NCCEV Press Releases

For immediate release: September 23, 2004

Bridgeport, CT Public Awareness Campaign Begins.

The City of Bridgeport and its partner agencies, The Center for Women and Families of Eastern Fairfield County and Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition, will unveil a new citiwide campaign to build awareness around the issue of young children exposed to violence in the home on Thursday, September 23, at 9 a.m. at the Holiday Inn-Bridgeport, 1070 Main Street.

The campaign is being created by the Bridgeport Safe Start Initiative, a federally funded project that seeks to reduce the rate and impact of violence in the home for children ages 0-6 and their families. Besides a mass media campaign, Safe Start has developed brochures for parents on the importance of identifying and caring about violence exposure, along with a pocket-sized resource guide for service providers working with children and families to understand, identify, and help children exposed to violence in the home.

The materials urge anyone who suspects a child of witnessing violence in the home to call Infoline at 2-1-1. Infoline has trained specialists available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day to provide referrals to services, crisis intervention, and information about community services. The awareness campaign will be in effect through May 2005.

Mayor Fabrizi will be joined at the kickoff breakfast by James Lewis III, Chief of Operations at the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence, Yale Child Study Center in New Haven. Dr. Lewis will highlight the important role service providers play in identifying children at risk of violence and ensuring their safety.

Kristine Hazzard, President/CEO of The Center for Women and Families, will outline the campaign’s goals and components. The Center has oversight responsibility for the Bridgeport Safe Start Initiative, which has helped identify and build collaborations among existing services and provided grants and training to professionals to improve their ability to identify and refer children at risk of violence exposure.

The kickoff will end with a question and answer session, with Fabrizi, Lewis, and Hazzard being joined by Eileen Lopez-Cordone, Southwest Regional Director, United Way/2-1-1 Infoline. Immediately following the kickoff, Safe Start members will present an overview of accomplishments to date, lessons learned, and plans for the project’s final year.

Anyone interested in the impact of violence in the home on young children is welcome to attend the free kickoff breakfast, including mental health professionals, nurses, physicians, childcare workers, and social service providers. Reservations are required and must be made by September 20 by calling 334-6154 or via e-mail at safestart@cwfefc.org.

Full press release here- pdf

For more information, please contact:

National Center for Children Exposed to Violence
1-877- 49-NCCEV
Email: nccev@info.med.yale.edu
Or visit the program’s websites at www.nccev.org and www.cd-cp.org.