Focus On…New Developments in Family Literacy
Centres of Excellence for Children's Well-Being

Mark your calendars! Next Year's National Family Literacy Day is scheduled for January 27, 2000. Mark your calendars now ...We will be providing more details in the fall.

Centres of Excellence for Children’s Well-being is a national initiative of Health Canada, Childhood and Youth Division, Health Promotions and Programs Branch.

The goal is to contribute to federal leadership on children’s issues by improving the government’s understanding of children and what they need to develop in healthy ways.

The Centres of Excellence will:

• collect and analyse data on children’s health and well- being
• conduct focussed research on key child health and development issues
• provide policy advice to governments and health and social services organizations
• strengthen and expand local, national, and international networks of individuals and groups involved in children’s health and well-being.

In March this year, Centres for Excellence began a “Search for Issues.” More than 700 people across the country were contacted for their input. These included representatives from community, academic, research, and non- governmental organizations, as well as federal and provincial governments.

Jean Rasmussen, our Family Literacy Project Coordinator and Leona Gadsby, Regional Coordinator for the East Kootenays — a region with several active family literacy programs — represented Literacy BC at a “Search for Issues” meeting in Vancouver on April 9.

Among the themes that have emerged from the “Search for Issues” are:

• Availability of and access to high quality child care and early childhood education
• Disabilities (mental and physical)
• Strengthening and supporting learning capacities, readiness to learn and success in school
• Creating integrated programs, policies and services to families

Health Canada plans to issue an announcement on selected issues soon.

To find out more about the Centres of Excellence, contact Jean at Literacy BC.

Centres of Excellence for Children’s Well-Being
Childhood and Youth Division
Health Promotion and Programs Branch
Health Canada
9th Floor, Room D990, Jeanne Mance Building
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1B4
Fax: (613) 952-7046
E-mail: centres@www.hc-sc.gc.ca
Website: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/centres