Lactnetters -- I am sharing with you at Cathy Carothers' request the following news about a program in the coming months, funded by the USA federal government, to allow IBCLCs to better promote, support and protect BF in their communities. If you haven't seen these (free! to you! the taxpayer!) materials, your socks will be knocked right off. Relevant portions of the press release follow: *The Business Case for Breastfeeding, *a project funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), with additional funding from the HHS Office on Women's Health, is beginning Year 2 with the selection of ten new State Breastfeeding Coalitions. The states were selected through a competitive process from among 21 outstanding applications across the country. During 2009, HCD International, Inc., prime contractor for the project, and Every Mother, Inc., subcontractor, will be providing training and technical assistance for the following ten selected states: Alaska, Arizona – Navajo Nation , Iowa , Kansas, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina , Vermont and West Virginia. Each state will host the training team in a two-day comprehensive "Train the Trainer" program, "Implementing *The Business Case for Breastfeeding *in * Your* Community," for coalition members, Healthy Start agency staff, and a diverse group of community partners. Coalitions will also receive a $10,000 Participant Implementation (PIC) grant, to be used in conducting further trainings and outreach with businesses to improve support for employed breastfeeding women. In Year 1 of the project in 2008, ten state breastfeeding coalitions were selected to participate in the project: California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Utah. Year 1 states and Healthy Start projects have conducted a wide range of activities including training new partners and conducting outreach with employers. As a result, many worksites are now offering lactation support programs and services for breastfeeding employees. The project and training components are based on *The Business Case for Breastfeeding, *a comprehensive national resource kit designed for employers, human resource managers, employees, and lactation consultants and other healthcare professionals who serve new families. The resource kit is based on research conducted with employers across the country, and includes information for decision makers, easy steps for implementing lactation services in a workplace, a tool kit with reproducible templates that can be tailored to the needs of the business, promotional materials, and guidance for outreach workers. The Resource Kit (as well as several of the individual components) can be obtained from the HRSA Information Center at: *www.ask.hrsa.gov*<http://www.ask.hrsa.gov/> , 1-888-ASK-HRSA. To learn more about the project, view the Webcast archived by the MCHB Healthy Start program at: *www.mchcom.com* <http://www.mchcom.com/> For more information about the training and technical assistance project, contact: Tiffany Pertillar, Project Manager, HCD International, * [log in to unmask]*<http:[log in to unmask]> ; Cathy Carothers, Project Director and Lead Trainer, Every Mother, Inc., * [log in to unmask]*<http:[log in to unmask]> ; Isadora Hare, Project Officer, HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau, *[log in to unmask]*<http:[log in to unmask]> . -- Liz Brooks JD IBCLC Wyndmoor, PA, USA *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome