I opened my most recent column on communication as a key catalyst in achieving high and sustainable results in children’s rights and welfare with these thoughts:

Many nonprofit organizations and foundations devoted to improving the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable children in America are doing good work. But we have found, over many years of our work on behalf of children, youth, and families, that there is a huge gap between good works and good communication. We aim to bridge that gap, and help others do the same, with the ultimate goal of achieving higher returns on our investments in children’s causes.

We have a special focus on community action in these matters, where the impact of intervention, and Real People, Real Results stories—yes, good news, not bad news--can energize caring, thinking citizens and businesses to engage at the local level in all matters of child well being. (To read the full column, click here.)

To that end we at Connect for Kids and Child Advocacy360 place much emphasis on real life stories of intervention and success (public and private) that we can build upon, and that energize people engaged on the ground to keep the momentum going.

The Scorecard Imperative in all this—measure, measure, measure!—can be found in all the examples we publish. How else do we overcome the sense of hopelessness and futility that so many caring citizens, legislators, and even professionals, express in this area?

In all our efforts, new media is our ally. We use our Connect for Kids/Child Advocacy 360 broadcast booth to share the successes and lessons learned in one community with people next door, or 3,000 miles away—a powerful stimulus, we think, to grassroots successes. And we are always at work trying to enlist national advocacy groups and funding sources to use the same anecdotal power with their constituencies.

Just as a reminder, child abuse and neglect cost the nation’s economy over $500 billion a year, with direct costs of $84 billion—that’s $265 million every day. The social cost of failure is literally inestimable, and the ripple effect of our shortcomings in child and youth well-being will be felt for generations to come.

We hope you will send us Real People, Real Results stories to keep the Scorecard moving. If you know of an intervention or effort that is effective, innovative, or has lessons to share, please let us know by emailing me at scorecard@connectforkids.org with:

• the organization name;
• contact information;
• and a short description of the work and impact.

Here is just a sampling of our success stories:

• Keeping Score in Child Well-Being: Why It Matters
• A Medical Home for Kids in Foster Care
• Two States—only two—foot the bill for foster kids after 18
• California group matches faces with families
• New York's Youth Advocacy Center puts teen on path to her dreams
• The DreamTree Project