A psychologist by training, Jetta Bernier has been working in child advocacy since the mid 1970s. For the last fourteen years, she has been with the Massachusetts Committee for Children and Youth (MCCY)—the type of small, committed group of citizens that Margaret Mead immortalized in her famous quote about what it takes to change the world. Together with the Massachusetts Advocacy Center, MCCY directs the Massachusetts KIDS COUNT project which tracks the status of Massachusetts kids and produces special reports on a variety of critical children's issues. According to the 1998 National KIDS COUNT Data Book, Massachusetts has dropped from fifth to thirteenth place among U.S. states over the past several years on indicators of child well-being.

Despite the fact that Massachusetts ranks fourth in per capita income, the percentage of children in poverty is still higher than in nearly half of all other U.S. states. "It's become apparent," says Bernier, who now serves as director of the Massachusetts Campaign for Children, "that we need a literal army of citizens across the state who are willing to champion kids' issues."

The Massachusetts Campaign for Children is a statewide citizen mobilization effort to put children's issues on every candidate's agenda and to keep public officials accountable for kids long past election day. Officially launched on June 3, 1996, the campaign used Stand for Children as a kick-off for its multi-year effort to engage adults in improving the lives of children and families. The campaign hopes to accomplish this by informing people of the latest data on the status of children, educating citizens about the impact of budget policies, encouraging people to vote, and providing them with sufficient information to evaluate officials and candidates on children's issues. Bernier says, "It was designed for concerned citizens across the state as a powerful and sustainable way to channel their commitment."

More on the Campaign Launch [1].