United Way Center for Excellence in Early Education’s Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership and Head Start programs earned high marks from two prestigious national organizations.
Providing high-quality early care and education is out of reach for many childcare programs in our community. Our United Way has been on the path to change that.
The Center is filling the gaps and delivering transformational results. And the proof is in the accolades: two national studies, released by two prestigious national organizations, recently showcased the Center in all its glory.
The recognition
Bellwether Education Partners, a nonprofit focused on reforming education to better meet the needs of underserved children, released Leading by Examplar: Lessons from Head Start Programs. In the study, the Center’s Demonstration School, Educare of Miami-Dade, was ranked as one of the top five Head Start programs in the country. The report recognizes that by combining curriculum and instruction, family engagement practices, providing intensive, reflective support to teachers and staff, and using data to customize them to its unique population, the Center has developed a unique approach and models educational excellence in one of the nation’s most diverse city – ours.
The Bipartisan Policy Center released its Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership: Spotlighting Early Successes Across America report, which showcases the impact EHS-CCP has on the communities it serves.
What does it all mean?
Early Head Start programs target infants from 6 weeks to 36 months old and Head Start programs target toddlers 3-4 years old. Thanks to two federal grants, the Center has expanded its reach and provided additional resources to 520 low-income infants and toddlers in early care and education in 20 early care and education programs throughout our community. With 24 child care partners and a total grant amount of $9.2 million, local communities have been affected and an additional 625 children have benefited indirectly.
Through the Early Head Start – Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP), the Center makes necessary health and safety renovations to children’s learning environments (including playgrounds), purchases books and age-appropriate learning toys and provides a wide array of training to providers. Prior to the EHS-CCP, none of these providers had fully implemented a curriculum, provided comprehensive services or conducted screenings or assessments of any sort. Now, all of them do and are continuing in their efforts to increase the quality of those services.
Interested in learning more about our United Way’s efforts to help improve early education? Visit unitedwaycfe.org.