Partnership for Children of the Foothills

Childcare and education affordability included the part day program. This program serves mcdowell county Children, ages two through five years old who are not enrolled in a regulated child care or public preschool setting or missed the birthdate cut-off for kindergarten. the program has four sites. Two an three-year-olds meet two mornings a week, while older three to five-year-olds meet three mornings a week with classes adjusted by age. the program utilizes the creative curriculum, and Children's development is tracked using the strategies gold assessment tool. There were 79 Children enrolled.

Family support activities included circle of parents programs, dolly parton imagination library program, and the parentlearn program. the circle of parents program provided a parent support group through weekly meetings so parents can gain self-esteem, overcome isolation and improve their parenting skills. 93 adults participated in at least one session. the dolly parton imagination library program offers an opportunity to prepare Children for kindergarten by exposing them to the concepts of print, encouraging child/parent reading and increasing early literacy activities in the home, thereby stimulating the child's interest in reading and learning. Participating Children receive an age appropriate book each month from time of registration until age 5. There were 4,094 Children enrolled.the parentlearn program is a collaborative effort between isothermal community college, family resources of rutherford county and Partnership for Children of the Foothills. This family literacy/adult education program for qualified rutherford county parents served 9 parents parenting sessions.community outreach and education program focused on increasing parenting knowledge by providing information for families about the availability and sccess to services for young Children. 4 community presentations conducted with 19 community outreach events held.

Child care and education quality activities provided childcare training, technical assistance, and resources for early childhood educators working in licensed childcare facilities serving Children birth to five years old. These include in-service training workshops, technical assistance visits, and on-site training, and support to centers and homes preparing for environmental rating scale assessments. the program supports centers and homes, which are preparing for re-assessment and provides assistance to directors in helping teaching staff reach professional development goals. 75 participants in professional development component employed by 22 different child care facilities.17 child care staff/educators participated in higher education advising. 225 child care professionals benefited from trainings and technical assistance. 10 child care facilities participated in quality support.

Health and safety programs included healthy smiles & vision screenings. the healthy smiles program provides preventative dental screenings to preschool Children and licensed childcare centers