Franklin Granville Vance Smart Inc

Child care and education quality-child care resource & referral provides support and information to parents and childcare providers. It maintains a lending library of educational and training materials, which can be borrowed by the various childcare facilities, and a database of community resources, including local childcare program information. This program provided training workshops to 227 providers, and assisted 41 child care facilities in maintaining or increasing their star rating. The accessing higher education program develops plans geared towards helping childcare professionals attain their early childhood degrees and continuing education. The program provided trainings, laptop computers for distance learning, and/or textbooks via a lending library to approximately 15 lead teachers enrolled in credit bearing courses. The kindergarten orientation/transition activity leads kindergarten readiness and the transition activities that are designed to increase teacher knowledge and strengthen the transition process from pre-school to kindergarten. A kindergarten readiness forum and roundtable were presented to childcare providers, teachers, and community members to help promote the importance of the transition from pre-k to kindergarten. The quality child care program assists childcare providers with on-site technical assistance to increase program education standards, with compliance reviews, and with review of the division of child development (dcd)assessments. Participating facilities are eligible for grants to address needs identified in their reviews and, as funds permit, incentive awards for increasing licensure. During fy 24/25 this program served 12 facilities and 69 teachers. The behavioral support program provides technical assistance focused on improving the capacity of providers to support nurturing and responsive caregiving, create learning environments, provide targeted social-emotional skills, and support children with challenging behavior in child care settings.

Health and safety - the child care health consultation program provides technical assistance to help providers identify and promote healthy and safe environments for children in child care settings. A health professional conducts classroom-based assessments to develop a quality improvement plan, informing technical assistance, and training. This program provided training workshops to 16 facilities, and assisted 47 child care classrooms in health & safety scores.

Family support - the adolescent parenting program provides direct case management services to teen parents and their children ages 0-5. Teen participants receive support in their efforts towards receiving a high school diploma and avoiding a second pregnancy. They also receive parenting education and childcare referral assistance. In fy 24/25, 100% of the program participants had no report of repeat pregnancy during the year, 100% of expected seniors graduated with 100% of them enrolling in post-secondary education programs. The other graduates are enrolled in vocational training, employed at a livable wage, and living in safe and stable housing. The cradle to class/parents as teachers program provides parenting support and instructions to families with children from birth to age five. Project activities include home visits to help parents understand their children's development and to encourage learning; group meetings; hearing, vision and general development screenings; and a referral network to link families with commuity services. There were 23 families with a total of 29 children enrolled in the program. The supporting fatherhood involvement/parents as partners program is a 16- week, evidence-based series designed to help fathers and co-parents strengthen their relationships, improve communication, and build nurturing, stable environments for their children. Sessions are 2.5 hours and led by trained facilitators who guide open discussions, skill-building activities, and reflecticve exercises that promote teamwork, accountability, and emotional connection between parents. The dolly parton imagination library provides age appropriate books to children ages 0-5. Our agency raises private donations to meet the matching fund requirement that allows franklin, granville, and vance counties to participate in the program. As of the end of fy 24/25, a total of 3,511 families are enrolled in the dolly parton imagination library. The service promotion and outreach activity supports ongoing community awareness of services through brochures, newsletters, news stories, radio, web-based info, and participation in community events. The program has also set up family resource centers in franklin, granville, and vance counties to increase opportunities to reach underserved families. Nc pre-k - the nc pre-k program funds child care slots for four-year-old children at-risk for school failure. The eligibility criteria and service priority for children to receive service is stipulated by the nc state legislature. During the 2024-2025 school year, this program served over 161 children at 11 sites in franklin county and provided additional support for 20 children in granville and vance counties. Program coordination and evaluation - the program coordination/evaluation activity promotes the benefits of early childhood programs and services and family involvement, as well as activities to inform families of available services and resources, and may seek to increase access to services. These services are provided in collaboration with other agencies, child care providers, ccr&r, the business community, as well as other partnership staff and programs to educate parents with young children.