Who speaks for kids when decisions about their education, health, and safety are being made? You do! Children need our collective attention and voice. You’ve found Speaking of Kids…, a podcast series from First Focus on Children, that uncovers why children are an afterthought in politics. We'll discuss how we can unify our efforts to demand change that will improve the well-being of all our kids. Your hosts are Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby of First Focus on Children, a bipartis ...
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Spark a Movement, brought to you by the Pediatric Movement Center, aims to ignite and mobilize individuals to do their part in developing a supportive and inclusive community that provides recreational, educational and leisure opportunities for children of all abilities. Our show is designed to give listeners insightful and practical information that affect our children, as well as providing listeners with inspiring stories from local families. In each podcast, we will tackle a variety of to ...
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#21 - The Importance in Investing in Our Youngest with Cynthia Osborne
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In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Dr. Cynthia Osborne, founder and executive director of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, about the importance in investing in our youngest: infants and toddlers. Bruce and Selley also highlight the recent vote on the child tax credit and their disappointment with the bill fail…
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#20 - Advocating for Kids in Kentucky and Across America with Dr. Terry Brooks
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54:23
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In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, a nonprofit watchdog for Kentucky's kids. Dr. Brooks has successfully worked with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to make necessary improvements for the lives of children across the state, such as supporting …
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SECOND LOOK: Money Matters with Dr. Kirabo Jackson
39:24
39:24
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Check out one of our favorite episodes! Our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby welcome Dr. C. Kirabo Jackson, a researcher, professor, journal editor, and member of President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisors. Dr. Jackson discusses his findings that research with respect to investing in both early childhood and K-12 education consi…
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#19 - Pediatric Emergency Care Systems Are Failing Our Kids & It’s Costing Their Lives with Phyllis Rabinowitz
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In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Phyllis Rabinowitz, Co-Founder and Co-President of the R Baby Foundation. Phyllis co-founded the R Baby Foundation with her husband, Andrew, after the loss of their nine-day-old daughter, Rebecca Ava, due to a misdiagnosis in the emergency room. The R Baby Foundation is the first an…
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#18 - Raising the Voice of Dads in Child Policy with Rep. Jimmy Gomez
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In this episode, co-host Bruce Lesley chats with Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), chair of the Dads Caucus. Rep. Gomez launched the Dads Caucus after a photo of him holding and caring for his son Hodge on the House floor went viral. Rep. Gomez talks about moms have been the “default parent” and the importance of fathers stepping up for kids both at home an…
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#17 - “They Came for Our Schools” with Mike Hixenbaugh
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In this episode, co-host Bruce Lesley chats with Mike Hixenbaugh, a senior investigative reporter for NBC News about the ongoing attacks on public schools across the country. They discuss Hixenbaugh’s new book, “They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms,” which documents the culture…
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#16 - Centering Cultural Competence within Black Child Mental Health with Taraji P. Henson and Tracie Jade
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In this episode, co-host Messellech Looby chats with Academy Award-nominated actor Taraji P. Henson about the complexities and opportunities around supporting Black youth in the midst of the country’s current mental health crisis. Henson created The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation in memory of her late father, who struggled with mental health chal…
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#15 - Every Day is Mother’s Day, with the Moms of First Focus on Children
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To celebrate Mother’s Day, we’re showcasing the voices and stories of some of our moms at First Focus on Children. Host Messellech Looby shares the mic with First Focus on Children’s Vice President for Early Childhood and Public Health Policy Averi Pakulis, Vice President of Operations Trenessa Freeman, and Vice President of Advocacy and Mobilizati…
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#14 - Supporting Children and Families is a Bipartisan Effort, with Abby McCloskey
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In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with Abby McCloskey, who directed the Convergence Collaborative on Supports for Working Families, a project bringing together 31 family policy leaders of diverse ideologies and included our co-host Bruce Lesley. The Convergence process issued a final report entitled In This …
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#13 - A Conversation with a Top Champion for Children, Representative Rosa DeLauro
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In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with Representative Rosa DeLauro, a top champion for children in Congress and the chair of the babies caucus. Rep. DeLauro, who is the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, has spent decades in Congress and consistently advocated for kids to be a priority in …
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#12 - A Conversation with the Co-Founder and Executive Director of MomsRising, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner
39:28
39:28
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In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, co-founder and executive director of MomsRising, an organization that champions workforce issues facing women, mothers and families. Rowe-Finkbeiner co-founded MomsRising in 2006 after a family health crisis pushed her out of the labor force and…
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SECOND LOOK: Prescribing Away Poverty with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Dr. Luke Shaefer
