United Way for Southeastern Michigan took a major step forward in its mission to improve educational preparedness levels across the region with the recent launch of Operation ABC, and is currently looking for volunteers to join the effort.

Operation ABC is part of a literacy movement United Way is championing, and focuses on educational preparedness, with a specific goal of assuring that children in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties are reading at grade level by the time they enter the third grade. Educational preparedness is a component of United Way's Agenda for Change for the region.

Through this innovative initiative, United Way is bringing together local school districts, nonprofits, corporations and an army of volunteers to improve  the reading skills of metro Detroit students in grades one and two. To make this a reality, more than 2,000 area residents will be recruited and trained, then head out to southeast Michigan classrooms to tutor children in reading. All volunteers commit to spending one to five hours as a tutor each week.

UWSEM President and CEO Michael J. Brennan unveiled Operation ABC during a Jan. 24 press conference at the UAW Solidarity House in Detroit. Accompanied by a representative group of Operation ABC sponsors and 30 students in first and second grades from area schools, Brennan issued a formal call to action for potential supporters.

“Part of our mission is to mobilize the caring power of the region to effect positive, lasting change,” said Brennan. “Additionally, as a member of One D, we took on the mantle of educational preparedness as a primary focus. Operation ABC is an example of that commitment in action. We are addressing an immediate need in our community by directly aligning resources – 2,000 volunteers, with a vital need-- tutoring first and second graders in select schools throughout the tri-county region.”

Operation ABC is critical because third grade is the first major milestone in early childhood literacy, according to United Way research.

"If a child fails to read at the recommended reading level by the third grade, a potential domino effect begins, diminishing that child’s chances of completing high school,” Brennan said. "Now more than ever, the success of the region in the 21st century will require a renewed commitment to a culture of achievement in our schools and communities. Unless more youth graduate from school prepared to succeed, southeast Michigan will be unable to compete in the global economy. Early education is the key."

Nationally, 46 percent of children come to school unprepared to succeed. Within southeast Michigan, the gap in early education is reflected in 2006 MEAP results. While 2006 MEAP Reading Test results showed improvements over those of 2005, nearly 7,000 third graders throughout the tri-county area are not reading at grade level. 

For the past year, United Way has been working to build the framework, along with the partnerships and collaborations needed to make Operation ABC possible. Following extensive research, United Way began to shape the model for Operation ABC, including securing the necessary resources to support volunteers in the effort.

“Aside from the amount of human resources needed, we had to shape a training process and develop specific security clearance procedures for each volunteer,” said Dona Ponepinto, UWSEM vice president, Community Investments and Partnerships.

“Once accepted, each volunteer will participate in two basic training sessions that will cover areas such as emergency procedures, child interaction coaching, and specialized training on a school-specific tutoring model. Volunteers will then be placed based on their skills, location preference, or a school’s program needs.”

Though statistics indicate gaps in early education around southeast Michigan, United Way is working to bridge the gap in quality early childcare and educational opportunities that greatly increase readiness through programs such as Operation ABC.  Additional United Way early education programs already in progress include Success by Six™ and the Virgil H. Carr School Attendance Initiative.

Individuals interested in becoming an Operation ABC volunteer can click here for application details, or dial 2-1-1. Organizations may get involved by adopting a school (committing at least 10 people to serve as volunteer tutors) by e-mailing Laura.Stanton@uwsem.org for more information.

Changing statistics one child at a time
By Ty Partridge, Ph.D

The United Way for Southeastern Michigan Women’s Initiative is in the midst of its third year of funding four home-based early childhood literacy programs, and so far over 300 families stand to benefit.

The quick wins realized by the Women's Initiative Early Childhood Literacy Program are impactful because they represent progress on United Way's Agenda for Change -- which includes educational preparedness as one of three focus areas -- and the work is positively affecting a population in dire need.

From a statistical standpoint, the deck is stacked against many of the young people the program aims to help. These children are mostly from single-parent homes, are dealing with family income issues, have few opportunities to access quality child care and by age 3, many are already falling behind their middle class peers in terms of likelihood for academic success -- before ever entering a classroom. These kids, the statistics indicate, fail to enter school ready to learn, quickly fall behind and typical fail to catch up in the years that follow.

