DC—Nonprofits Committee for Children of Seattle and the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) of Chicago hosted a congressional briefing that focused on effective social-emotional learning programs in all stages of the educational system, from preschool through college. The briefing, titled “Social and Emotional Learning: Essential Skills for Success in School and Life,” took place on Capitol Hill today and presented evidence to support why social and emotional competencies like self-control, problem-solving, and working cooperatively are skills that will help students succeed not only in school, but in future roles as citizens, employees, managers, parents, volunteers, and entrepreneurs. Read More
Teaching Social Skills Means Assessing Them, Too Seattle nonprofit teams up with two assessment publishers to evaluate social-emotional learning SEATTLE—Seattle nonprofit Committee for Children, creators of the research-based Second Step SEL program, is now partnering with publishers Apperson, Inc. and Pride Surveys to bring schools dependable tools they can use to evaluate what their students are learning in the Second Step program. As more and more positive effects of social-emotional learning (SEL) are being shown through research, it’s important to assess whether students are truly learning what they’re being taught. Read More
Helping Little Children Face Big Challenges Sesame Street teams up with Committee for Children to help kids overcome odds NEW YORK—“Providing your love and support is the most important step in helping children develop the confidence to overcome anything they face,” reads the Little Children, Big Challenges page of nonprofit Committee for Children’s website. Sesame Workshop, creators of the iconic Sesame Street TV show, asked the Seattle-based nonprofit to collaborate in the dissemination of materials that will help young children and their adult caregivers face challenging situations like divorce and incarceration, as well as addressing general resilience. Read More
Social Skills Help Austin Students Overcome the Odds New mini-documentary shows district’s focus on social-emotional learning is paying off AUSTIN—Austin Independent School District (AISD) discovered something a few years ago that many people are just realizing: Teaching social-emotional skills can help their schools become better places and their students become better learners. AISD’s dedication to social-emotional learning (SEL) has been documented in a short film, released today. The film, titled Austin ISD: A District Embracing SEL, was produced by Seattle nonprofit Committee for Children and tells the story of AISD’s five-year initiative to implement social-emotional learning—including Committee for Children’s research-based Second Step program—in every school. The documentary also shows the positive results AISD is already seeing from the initiative. Read More
Bullying Prevention Program Garners High Ratings from Federal Agency Steps to Respect: A Bullying Prevention Program now listed in National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices SEATTLE – The US Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced that <a…<></a…<> Read More
Youth Gather for Safer Internet Day Seattle-based nonprofit joins ConnectSafely.org to help make the Web a safer place for kids SEATTLE – It’s a paradox we’re all too familiar with: The Internet can be both a wonderful tool and a risky place, especially for children and youth. What better way to make it safer than to bring youth into the conversation?… Read More
New Research Director to Further Work in Social-Emotional Learning Seattle-based nonprofit hires Tia Kim, Ph.D., to lead research and program development SEATTLE – Developmental psychologist Tia Kim, Ph.D., has recently accepted… Read More
Social-Emotional Learning Helps Prevent Bullying New article shows research link between better social skills and bullying prevention SEATTLE – More research is showing that social-emotional learning (SEL) can be an effective tool in bullying prevention, according to an article recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Theory into Practice. The article, titled…Read More