OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL

Early Learning and Family Services (ELAFS) - one of Opportunity Council's largest departments - is comprised of multiple programs for pregnant people and households with children ages birth to five years and beyond. Specific programs include, but are not limited to: Head Start and ECEAP (Washington State's Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program) center-based preschool classrooms for children ages three through five years and their families, Early Head Start home visit-based program for prenatal through age three, Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) home visit-based program for children with special needs and their families, and our Quality Child Care (QCC) division, which includes regional work supporting child care providers, infant/toddler mental health, and the Center for Retention and Expansion of Child Care (C-RECC). In Whatcom County, ELAFS continues to be a central player in the Single-Entry Access to Services (SEAS) and Help Me Grow collaborations aimed at getting every local child off to a strong start. Program year 2024-25 saw 309 children enrolled in our Head Start and ECEAP preschool classrooms, and 99 EHS children and their highly-impacted families, including eight pregnant women. ELAFS served 53,875 meals, completed 3152 home visits, served 182 kids on IEP or IFSP. SEAS Navigators processed 1,420 referrals from hospitals, doctors, family members and educators when a child was known to have or suspected of having a developmental delay or special need. And ESIT staff provided services to an average of 208 children ages 0 to 3 each month to help address developmental delays and other special needs through therapeutic interventions and family resource coordination. Economic Security for All (EcSA) completed their 8th cohort of participants graduating with expanded knowledge of financial literacy and career development. Services expanded to Island County, and we have paid out an average of $2000 per graduate earned by completing goals in partnership with a mentor and job coach. ELAFS QCC programs, through Child Care Aware of WA, broadly supported child care providers, furnished reliable data to policy makers, and assisted families in search of child care information and referrals or in need of emergency vouchers to maintain child care enrollment. Over the course of program year 2024-25, QCC supported over 500 licensed child care/early learning businesses in Early Achievers, Washington's Quality Improvement System (QIS), by providing technical assistance, training and coaching to improve quality. C-RECC worked with existing and prospective child care providers of diverse sizes in the five northwest counties of WA, connecting them with technical assistance to meet the varied needs of the sector and local employers, in addition to awarding grants totaling $274,962.