Fortunately, most of the youths in the Early Childhood Literacy Program have a parent who refuses to let them become another statistic. Once these determined parents had access to intensive early literacy services for their children -- thanks to funding from the Women’s Initiative -- the odds improved dramatically. So far, this winning formula is helping hundreds of young families counter the bleak statistics, one child at a time.

Jerrod (whose real name is being concealed for reasons of confidentiality) is one such child. His mother, wanting the most for Jerrod but unsure of what she could do to most effectively prepare him to succeed in school, turned to Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, a development program known as HIPPY, that receives support from the Women’s Initiative.

At the time, Jerrod was 4 years old and reading was the farthest thing from his mind. An active child, it was hard to imagine him sitting still for 15 minutes and listening to someone read him a book, let alone read independently. However, during the time that Jerrod and his mother were involved in the Early Childhood Literacy Program, Jerrod formed a strong bond with the in-home counselor who came every week with a new book and set of activities that they could all do together. That marked a turning point in Jerrod’s relationship with books.

A year later, Jerrod still loves to sit with his mother and read a book together after supper. As it turns out, reading time is now his mother’s favorite part of the day as well. Jerrod particularly likes to make up his own stories and pretend to write them in a book. He started kindergarten this past fall, and despite what statistics would suggest, Jerrod knows all his letters and letter sounds, and is beginning to recognize beginning sight words like "the," "and," and "an."

The numbers would also suggest that frustration and failure would confront a child like Jerrod upon entering school. But, because he was prepared, Jerrod is achieving and proud. Also, Jerrod's mother is much more confident helping him become successful in school.

This is just one example of what happens when a concerted effort is made to bring together a book, a child and caring and dedicated adults.


Ty Partridge, Ph.D, is Associate Professor of Psychology, Cognitive and Social Psychology Across the Life-Span, in the Department of Psychology at Wayne State University.

Volunteer Spotlight
Helping further the Agenda

Leadership Next member Chris Uhl, a commercial banker at Comerica, is lending his time and talent to United Way for Southeastern as a volunteer on an important process for the organization.

As United Way moves forward its Agenda for Change for the region, requests for proposals from area organizations interested in partnering in the future are currently being reviewed. It is a painstaking process involving a core group of key volunteers -- who make a considerable commitment -- providing subject matter expertise in support of United Way staff. Uhl has stepped up and says he is excited to participate.

As a reviewer, Uhl will be reading RFPs related to possible funding for financial stability work and helping to evaluate prospective future partners for United Way as we continue to work towards measurable outcomes. Educational preparedness, financial stability and basic needs are the Agenda for Change focus areas.

UWSEM and Leadership Next would like to thank Uhl and all the volunteer reviewers from Leadership Next who are giving a substantial amount of time to help UWSEM ensure that meaningful impact happens in our region. Chris and the rest of the review team, Michelle Peters, Albert Berger, Nancy Robinson and Marcus Harris, are true leaders.

Upcoming Events
RFP team selected

The United Way for Southeastern Michigan request for proposals process was discussed and a timeline for evaluating submissions was established at the Women’s Initiative Community Impact Committee meeting Jan. 23.

The session included Mary Seaberg King, Bridgit Chayt, Gail Duncan, Mygene Carr, Donna Lackie, and Ruth Mossok Johnston, and was held at Plante & Moran in Southfield.

Members of the proposed RFP review team include Donna Lackie, Oakland Schools and UWSEM Success by Six consultant, Lena Montgomery, Wayne RESA, Sue Javid, Macomb Intermediate School District, Ty Partridge, associate professor of psychology at Wayne State University, and Women's Initiative steering committee members Gail Duncan and Mygene Carr, along with UWSEM's Ruth Mossok Johnston, manager, Major Gifts/Women’s Initiative.

The team will be reviewing the submitted RFP’s throughout February. The Community Impact Cabinet will submit its approval of recommended awards in mid-March with a presentation to the WI steering committee at its next meeting.

The UWSEM board of directors will approve the recommended awards in May and grant agreements will go out in June.

