Senator Dodd Holds Hearing On The Status Of The American Child

Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd was in New Haven on Monday for a hearing on the status of the American child.  

After 35 years in politics, Senator Dodd says he wants to wrap up his final months in Washington with a focus on the work he’s found most rewarding: helping children and families.  And when it comes to helping kids reach their potential, he says a lot falls on the shoulders of parents. " ..as I’ve come to learn as the father of five and eight-year old over the last several years. Decided to have my own grandchildren what I’m often now saying”.

Dodd says many of the ideas he’s championed with the Senate sub-committee on Children and Families came from Connecticut, often right from the Yale Child Study Center where Monday’s hearing was held.  

The Senator was joined by a panel of state child development experts. He asked them to describe programs that work. 

Yale’s renowned Dr. Edward Zigler talked about an innovative school model known as Schools of the 21st Century. "The child is enrolled in the neighborhood school as close to the child’s conception as possible and no later than birth. Upon the birth of a child, the school sends a home visitor and these home visits continue for three years motivating parents to become as an effective a first teacher of the child as possible."

Pediatric dentist Dr. Doug Keck described a partnership between Connecticut dentists and Head Start.  "Head Start has reported that access to oral health services is the number one health issue affecting Head Start programs nationwide.  In Connecticut, I’ve recruited over 40 dentists to partner with Head Start programs across the state directly."

Other panelists talked about homelessness and growing child poverty rates. Senator Dodd announced plans to create a National Council on Children. "We need a national and permanent body at the federal level whose top priority, whose only priority are children and their families."

The next Senate hearing on the status of the American child takes place Thursday in Washington.

For WNPR, I'm Diane Orson.