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Communications

To share information and learnings with communities, governments, professional groups and the general public was a goal of the project.

Communicating widely and at a number of levels was a goal of TLC³ and has been a continuous stream running throughout the project since its inception and was part of the project's success.

Site Level

All the sites put continuous effort into communicating with parents, communities, other organizations, institutions, partners and governments. The sites were highly successful in their communication efforts using a variety of methods, including newsletters, presentations, special community events, workshops and trainings. Sites became a source of stimulation and resource locally and regionally. The profile and credibility of the site organizations increased. Team members at two sites were invited to sit on committees developing implementation plans for new government programs. Detail accounts of site communications were reported in the annual reports to the Foundation.

HDI Level

The TLC3 National Symposia (1997 to 2003). As mentioned earlier, a national symposium was held annually and was attended by site representatives, the National Advisory Committee, the Hincks-Dellcrest team and representatives from the Lawson Foundation. In addition, each year prominent guest speakers and guests were invited to attend the symposium. At the symposium, they shared their expertise with the project participants and learned about the TLC³ project, its development and its impact on children and families.

Cross-Canada Videoconference - Early Childhood: How to spend scarce dollars effectively (November 2003). In November 2003, the Hincks-Dellcrest Institute hosted a one-day national videoconference from Toronto. The seven TLC³ sites across Canada participated via video in their home communities. Each site invited a range of individuals who represented different social service agencies, national organizations, government departments, university departments and community based workers. Funders and Government representatives attended the host site in Toronto. The keynote address was given by Dr. Fraser Mustard. The objectives of the videoconference were: 1) to present one innovative funding method that had proved effective (TLC³) and 2) to stimulate a cross country discussion around how to effect a balance of factors (or create synergistic relationships) that would, on the one hand, encourage local autonomy, program flexibility, ultimate sustainability and ability to change within the program, while on the other hand, maintain accountability to the funder. Each site facilitated discussion groups within their own communities as well as participating in the cross site video conference. The conference was intended to address the following issue: while researchers and funders have clear knowledge about the importance of programs and services for young children, the best way to implement and fund these programs is much less clear. The conference was stimulated by the positive experience of the Hincks-Dellcrest team in managing and evaluating the TLC³ project range of funding principles and structures relevant to both funders and program providers was discussed. The HDI team received considerable positive feedback from all who participated.

- Downloadable Brochure

National Evaluation Conference - Meaningful Evaluations of Community-Based Programs for Children: A Conversation: (April 2004). To keep the conversation going, in the spring of 2004, the HDI team hosted a small national evaluation conference with a group of Canadian experts in research and evaluation of community based projects. The purpose of the 2-day meeting was to discuss the challenges in evaluating community-based programs and to consider different ways of ensuring that the outcomes of these evaluations are relevant and genuinely useful. Small group and large group discussions focused on the following three topics: 1) Being realistic about outcomes and measuring them effectively, 2) Practical but meaningful designs for community-based evaluations, and 3) Building evaluation capacity in community organizations.

- Downloadable Brochure

Local, national, and international conference presentations and conference publications. The HDI team with responsibility for local, national and international communications implemented a broad communication strategy that enabled TLC³ to share its experiences and learnings and seek out the experience and knowledge of others. The HDI team has produced several publications and members of the team have made numerous presentations at national and international conferences, meetings and symposia; produced journal articles; and met with interested individuals in government and research and with providers of services to children and families to talk about what was learned through TLC³. See list of references below.

Project Publications

- Learning Curve I
- Learning Curve II
- Learning Curve III
- The TLC³ Final Report

Papers and posters presented at conferences, meetings and symposia

Cohen, N.J. TLC³: Enhancing Language & Cognitive Development within the context of early relationships, 1st Annual Summer Institute on Early Childhood Development, "Coping & Competence", Toronto, June, 2004.

Heinz, L. & Cohen, N.J. (2004). A community-based prevention project - the challenge of supporting multiple sites in building evaluation capacity. Canadian Evaluation Annual Conference, Saskatoon, SK, May 2004.

Cohen, N.J., & Heinz, L. Outcomes of a Canadian National Project to Enhance Children's Language and Cognitive Development in Community Based Programs, Presentation made at the Conference on Human Development, Washington, DC, April, 2004; International Conference on Infant Studies, May, 2004; Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development, Ghent, July, 2004 and World Association of Infant Mental Health, Melbourne, AU, January, 2004. * downloadable powerpoint presentation

Cohen, N.J., & Heinz, L., Enhancing language and cognitive development in community based prevention programs-the challenge of implementing programs in different community contexts. World Association for Infant Mental Health Conference, Amsterdam, NL, July, 2002. * downloadable powerpoint presentation

Cohen, N.J., Hughes, J., Kay-Raining Bird, E., Graham, S., & McKeough, A., Readiness for school: A follow-up of preschoolers enrolled in a national prevention project. CLLRNet National Conference, Ottawa, ON, April, 2002.

Cohen, N.J. Outcomes of early intervention. In Symposium: Are there biological programming effects on psychological development, Michael Rutter and Nancy Cohen (Chairs). International Society of Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, Vancouver, BC, June, 2001.

Cohen, N.J. TLC³: Enhancing Language and Cognitive Development in Community Based Programs for 0-5 Year Olds: Preliminary Findings, Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN, April, 2001.

Cohen, N.J., & Formosa, S. TLC³: A national project to enhance the early language and cognitive development of infants and preschoolers. Early Years Conference, Vancouver, BC, January, 2000.

Cohen, N.J. The TLC³ Project: A Canadian national initiative to enhance language and cognitive development of children from birth to five years. International Conference for Infant Studies, Brighton, EN, July, 2000, and the Meeting of the World Association of Infant Mental Health, Montreal, QC, July, 2000.

Cohen, N.J. The TLC³ Project: A national initiative to enhance language and cognitive development of children from birth to five years. Invited address at the Canadian Society for Studies in Education, Ottawa ON, May, 1998.

Journal Publications

Martin, F. & Cohen, N. (2003). Nurturing Creativity: Learning from the TLC Experience. Interaction, 17(3), Publication of the Canadian Childcare Federation.
http://www.cccf-fcsge.ca/publications/interaction_en.htm

Luke, A. (2003). Creating Curriculum that Empowers Teachers and Learners. Interaction, 17(3), Publication of the Canadian Childcare Federation.
http://www.cccf-fcsge.ca/publications/interaction_en.htm

Cohen, N.J. (2001). TLC³: A national initiative to enhance the language and cognitive development of children from birth to five years. Journal of speech and Language Pathology and Audiology, 25, 103-113.