Investment in early childhood is crucial for the success of individuals and families in our community. Success in the early years leads to better preparation for school, greater academic success, and on-time high school graduation. Investment in early childhood provides supports for families and can drive economic growth in communities.
Often, systems focus on either parents/caregivers or on children. Rarely do they focus on both generations. Our aim is to invest in areas that are both child-focused and parent/caregiver-focused with a view to integrating services through partnerships and collaboration.
Our investment in Childhood Success is informed by, and aligns with, the Blueprint for Early Childhood and Common Measures Initiative for the state of Kansas. For more information, please see below:
● https://kschildrenscabinet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Blueprint-for-Early-Childhood.pdf
● https://kschildrenscabinet.org/common-measures/
Strategy Direction
- Early Learning
- Home Visitation
Population of Focus
- Prenatal to 5 years of age
- At-risk families
- Historically under-resourced populations.
Measures
- Healthy Development- children reach developmentally appropriate milestones.
- Strong Families- Promote and support safe, stable and nurturing relationships to ensure children have strong healthy starts.
- Early Learning- Promote community-based, school-based, and/or faith-based early learning experiences and support the use of early learning standards to increase consistency and quality of services.