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Check out one of our favorite episodes! Hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Professor Luke Shaefer about “Rx Kids,” their innovative program to support pregnant women and infants in Flint, Michigan. Dr. Hanna-Attisha is a pediatrician and activist best known for leading studies that exposed the dead…
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#11 - Child Poverty is a Policy Decision With Megan Curran and Sophie Collyer
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In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with poverty experts Megan Curran and Sophie Collyer about the Child Tax Credit. As top researchers at Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy, Collyer and Curran produce groundbreaking work on poverty and the child tax credit. In this episode, they explain…
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#10 - A Conversation with Congress’s Top 2023 Champion for Children - Representative Suzanne Bonamici
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In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with Representative Suzanne Bonamici. Rep. Bonamici, who has represented Oregon’s 1st district in Congress since 2012, has been an avid Champion for children throughout her career and achieved the #1 slot on First Focus Campaign for Children’s 2023 Legislative Scorecard. The…
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#9 - Prescribing Away Poverty with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Dr. Luke Shaefer
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In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Professor Luke Shaefer about “Rx Kids,” their innovative program to support pregnant women and infants in Flint, Michigan. Dr. Hanna-Attisha is a pediatrician and activist best known for leading studies that exposed the deadly levels of lead i…
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#8 - Prioritizing Kids in Politics with Dr. Annie Andrews and Renee Harvey of Their Future. Our Vote PAC.
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In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with pediatrician and former congressional candidate Dr. Annie Andrews and political strategist Renee Harvey about their new political action committee (PAC) for children, Their Future. Our Vote. Dr. Andrews, a children’s hospital doctor, highlighted the invisibility of chil…
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#7 - The Urgent Need to Protect WIC with Nell Menefee-Libey
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In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby speak with Nell Menefee-Libey, public policy manager for the National WIC Association. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, better known as WIC, supports healthy pregnancy, healthy postpartum recovery and optimal child development. The Nati…
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#6 - When It Comes to Human Rights, What About the Children? with Jonathan Todres
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45:34
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In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby speak with leading children’s rights expert Jonathan Todres. Todres, a professor at Georgia University College of Law, says rejecting children's rights is an attack on human rights. He explains the divisiveness around children's rights as the result of pitting them against parent…
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#5 - Money Matters with Dr. Kirabo Jackson
39:24
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In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby welcome Dr. C. Kirabo Jackson, a researcher, professor, journal editor, and member of President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisors. Dr. Jackson discusses his findings that research with respect to investing in both early childhood and K-12 education consistently demonstrates a …
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#4 - Defending Public Education with Arnie Fege
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In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with children’s activist Arnold “Arnie” Fege about the importance of defending public education against attacks both past and present. As a longtime teacher, principal, superintendent and now president of Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK), a national organization devoted to edu…
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In this week's episode, we're joined by Heather Lindsay to discuss what recreational therapy is, the different forms it can take, and the positive benefits that come from the experiance.By Listen Frederick
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#3 - Creating a Children-First Mindset in Policy and Society with Adam Benforado
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In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with law professor Adam Benforado about the lack of attention paid to children in the policymaking process. Benforado, who focuses on criminal justice and children’s rights, argues that many of the societal problems we see all around us - incarceration, homelessness — are pr…
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#2 - Who’s for Kids, and Who’s Just Kidding? with Celinda Lake
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59:10
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In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with pollster and political strategist Celinda Lake. Lake is President and Founder of Lake Research Partners, a national public opinion and political strategy research firm. Lake walks our hosts through public polling that shows voters strongly favor investing in children an…
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In this introductory episode of Speaking of Kids, co-hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby discuss the fact that children are often an afterthought in public policy. While most people care deeply about the children in their lives, there is a clear disconnect between personal opinions and policy goals. Children can’t vote, they don’t have…
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Community Support Featuring the Arc of Frederick County
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In this episode, our listeners can learn all about the programs and services offered by the Arc of Frederick county and ways that employers and volunteers can get involved!By Listen Frederick
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Providing Holistic Support for Children in Need: Just in Power Kids with Shannon Berk
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For pediatric cancer month we're joined by guest Shannon Berk of Justin Power Kids. Shannon is a physical therapist and co-founder of Just in Power Kids. She joins us today episode to discuss pediatric cancer, their foundation, and mission with Just in Power Kids. Just in Power kids was founded together with her husband Justin when their love of se…