Kurt's Corner
Low birthweight’s tie to reading performance

While a number of factors contribute to a child’s ability to read effectively – mother’s education, socioeconomic status and lead exposure to name a few – a child’s weight at birth  may be the most significant. Research indicates low birthweight babies are much more likely to fail in school than those of average weight or better.

As United Way for Southeastern Michigan pursues its Agenda for Change, which targets educational preparedness as one of three focus areas, it is critical to increase awareness of contributing (root) factors that impede progress. Getting more children to read at grade level is one of the priorities of the educational preparedness work, as evidenced by the recent launch of Operation ABC -- a unique initiative focused on improving grade level reading by mobilizing at least 2,000 volunteers and rallying multiple sectors of the community around the cause. Research shows that what a child weighs at birth is an important factor in future educational success.

Low birthweight is defined as less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces, and very low birthweight is defined as less than 3 pounds, 4 ounces. Because the chance of living a long and healthy life improves as the pounds increase, low birthweight infants are at a higher risk of death or long-term illness and disability than those of normal birthweight, and very low birthweight infants have the lowest survival rates.

Infants born so small are approximately 100 times more likely to die in the first year of life than are infants of normal birthweight. Very low birthweight infants who survive are at a significantly increased risk of severe problems, including physical and visual difficulties, developmental delays and cognitive impairment, which require increased levels of medical, educational and parental care.

Studies have found that children born extremely premature, less than 28 weeks, or with a very low birthweight perform more poorly in school than children born at term and at normal weight. Much less is known about children of higher gestational ages and birthweights. 

The association between birthweight and reading, as well as spelling and arithmetic disabilities, have shown a graded relationship, with children who weighed less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces having the highest risks. Even children who weighed between 6.6 pounds and 7.7 pounds had an increased risk of all three learning disabilities compared to children who weighed 7.7 pounds and over.

The same was true when the focus turned to children born at term (39–40 weeks of gestation), suggesting that the association could not be explained by a low gestational age. Compared to children born at term, children born at 33 to 36 weeks and 37 to 38 weeks (gestational ages) more often had reading and spelling difficulties, but no relation was established between gestational age and difficulties with math.

Survival rates for extremely premature infants and infants with very low birthweight are increasing. This development is expected to result in a greater number of children with brain injuries. Researchers have followed premature children from birth up to school age and found that they have higher rates of difficulties with language skills, cognitive function, visuomotor integration and problem behavior than their peers who were delivered at term.

While most studies have focused primarily on very low birthweight children or children born extremely premature, only a few have looked at those with a birthweight closer to what is considered normal. The few available studies indicate that these children may have an increased risk of a lower school performance than children born at term and within the average birthweight range.

More infants have been born underweight in recent years. One reason for the increase is that the number of twin, triplet and higher-order multiple births has grown. Multiple births are much more likely than singletons to be of low birthweight. For instance, 57 percent of twins and 94 percent of triplets, compared with 6 percent of singletons, were of low birthweight in 2004. However, even among singletons, low birthweight has increased. Changes in the obstetric management of pregnancy with increases in induction and cesarean delivery, and an increase in the use of assisted reproductive technologies, called ART, may also have played a role.

Nationally, the percentage of infants with low birthweight was 8.2 in 2005, up from 7.9 percent in 2003 and 8.1 percent in 2004. The rate has increased slowly but steadily since 1984 (6.7 percent), and the 8.2 percent in 2005 was the highest since 1968.

The percentage of black, non-Hispanic infants with low birthweight is significantly higher than that of any other racial or ethnic group.  (Figure 1) From 1990 to 2003, the percentage of low birthweight black or non-Hispanic infants varied between 13.1 and 13.6 percent, but rose to 14 percent in 2005. Infants of other racial and ethnic groups also experienced increases between 1990 and 2005.  Among white, non-Hispanic infants, the rate rose to 7.3 percent from 5.6. Among Hispanic infants, it rose to 6.9 percent from 6.1 percent. Rates were up for Asians/Pacific Islanders infants from 6.5 percent to 8 percent, and for American Indian/Alaska Native infants, from 6.1 percent to 7.4 percent. 

