Every child, beginning at birth, will be healthy and successful.
Mission: Building Families’ mission is for children, youth, and families to live in safe and nurturing environments that promote health, independence and success. Building Families will create a continuum of supports and services that embrace children and their families.
Community Plan Priorities:
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1. Enhance the health, growth, & development of children & adults in the family unit.
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2. Safe, stable, & supportive families who are connected to their communities.
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3. Increase parent confidence & competence in their parenting abilities.
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4. Increase & improve the availability of quality preschool programming based on a per child basis.
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5. Develop outstanding childcare & preschool providers that enhance children’s health, developmental skills, & abilities.
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6. Increase the number of high quality early care & education environments for all children.
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7. Parents will understand & demonstrate quality parenting.
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8. Improve the coordination & collaboration of family support & parent education programs.
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9. Communities will be safe & support children & their families.
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Local Indicators:
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1. Percent of Low Birth Weight infants
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2. Rate of Immunization by age 2
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3. Percent and number of founded child abuse assessments
4. Percent of children with pre-literacy skills
5. Number of children participating in a “quality” preschool program
6. Percent of registered providers 100% compliant with DHS regulations
7. All births to mothers under age 20
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How we are collaborating to impact the priorities:
· Professional development activities are pooled using AEA trainers, CCR&R, and Empowerment. ELS, two AEA trainers, one empowerment; AEA and Empowerment pooled providing stipends. CCR&R and AEA approve training for DHS credit, three empowerment areas, CCR&R and AEA developed resource manuals for ELS training/impacts quality preschools and child care.
· Parenting Support: ISU Extension, schools, Public Health, AEA, city, CEA, faith and other community members developing committees to address parenting in Webster City/impacts child abuse, parent and child relationships.
· Community and Family Resources, UDMO, faith, Public Health, parents and schools working on youth development in Wright and Hamilton Counties/reduces the incidence of crime, teen pregnancy, and parent relationships with their children.
Services and Programs:
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Early Childhood Fund
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Early Childhood Education Specialist
Mini grants to preschools
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Training for preschools and child care provider
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School Ready Fund
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Program Manager
Preschool Scholarships and Transportation Assistance
Mental Health In-home Counseling
Child Care Health Consultant
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Early Head Start and HOPES programs
Dental Screening
Parent Coordinator
Child Care Home Evaluator Specialist
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Key Identified Need/Priority: Develop outstanding childcare & preschool providers that enhance children’s health, developmental skills, & abilities.
Measurable Goal: number of children participating in a “quality” preschool program
Why this is important: Children in quality preschool and child care programs will get their social/emotional, physical and cognitive needs met. Quality programs are developed by training. Providers who participate in professional development and take what they learn and put it into practice will provide quality services to the children.
State Result Linkage: Children Ready to Succeed in School
Key Community Indicator:
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FY ---05
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FY ---06
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FY ---07
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Current FY
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Number of children participating in a quality preschool program
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48
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54
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65
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116
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Service, Product or Activity to impact the Key Need/Priority:
Performance Measure(s)
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FY ---05
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FY ---06
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FY ---07
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Current FY
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Number of preschools participating in the IQPPS self assessment
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0
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16
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24
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20
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Number of preschool teachers and child care providers trained in Creative Curriculum
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0
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24
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1
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28
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Number of training hours logged by preschool teachers and child care providers
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643
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1088
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260
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960
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Number of unduplicated preschool teachers and child care providers participating in training
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41
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24
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64
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55
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Building quality preschools for children is a process. Our area has adopted the Creative Curriculum as our basis for providing quality services. One aspect to quality is following the curriculum with researched based assessment that is developed as a piece of the curriculum. Many Teachers in the past have used self directed assessments. Now they are using the Creative Curriculum with its Child Profile Assessment. Once the profiles are completed the data is used to determine the focus of teaching in the classroom, to partner with parents on the care and development of the child and to use as a tool to determine outcomes.
The graph shown in the state report shows the improvement in learning and development of 247 children who were assessed with the Creative Curriculum Child Profile. Training to use the instrument was provided by Building Families in 2006 and in 2008, 22 additional preschool teachers were trained. Technical assistance was provided by empowerment staff. Teachers are starting to understand the importance of the science based curriculum. Once they are familiar with the profiles, empowerment will assist them to use the profiles to develop their curriculum in the classroom. The curriculum will address the needs of the children as identified in the Child Profile Assessments. These programs are building quality preschool programs that address the social/emotional, physical, and cognitive development of the children. By doing this, children in quality preschools will be ready to learn by age five.
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