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Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Featuring the Fighting for Kaiden Foundation & the Eakin family
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In today’s episode, we are going to learn about Spinal Muscular Atrophy, often referred to as SMA through the eyes of a local family. We'll also be discussing resources available to families affected by an SMA diagnosis, specifically the Fighting for Kaiden Foundation.By Listen Frederick
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Navigating an IEP (Individualized Education Program)
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In this episode Chloe chats with Christina Ruben, a speech therapist who has spent her career working in both school and outpatient therapy settings, who explains what an IEP is, the IEP process and the collaboration that happens to set children up for success.By The Pediatric Movement Center
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Supporting Sensory Needs at Home: Dysregulation
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40:49
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In this episode we are joined by Stephanie Baldwin, an Occupational Therapist at Pediatric Movement Center. She shares some key points about dysregulation (which is poorly regulated emotional response), indicators of sensory seeking, and some useful tips to use at home.By The Pediatric Movement Center
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In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Obidi, a pediatrician in Hagerstown, Maryland who has a passion to serve and educate his local community. In this episode listeners will get an inside perspective on the multifaceted layers that come with childhood obesity. Dr. Obidi also gives us some strategies, resources and tools we can implement today to b…
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Understanding Big Emotions; Actionable Advice
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In this episode, we were joined by Whitney Thompson, a pediatric mental health therapist and author of the Superhero Blog that uses popular characters to help children understand big emotions. Ms. Thompson explores ways to have conversations with children about big emotions and how to help them navigate difficult aspects of development, such as wor…
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The Science of Movement: How to tackle tummy time and early milestones
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34:57
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On today’s episode we will be interviewing Courtney Young who is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and specializes in pediatrics. Courtney has over 17 years of pediatric rehabilitation experience in her field. She has worked in a variety of settings including: a neonatal intensive care unit, a pediatric rehab hospital and in outpatient pediatric clinics…
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In today's episode, we will hear from a community member who lives a very full life and happens to have Spinal Muscular Atrophy. We discuss knocking down barriers about the way society views disability and inter-abled relationships as well as breaking down the barriers we tend to define ourselves by. If you are curious about seeing things through s…
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The Children's Charity that is Enriching the Lives of Children in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia
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In this episode Chloe chats with Leigh Burke, Executive Director of Variety, The Children's Charity of the National Capital Region and learns about the various ways that the charity supports the children of our community. Listeners will also learn the ways that they can help support this incredible charity (Spoiler-it's as easy as going to the movi…
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Eating Healthier Through Habits, Choices and Planning
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In this episode, Chloe chats with Haylee, Principal Agent Associate with the University of Maryland. Haylee is a community nutrition educator who gives our listeners tangible ways to make healthier habits and choices for the whole family.By The Pediatric Movement Center
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The Benefits of Outdoor Play in Childhood Development
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In this episode Chloe speaks with Kayla Souza, an Early Childhood Educator of 20+ years and owner of the Little Lilac Preschool, to discuss the benefits of outdoor play for childhood development. We discuss barriers to incorporating more outdoor time in our lives, such as time, motivation and environments, and offer practical ideas for anyone hopin…
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Chloe chats with A Kid Again founder Kathy Derr, discussing the importance of play time for kids of all ages and abilities. The benefits of play time are explored from developmental perspectives as well as emotional perspectives, especially for children with life-threatening diagnosis. In this episode, you'll learn all about the A Kid Again non-pro…
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International Adoption Featuring the Graves Family
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In this episode, we learn about two international adoption experiences of the Graves family, who are from Brunswick, Maryland. Phil Graves discusses the joys and complexities of international adoption with Chloe. He and his family have successfully adopted 2 beautiful children in the past few years, the most recent of which was done during war time…
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Creating Opportunities in our Community - Part 2
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Part 2: Spark a Movement host, Chloe talks with Michelle and her daughter Arielle about their family journey, achievements, and challenges as they navigate international adoption, medical complexities, and accessible activities that are fun for the whole family. One of the challenges discussed in this episode is accessible parks for children. We've…
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Creating Opportunities in our Community - Part 1
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Part 1: Spark a Movement host, Chloe, sits down with Christina Snyder, owner of the Pediatric Movement Center, to talk about the WHY behind the creation of the Pediatric Movement Center and the need for us all to become involved in our local community to create more opportunities for children of all abilities.…
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