The percentage of infants born with very low birthweight (less than 3 pounds, 4 ounces) has increased gradually in recent years. In 2005, 1.49 percent of infants were very low birthweight, up from 1.48 percent in 2004, 1.42–1.46 percent from 1997 to 2003, 1.28–1.37 percent from 1989 to 1996, and 1.16–1.24 percent in each year from 1981 to 1988. 

Figure 1.  Percent Low Birthweight Infants by Race and Ethnicity in the United States, 1995 - 2005

The Annie Casey Foundation has collected a number of birth-related indicators, based on the characteristics of both mother and infant.  The latest data available on birthweight is from 2004.  Table 1 ranks the states, showing Michigan at about the midpoint -- a ranking of 30th at 8.3 percent -- just above the national average of 8.1 percent.

Table 1.  Ranking of States by Percent Low Birthweight Infants, 2004

The last figure (Figure 2) looks at low birthweight trends in southeast Michigan.  While the rates for Macomb, Oakland and out-Wayne counties all fall slightly below the state average (and have over the 1995-2006 time period) they have each shown a slow, steady growth.  The low birthweight rate in the city of Detroit, while demonstrating a degree of variability, has averaged about 1.8 times that of the remainder of Wayne County.  This is not surprising given the national trends of higher rates in the African-American community and that fact that the vast majority of births in the city are to African-American women.

Figure 2.  Percent Low Birthweight Infants in Southeast Michigan, 1995 – 2006

United Way’s Agenda for Change guides our work for the next 10 years, so focusing on children reading at grade level and associated barriers will remain a focal point for the immediate future.  The trends show low birthweight rates increasing, with the highest numbers appearing in the African-American community.  While many factors contribute instances of lower birthweights, efforts to decrease teenage births, coupled with better access to primary care, particularly prenatal care, must be a priority for our community.

Take Action Now
Call for 2-1-1 on Feb. 11

Many professionals and volunteers devote considerable time toward rescuing animals, protecting the environment and encouraging more people to vote. But too often, the need to advocate for the protection of basic human needs gets short shrift. This is especially true when it comes to physical and mental health services, employment and job training or help for people with disabilities. United Way and 2-1-1 are trying to change that.

Through 2-1-1, United Way connects people looking to get help or give help to health and human services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. More than 170,000 callers across southeast Michigan used 2-1-1 in 2007, making it a vital resouce worth advocating for, and Feb. 11 is being set aside as a special day to do so.

The United Way system is leading a national movement to drum up support for the Calling for 2-1-1 Act in an effort to steer federal dollars toward 2-1-1 programs across the country, and you can help. The legislation was re-introduced in 2007 (SB 211 and HR 211) and, if adopted, would provide federal dollars to support state 2-1-1 systems. Show your support for 2-1-1 on Feb. 11 by calling or sending an e-mail to your elected state and federal legislators and urging them to support the Calling for 2-1-1 Act. You can locate your elected officials and contact them through United Way's online advocacy tool by simply clicking here.

The Calling for 2-1-1 Act would authorize $150 million for years one and two, and $100 million for years three through five. States would have to provide a 50 percent match in order to receive federal funds.

Why 2-1-1?

What number do you dial when you know the name of the restaurant that serves great pizza, but not the phone number? Well, from your cell phone, you would simply dial 4-1-1. What number would you dial if you witnessed someone snatching a purse? Well, that’s easy -- you would dial 9-1-1. But, what number do call when you are suddenly struggling to cover utility payments or other monthly bills? Or, you need emergency shelter or other urgent but non-emergency assistance? The answer is 2-1-1.

United Way's 2-1-1 effort is the most comprehensive information and referral database in the region. It is a multilingual hotline linking callers to child or senior care, afterschool programs, job training, rent assistance, counseling and more than 7,000 other resources. Comparatively, the state of Michigan operates over 700 separate helplines connecting residents to various departments. During challenging economic times in our state, the efficiency 2-1-1 represents makes it worthy of greater support.

A University of Texas study estimates a net value to society of a national 2-1-1 system at almost $130 million in the first year alone and a conservative estimate of $1.1 billion over 10 years. The estimate is based on time saved, individuals benefiting from tax assistance and recovery, the value of volunteers recruited, impact of 24/7 service, and reductions in the amount of 1-800 numbers and non-emergency calls to 9-1-1.