04/13/10 Providence Children's Initiative Heads to Harlem    A team from various Providence non-profit and government offices is in the City of New York for a two-a-half-day training at the celebrated Harlem Children’s Zone. The training is preparation for the city’s application for an upcoming planning grant to be released by the U.S. Department of Education to create “Promise Neighborhoods,” roughly based on the Harlem Children’s Zone, in just a handful of communities across the nation. Created and led by Family Service of Rhode Island, Providence Children’s Initiative has been in the planning stages for more than a year, starting shortly after President Barack Obama become president.  Presidential candidate Obama had been promoting the concept of replicating the success of the Harlem Children’s Zone across the nation. “We took notice and started pulling the initiative together,” said Margaret Holland McDuff, CEO of Family Service of Rhode Island, which secured start-up funds from The Rhode Island Foundation, the Hasbro Children’s Fund and Textron Charitable Trust to hire a project director.  “We knew it was going to be a competitive process so we wanted to do everything we could to position Providence’s application for success.” Areas covered in the training at the Harlem Children’s Zone include details about the zone’s philosophy, and its “Baby College,” “Harlem Gems Pre-School Program,” healthy living initiative, college success office and employment and training center.  Other areas covered are fiscal management, evaluation and program management.  Holland McDuff noted that the idea is to learn from the Harlem experience, but to tailor Providence Children’s Initiative to the unique needs and assets in Providence. “We’re particularly excited about having the opportunity to have a face-to-face meeting with Geoffrey Canada,” said Providence Children’s Initiative director Swan Capris.  Canada founded the Harlem Children’s Zone, called “one of the most ambitious social-service experiments in our time,” by the New York Times. Slated to attend: representatives from Family Service of RI, the Providence Police Department, the Providence mayor’s office, Ready to Learn Providence, Meeting Street, the Providence School Department, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Making Connections Providence, and the Greater Providence YMCA Providence Children’s Initiative has the support of top Providence officials, including Mayor David Cicilline, school superintendent Thomas Brady, and Colonel Dean Esserman, the city’s police chief.  Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and Patrick Kennedy are also supporting the initiative. Providence’s application is expected to be the state’s sole application.