Welcome to Child Advocacy 360 News Network, an independent, nonprofit service that brings to people's desktops, mailboxes and conversations the latest news and insights on children's welfare and rights, with a particular focus on the struggle to conquer abuse and neglect of children in our society.

Over many years of involvement in children's causes, and as a board member of Children's Rights Inc., I witnessed a huge gap in the world of child advocacy between good works and good communication. I saw an urgent need and a unique opportunity to develop a specialized news medium designed to help all advocates improve the outcomes of their efforts on behalf of abused and neglected children, and, at the same time, encourage a much larger and much needed cohort of caring people to become active champions of children's rights.

Seeking Connections and Actions

A key dimension of our advocacy mission is to bring a much larger citizen army of active advocates to the fight to stop child abuse and neglect, and to improve the lives of poor and forgotten children everywhere in this country.

A very high priority for Child Advocacy 360 News Network Foundation is to connect with, engage, and motivate young people in Gen X and Gen Y among others to join the conversation we create through our special brand of Web journalism and Web 2.0 initiatives to become activists in their own communities, and beyond -- early enough in life to have their contributions count and flourish over the years.

While we begin with our weekly online newsletter, Child Advocacy 360 SmartBrief, and our Interactive Child Advocacy Web site (www.childadvocacy360.com), our strategic plan embraces a significant portfolio of communication products and services which will be put in place as our funding allows.

Using the bandwidth and the broadcast booth of the Internet, and rapidly expanding tools of social media, we are able to share Who's Doing What That Works stories with one another, to spread the word to the many thousands of local and state advocacy groups already doing good work, and to encourage borrowing from the best (What worked in Oregon can be replicated and tailored to work in Tennessee) to improve all outcomes for children.

We are able to distill the essence of great research, white papers and intelligence of every kind provided by major child advocacy groups and government agencies -- Smart News We Can Use to produce a meaningful grassroots effect in our own communities and a broader, informed dialog on the critical issues.

We know, as we begin our journey, that many nonprofit organizations and foundations devoted to improving the lives of disadvantaged and endangered children are doing good work. But I have found, in my own work on behalf of children over many years, that there is a huge gap between good works and good communication. We aim to bridge that gap, and help others do the same, to achieve higher returns on our investments in children's causes, and to help others do the same?

Hershel