Partnership For Children Of Cumberland County Inc

Child care and education affordability - subsidies offset the cost of early learning programs for children from low-income working families, increasing the likelihood that parents will be productive members of the workforce. In partnership with the cumberland county department of social services, the partnership allocated 2,531,000 to provide low-income families access to high quality child care by offsetting the cost of 3-5 star rated child care facilities for 343 children through the child care subsidy program. In addition, the partnership provided subsidy support to assist with access to high quality, inclusive child care for 46 children to help parents meet educational goals. The nc pre-k (pre-kindergarten) program offers children a high-quality preschool experience at no charge to parents, with smoother pre-k to kindergarten transitions. The program is a state-funded, community-based pre-kindergarten program designed to provide 4-year-old children, who may not otherwise be served, with a valuable educational experience. This part-day program provides young children with access to a specific curriculum and preschool experience to enhance their school readiness. The nc pre-k program standards are built on the premise that in order to be academically successful in school, children need to be prepared in all five of the major domains of development outlined by the national educational goals panel. Each of these domains is critical to children's well-being, in particular for their success in reading and math as they come to school. The nc pre-k program provided a high-quality preschool program for 1,564 children, including 52 sites with 88 classrooms supported by approximately 191 teachers.

Family support - the kaleidoscope play and learn program served 60 children and 49 parents/guardians through facilitated playgroups in various community settings. Kindermusik enriched the brain development of 468 pre-k children, including 63 children with identified special needs. The program collaborated with 56 teachers in 28 classrooms and provided 468 child home kits. All classroom teachers received digital at home material access for additional kindermusik resources. Of 48 parents responding to surveys, 90% felt their child benefited from participating in the program. 14,067 children received age-appropriate books monthly through the dolly parton imagination library program. In addition, the partnership increased 414 parents' knowledge in how to identify quality child care by providing best practice child care consultation grounded in a parental choice model; 340 parents/guardians received child care referrals. The partnership for children's family resource center provided a hub for organizations providing programs to patrons to strengthen families through parenting support, information and referral, child care, child development activities, and other programs. It also provided a shared office infrastructure and high-quality training and educational space for partnering organizations. The family resource center had 11,842 duplicated visitors.

Program support, coordination, and evaluation - program management activities included conducting on-site fiscal and programmatic monitoring of all funded projects, as well as the ongoing coordination of projects and activities, to determine if short-term and long-term goals were being achieved. The partnership for children supported 12 in-house and external direct service partners through onsite monitoring visits, planning sessions, in-service, and consultations. In addition, the partnership supported multiple counties with one or more of the following shared services: multi-partnership accounting and contracting (mac)services, region 5 child care resource and referral, and information technology services. The partnership's information technology services provided reliable and affordable technology services for early childhood organizations to enhance or improve the services provided to families and children in the community. Health and safety - through the assuring better child health and development program (abcd), the partnership strengthened the developmental screening and referral practices of 23 medical practices representing 60 providers, impacting an estimated 27,914 young children. In addition, the partnership provided the family connects program, a 3-county regional pilot for universal newborn home visiting. The program was primarily funded with a multi-year preschool development grant for eligible births, with continuation supported by smart start funding. 3,313 babies met the residency requirements, of which 3,311 families were offered newborn home visits. 1,322 families completed the program with up to 12 weeks of support and received newborn home visits, and 458 participants received baby bundles as incentives to complete the program. A total of 5,665 referrals for services were made for participating families. Additionally, smart start funding helped 220 families with newborns ineligible for home visits with other supportive assistance and referrals; 187 parents received at least one referral for service, and 180 completed at least one referral for a parent use of service rate of 96%. The partnership advanced the collaboration and alignment of organizations coordinating and implementing effective models and strategies to address specific community issues/needs through community engagement efforts, including over 72 meetings, 15 community presentations, and 42 outreach events hosted or attended. The largest community event, little land: big play for families, included over 1,500 children and families. Through the community engagement and development (ced) program, the partnership leveraged community volunteers contributing 738 hours valued at 22,568. The partnership for children became flexible and innovative in providing services remotely and virtually during and after the pandemic, with some staff continuing to work remotely throughout the year. The partnership and its teams continue to be able to see community needs through a different lens that taught them that they could think on their feet in a crisis, learn from it, and become more effective. The partnership's activities are back to pre-pandemic levels with a few exceptions. However, the level of quality and excellence demonstrated by the partnership's staff and external partners can still be seen in the number of individuals, children, and families benefiting from the partnership's work.