Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05

Children’s Council Announces Move, Smart Start Results

Story by Kathleen McFadden

At their meeting last month, the Watauga County Children’s Council board of directors approved the Children’s Council’s move from Queen Street to the new Family Resource Center of Watauga that will be located in the building currently occupied by Blue Ridge Pediatrics.

The Children’s Council is the third agency that will have offices in the Resource Center, joining W.A.M.Y. Community Action and OASIS.

Blue Ridge Pediatrics is expected to move into their new building on Greenway Road in April, and renovations on the building will begin shortly afterwards. Children’s Council Executive Director Jennifer Wilson-Kearse anticipates that the building will be ready for occupancy by mid to late June.

From the beginning of the planning of the Family Resource Center, W.A.M.Y Executive Director Angie Miller and OASIS Executive Director Jennifer Herman have pointed to the economies of scale the agencies will achieve by being housed under one roof, the convenience for clients and the expanded grant opportunities for agencies working in closer conjunction.

Herman and Wilson-Kearse have already written several grants together for improvements to the Family Resource Center and for expanded programming. One grant submitted to the Janirv Foundation asks for funding to help pay for the cost to upfit the children's play space. Another grant submitted to the Children's Trust Fund requests money to fund a Parents as Teachers educator who would work specifically with the women with children entering the OASIS shelter and continue working with them through the transition into permanent housing. “Parenting is difficult under normal circumstances,” Wilson-Kearse said, “but going through a relocation with kids because of domestic violence is incredibly difficult.”

Another grant Herman and Wilson-Kearse are currently working on is a request to the Sisters of Mercy Foundation for Hispanic outreach.

This opportunity for joint grant writing comes at a good time. Wilson-Kearse has recently learned that two grants she has routinely submitted are not available this year.

One of those grants is Evenstart. According to Wilson-Kearse, for the past several years, President Bush has taken the money that funds Evenstart out of the federal budget, but the Senate has restored it. This year that restoration has not happened, so the Children’s Council cannot apply for the funding. “This grant would have funded our GED program and paid for the childcare while participants were in the GED class,” Wilson-Kearse explained. “It also covered much more than just the GED. It addresses issues of parenting, family literacy, creating goals around what type of job to train for, and nutrition.”

The other grant that Wilson-Kearse cannot apply for this year is from the Duke Endowment. The endowment has recently restructured its requirements and Wilson-Kearse received an email that the Children’s Council is not eligible for funding.

Despite these funding challenges, the Children’s Council continues to prove its value to the families it serves.

Data released earlier this year shows that the Children’s Council has made significant strides in helping to improve childcare quality in Watauga County.

The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc. leads the state’s Smart Start program and evaluates local and statewide progress every year according to a Performance-Based Incentive System.

The Performance-Based Incentive System is Smart Start’s annual measurement of community progress in meeting specific benchmarks related to child health, family support satisfaction and early childhood education.

The Performance-Based Incentive System results for 2007 reflect data from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007.

According to that measurement, the number of Watauga County children enrolled in high quality childcare—programs with 4 or 5 stars—has increased 208 percent since 2001, reflecting an improvement in childcare quality and an increase in the number of children enrolled in high-quality programs.

Currently, almost two-thirds—62 percent—of all Watauga County children in childcare are enrolled in the highest quality programs. That percentage is well above the state’s “high performing standard” of ≥50 percent.

To obtain this high rating, the Children’s Council has provided consumer education—educating families about high quality childcare—and has also provided technical assistance and professional development for local childcare providers to increase the quality and availability of childcare. Last year, the Children’s Council’s WAGES program provided salary supplements to 42 childcare providers to reward coursework in early childhood education and teacher longevity, recognizing that stability and educational level greatly affect the quality of childcare.

Last year, the Children’s Council provided 619 referrals to parents looking for childcare or other community resources, reached 1,535 parents with info about parenting and provided support to 100 percent of the providers caring for more than 1,000 children in regulated child care facilities in the county.

Last year, the Children’s Council also provided money to the Department of Social Services to help pay for childcare for 66 children so their parents could go to work or school. The Children’s Council also supports the public pre-K program by subsidizing 25 children, along with More at Four funds and other resources, making the public pre-K program free.