Needs Ascertainment Findings
Primarily a reactive system built on a rescue model
 Lots of parenting education / little community
organizing
 Lots of family supports / little tackling of oppty
structures
 Lots of targeted services / little targeting of
structural racism, economic & power arrangements
Many programs are silo-ed, underfunded and
overwhelmed
Lack a high - visibility conceptual framework
A Documentary Series and
Public Engagement
Campaign
Linking Early Child Health
and Development to a
Healthier, More Prosperous
and More Equitable America
Major Funding
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The California Endowment
U.S. Centers for Disease Control
Additional Funding
Blue Cross Blue Shield of MN Foundation
Strong Children  Strong Communities
Change the Conversation
A tool toward making a nurturing child ecology
the birthright of every infant in the United States
• Widen the locus of public debate
• Make differential opportunity structures visible
• About ‘us’ not ‘them’
• Incite passion and impel urgency
• Communicate possibility; envision a truly child and
family friendly nation
The Raising of America
For National PBS Broadcast and Video Release | 2014
 A 6-part Documentary Series
How a strong start for all our kids leads not only to
better individual outcomes, but also a healthier,
safer, more prosperous and equitable nation.
 A Companion Website
With interactives, discussion guides, action
toolkits, video clips and other resources
 A National Public Engagement
Campaign
To reframe the debate about what we as a society
can—and should—do to ensure every infant a
strong start.
THE DOCUMENTARY SERIES
 Opening 60 min. episode:
THE RAISING OF AMERICA
 Plus five 30 min. companion episodes:

DNA IS NOT DESTINY: How the Outside Gets Under the Skin

OUR WE CRAZY ABOUT OUR KIDS? The Cost/Benefit Equation

WOUNDED PLACES: Confronting Childhood PTSD in America’s
Shell-shocked Cities

ONCE UPON A TIME: When Childcare for All Wasn’t Just a Fairytale

STRESSING OUT THE POOR? Building Community Resilience
Widening the Lens
Old Model
The Emerging Story
 Babies don’t ‘remember’
 The outside gets under the skin
 Genes are us
 What surrounds us shapes us
 Pre-natal care
 Life-course approach
 Parents make ‘right’ or
 Adversity and the squeeze on




‘wrong’ choices
Impairment (‘bad’ kids)
Poverty reflects a population
deficit or ‘lack’
Race
Nothing we can do




parents
(Mal)adaptation (Injured kids)
Poverty and inequality reflect
exploitation
Racism / racialization
Shared fates; smart
investments bring individual
and societal benefits
Widening the Lens
The larger social ecology of human development
If early experiences and environments literally shape
the architecture of the developing brain, then…

What shapes those environments?

And why are they so patterned by class and race?
THE RAISING OF AMERICA
What is a ‘Rough Cut?
 Some scenes still to be filmed
 Writing and editing still awkward
 Pacing – too fast or slow
 Narrator is temporary
 Music is temporary
 No sound mix
 Graphics / animation placeholders
 Missing scenes!
The Public Engagement
Campaign
The Campaign will help educators, providers,
advocates, organizers, public officials and
community members use the documentary series
and online tools to build the groundwork for bold
and transformative childhood policy and systems
changes needed to provide all our infants a
strong start.
Using vs. Watching
 Advance dialogue within child health and
development circles
 Spotlight promising practices, innovative projects
and progressive initiatives
 Build cross-sectoral alliances with stakeholders from
other sectors (e.g. racial justice, business, the
religious community, affordable housing and
community development, corrections, regional
equity, etc.)
 Engage elected officials and the policy community.
200+ Campaign Partners
 Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs
 California State Libraries
 Center for the Study of Social Policy
 Children’s Hospital Associations
 National Association of CCHealth Officials
 National Healthy Start Association
Campaign Timeline
 Work-in-progress screenings (March – Aug)
 Sneak Preview Launch Events (Sept – Nov)
 PBS Broadcast & Twitter Launch Party (Oct/Nov)
 Screening events (November onward)
 Internally; Workshops; Conferences
 Dialogue and mobilize partners and allies
 Build new alliances
 Town hall meetings & Public events
 Media engagement
Official Companion Website
 Video clips
 Discover
 What do babies remember?
 The squeeze on parents and caregivers
 Why, when we know so much, do we do so little?
 Discussion Guides
 Interactives
 Action Toolkit
 Connect Up! database
 Downloadable resources
The success of The Raising of America
will ultimately be measured by how effectively
it can be used to intervene in public debate
and advance the efforts of organizations that
have long worked to tackle inequities and
benefit all children in the U.S.
How can your foundation use the series?
Produced by: California Newsreel with Vital Pictures
Video Release and PBS Broadcast: 2014
www.RaisingofAmerica.org
www.facebook.com/raisingofamerica
Larry Adelman
Project Director & Executive Producer
LA@newsreel.org
Rachel Poulain, MPH
Director of Public Engagement &
Associate Producer
RP@newsreel.org
EXTRA SLIDES FROM
BRAINTRUST
PRESENTATION
THE OPENING HOUR-LONG SHOW:
Widening the Lens
 The outside gets under the skin
 What surrounds us shapes us
 Life-course approach
 Adversity and the squeeze on Parents
 Adaptation narrative
 Poverty and inequality reflects exploitation
 Shared fates; smart investments bring individual
and societal benefits
GETTING STARTED
www.raisingofamerica.org
The Raising of America
“Evidence is rarely if ever sufficient by itself to catalyze
political action.
“In political terms, what might be at least as crucial
as the evidence itself is the ‘story’ in which it is
embedded.”
- World Health Organization’s (WHO)
Commission on the Social Determinants of Health