May 2003 Update

A message from Janet E. Jackson, Incoming President, United Way of
Central Ohio and Arlene Shoemaker, Dewey R. Stokes, Mary Jo Kilroy
Franklin County Commissioners
June, 2003

The following are excerpts from a letter sent to the Start Smart staff at United Way:

"I wanted to thank all of you for sponsoring and hosting a wonderful Director’s Institute. Your seminar re-ignited a desire in me that I long forgot was there.
I now take on every day with an enthusiasm for the work ahead. I’m enjoying
the children so much more. The workshop on daydreaming into our own
childhoods and learning to let go of our many routines and just let the kids
be free to experience free time and explore nature and create their own "non
man-made toys" etc. was fantastic. It has taken all of our staff a while to "let
go," but positive comments from parents seeing their kids coming home and
"singing at the table" and "creating make believe" and "asking unbelievable
questions," has been great to hear.

"I wish every Director would have the chance to attend your workshop, and
even more, to reach out especially to those about to step into the job. Thank
you for your commitment to improving children’s lives!"

Sincerely, Laurie Jenny, Director, Olentangy Church Child Care Center

As leaders of the Start Smart initiative, we are excited to share Director
Jenny’s feedback with you. She recently attended a workshop managed by
Action for Children, one of more than 40 partners working within the Start
Smart early childhood initiative. The workshop is part of Start Smart’s efforts
to improve skills and provide quality early childhood continuing education for
child care center directors, as well as teachers.

As Start Smart enters the final stages of year three, (of a five-year initiative),
we are pleased to provide progress reports on several portions of our multi-faceted initiative.

• Credentialing and training: Through scholarships to Columbus State
  Community College and through workshops led by Action for Children,
  Start Smart provides advanced training in early childhood for child care
  center directors and staff, as well as for home child care providers. In
  year three, 31 center directors attended the Directors Institute and over
  150 preschool teachers or home providers enrolled in coursework at
  Columbus State.
• Recruitment of home child care providers: Start Smart identified four
  neighborhoods in Columbus in need of high quality child care. To
  meet those needs, the YMCA and Action for Children are working
  together to recruit and train new home-based caregivers. In year three,
  25 home providers have been recruited and are being trained. At the
  completion, 50 new quality spaces for infants and toddlers will be
  available.
  –In addition, the Children’s Hunger Alliance is working to recruit and
  train Somali and Latino home providers. So far this year, they have 30
  home providers recruited and trained and are more than halfway to
  achieving a goal of 40 homes.
• Helping home providers to achieve national accreditation: When
  home-based child care providers, as well as child care centers
  achieve national accreditation it distinguishes them as offering the
  highest quality standards of care for young children. In the history of
  Franklin County, only one home-based child care provider was ever
  known to have achieved national accreditation. Since the inception of
  Start Smart, there are now 68 homes involved in the time-consuming
  and rigorous process of gaining accreditation. With help from our
  partner, Action for Children, many homes are on the way to
  accomplishing this important distinction.
• Helping early childhood centers and Head Start to achieve national
  accreditation: Several centers in Franklin County are working toward
  their accreditation status. With the help of both the Child Development
  Council and Action for Children, year three saw 10 new centers begin
  the accreditation process. Another 177 are still currently engaged in
  the lengthy and demanding procedure. Since January of this year, two
  centers, Little Tigers in Pickerington and the Enchanted Care Center
  in Powell, have joined a number of other centers that have achieved
  the national award.
• Boosting community awareness and parent education: Start Smart
  provides tools to help parents and caregivers with early education.
  In year three, and working with a number of community organizations
  including the city health department, hospitals and the library, Start
  Smart provided almost 10,000 booklets with creative learning
  activities for infants and toddlers. The booklets are available in
  English, Spanish and Somali. They also are distributed through
  a hotline, 23-SMART (237-6278). In addition, our Web site,
  www.startsmartcolumbus.org, continues to receive hundreds
  of visits.