July 2002

With the June 21, 2002 launch of its communications plan, Baltimore's Safe and Sound Campaign entered a new phase in which it will rally the whole community around its movement for children and families. The tagline of the comprehensive, multi-media communications plan is "Who says it can't be done?" The purpose of the campaign is to celebrate improvements that have been made in youth health and safety statistics and to secure the additional participation from all sectors of the community necessary to achieve Baltimore's goals for its children and families.

The Safe and Sound Campaign began in 1997 when 7,000 people came together to say conditions were unacceptable for children. The seven goals set for Baltimore as a result of that event are that:

• babies are born healthy,
• children live in safe and nurturing families,
• children enter school ready to learn,
• children succeed in school,
• young people make healthy choices,
• young people live in safe neighborhoods and
• young people know that adults value and appreciate them.

And, although the Campaign does not claim full credit, the statistics show that progress is being made in Baltimore with regard to the health and safety of children. When launching the communications plan, the Safe and Sound Campaign highlighted many of these trends. For example, since 1997 infant mortality is down 19 percent, juvenile arrests are down 17 percent, and the number of third graders who can read has increased 48 percent.

Hathaway Ferebee, the Campaign's executive director, said the movement would be extending its reach so progress for kids can be accelerated.

"To engage the community in an effort of this size and scope, there must be sufficient evidence of progress and promise to generate hope," Ferebee says. "Our progress to date provides important evidence that Baltimore actually can become a great place for children and families with the participation of all sectors of the community."

Safe and Sound Campaign Chairman Arnold Richman says the investment in advertising and communications will enhance the movement's success. "Communication is a critical intervention to bring about change, particularly in encouraging attitudes, behaviors and policies promoting health and well-being for children," Richman says. "So we're going to deploy all the tools at our disposal because too many conditions still remain at unacceptable levels for kids. We must seize this opportunity to dramatically speed up our success."

The communications plan, particularly the "Who says it can't be done?" tagline, was developed after extensive focus group research. "We heard overwhelmingly that people do not look at Baltimore through rose-colored glasses; they acknowledge there are problems and they feel them personally," says Robin Wood, deputy director. "But there is still a determined sense that things can change. People have begun to see the link between economic development and healthy families, which has opened a door for those who have not always worked together, such as the business community and children and family advocates, to come together to build a stronger, healthier Baltimore."

The communications effort will include TV, radio, billboard and bus board advertising carrying the over-arching campaign themes, particularly the "Who says it can't be done?" tagline and logo. Each strategy area of the Safe and Sound Campaign (Success By 6®, Reading by 9, After school, Operation Safe Neighborhoods and Youth and Community Engagement) has communications developed specifically to advance that strategy, and these individualized communication efforts complement the over-arching theme.

Another important component of the communications plan is a new website, www.safeandsound.org, that provides a point of entry for those who want to be involved in the Campaign as well as information and resources pertaining to the Campaign's goal areas.

The effort also includes a corps of "youth ambassadors" who will take the message to the streets as they work to engage young people and adults in making Baltimore a great place for children and families. One of Safe and Sound's youth ambassadors is high school sophomore Ti Awna Moffat, who says, "I've seen firsthand the pain and devastation the children in our community have experienced for too long. I'm fired up to make this movement grow."

For more information on this site about Baltimore's Safe and Sound Campaign, click here; for information on this site about communication campaigns, click here.