“See Us, Support Us” 2017
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“See Us, Support Us” is an annual, national campaign to champion the needs, experiences, and resiliency of children with incarcerated parents. Parental incarceration is an adverse childhood experience (ACE), which means it increases the risk of negative outcomes over a person’s lifetime. Information about the national campaign is available here.
Coordinated by the Connecticut Children with Incarcerated Parents (CTCIP) Initiative, our state’s 2017 campaign is focused on partnering one-on-one with local libraries interested in including one of the CTCIP Initiative’s recommended books in: a) a storytime event already planned for this fall, and/or b) a new family storytime event. In either case, the CTCIP Initiative will provide the book and other materials, help with marketing and outreach, and donate the book and other resources to the library’s collection so children and families can continue benefiting for years to come. Children with incarcerated parents are an under-recognized population, and the CTCIP Initiative celebrates libraries’ commitment to using knowledge and information to empower people and build community.
We are especially grateful to this year’s project partners, recognized below.
Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs)
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Note: Each community is unique, and the CTCIP Initiative staff will work with your library to tailor a positive event for your community. The following FAQs provide some basic information, but please contact the CTCIP Initiative directly at ctcip@ccsu.edu to see how we can work together to shape a successful event in the community you serve.
This opportunity is being offered by the CTCIP Initiative free of charge to local libraries.
The CTCIP Initiative currently is making initial selections from nationally-circulated lists of books addressing this topic (for each age range), and vetting those books with library professionals to ensure appropriateness for this project. The number of books and other resources to be donated to each library will depend on the number of participating libraries, per CTCIP Initiative budget constraints.
At each participating library’s discretion, the CTCIP Initiative will: a) customize a local event flyer, and b) help publicize each local event via email listserv and social media.
Yes, a CTCIP Initiative staff member will attend each event to briefly summarize the Initiative and explain—in an age-appropriate way—the importance of understanding that all children have different experiences and different family situations. Without fanfare, the CTCIP Initiative staff member will present the donated books and other resources to each library for inclusion in the library’s collection.
