Strategic Spartanburg

 

 

Initiative: Working with children age zero to five to prepare them for school.

Description:
Spartanburg County First Steps' mission is based on the knowledge that for our youngest citizens to develop socially, emotionally and intellectually, they must live in an environment that fosters their growth. First Steps focuses on meeting needs for the individual development of children zero to five and also on strengthening adult’s parenting skills and the overall health of their families. Determinants of readiness are varied but most early childhood experts believe that children at risk of failure in school experience one or more of the following: poverty, low birth weight babies, single parent caregiver, poor health care, low educational level of the mother, low quality childcare.

First Steps programs and services addressing readiness to Spartanburg’s youngest citizens:
• Support four Family Literacy Sites through Spartanburg County Adult Education providing adult education, childcare, parent training and PACT (Parents and Children Together) to over 120 at-risk families’ and their children.
• Provide monthly staff professional development/improvement training associated with South Carolina’s Palmetto Stars, a quality rating system for childcare centers, to 200 + childcare centers serving over 1500 children. Funded by the Mary Black Foundation.
• Administer the First Steps Early Head Start program serving 120 children birth to three years of age and families in center and home based programs.
• Host a statewide Early Learning Conference for over 400 educational professionals
• Partner with United Way to provide the Imagination Library in Spartanburg County for children birth to 5 years of age.
• Coordinate Partners for Literacy to promote collaboration and implementation of literacy initiatives in the county.
• Coordinate Parent Educators in the county providing training and support.