Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A national philanthropy devoted to helping meet the needs of vulnerable children and families is naming Mississippi State as its Magnolia State headquarters.
The Family and Children Research Unit of the university's Social Science Research Center will coordinate the Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT program serving Mississippi's 82 counties.
A 16-member board of directors will assist the SSRC unit in carrying out its duties.
"We believe the partnership between the Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT program and MSU's Family and Children Research Unit will be of tremendous benefit to children and families throughout Mississippi," Don Crary, the foundation's coordinator of state programs, said in making the announcement.
Established in 1948, the Seattle, Wash.-based philanthropy provides grants to help states, cities and neighborhoods develop innovative and cost-effective responses to the needs of those they seek to serve. Most often, grantees such as MSU are invited by the foundation to participate in the projects.
"It is our goal to be a primary source of statistics and original research as we work to increase knowledge and contribute to the improved status of all Mississippi children," said Linda H. Southward. "As a KIDS COUNT grantee, we feel a tremendous responsibility to provide the most accurate and relevant information regarding the children's health, education and well-being to policy-makers, care givers and child advocates."
A veteran SSRC research professor, Southward directs the Family and Children Research Unit, of which KIDS COUNT will be a major component.
SSRC associate research professor Ron Cossman will lead the office's data collection and analysis operations. He has focused on the demography and health geography of children throughout the state and nation.
Other members of the Mississippi KIDS COUNT board include (by city):
AMORY--Danny Spreitler, Gilmore Foundation;
BROOKHAVEN--Gary Blair, Land Bank South;
COLUMBUS--Inez Saum, 4-H Club Foundation;
DECATUR--Clayton "Rusty" Barnett, Child Welfare and Choctaw Reservation;
FOREST--Yurany Esguerra, Forest School District;
GULFPORT--Dorothy Roberts McEwen, Specialized Treatment Facility;
HERNANDO--Tom Pittman, Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi;
HOLLY SPRINGS--Arvern Moore, ICS Head Start;
JACKSON--Therese Hanna, Center for Mississippi Health Policy; Patricia Marshall, Mississippi Attorney General's Office; Sally Molpus, Operation Shoestring; and Wade Overstreet, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation;
JONESTOWN--Sister Theresa Shields, Jonestown Learning Center;
MADISON--Mary Gayle Armstrong, Mississippi Department of Health; and
TUPELO--Mike Clayborne, CREATE Foundation; Dr. Bill Hilbun (pediatrician); and
Valerie Long, Mississippi CATCH KIDS.
For more information, visit the Mississippi "KIDS COUNT" Web site at www.ssrc.msstate.edu/MSKIDSCOUNT.
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NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: Dr. Southward may be reached directly at 662-325-8079 or linda.southward@ssrc.msstate.edu; Dr. Cossman, at 325-4801 or ronald.cossman@ssrc.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.