January 28, 2000
SACRAMENTO - The California Children and Families Commission, the agency charged with overseeing the implementation of Proposition 10, unveiled a multi-million dollar advertising campaign on television, radio, billboards and newspapers statewide. Produced in English and Spanish, the effort is designed to educate Californians about the importance of early childhood development and the dangers of smoking while pregnant and around children.
The campaign was unveiled before children and parents by State Commissioners at the Tot Town child care center in Sacramento. The Commissioners stressed that the advertisements were the cornerstone of a public education drive designed to provide Californians with essential information on the twin goals of prop. 10, the successful 1998 initiative that placed a 50-cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes to fund early childhood development and anti-tobacco education programs statewide.
Entitled "It's All About the Kids," the campaign promotes a new 800-number that individuals can call to receive written information on how to make the most of a child's early years and how to stop smoking. In the longer term, the 800-number will serve as a link to local family and children resource services.
"We are confident that the ads and toll-free number will get the attention of the parents, grandparents, caregivers and other adults who can have a tremendous positive influence on the lives of California children," said Kim Belshé, a State Commissioner and the former Director of the California Department of Health Services. "Through our public education campaign, we want to instill in parents and care-givers the urgent need to participate in the development of children younger than five and alert them to the dangers of smoking while pregnant or around children."
"Between now and May, we will provide Californians with a steady stream of anti-tobacco and childhood development messages through a variety of medius," said Patty Siegel, a State Commissioner who is also executive director of the statewide Child Care Resource and Referral Network. "The ads not only break new ground by alerting the public to recent research linking smoking to birth defects, but also provide Californians with a resource to deploy when they are seeking greater information on raising their children."
Prop. 10 is designed to create new services and expand existing programs to support children from the prenatal period to age five. Eighty percent of the revenues collected from the tax on cigarettes are distributed to volunteer County Commissions statewide based upon birth rate data. County Commissions develop strategic plans for spending the funds, but only after gathering extensive public input on local needs. The state has already transferred $415 million in Prop. 10 revenues into local trust funds set up by the County Commissions so that money will be available as local commissions implement their strategic plans. Another $83 million will be deposited into the local trust funds by the end of this month.
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