SC First Steps - Florence County First Steps

Child care quality-first Steps assists child care providers To improve program quality by funding targeted upgrades To meet dss licensing or abc- enhanced requirements, and To further enhance learning environments for young children. Also, First Steps provides scholarships To high quality child care programs for eligible families and their children and increases the number of child care slots in South Carolina.

Core functions

Family strengthening-first Steps works To increase parents' ability To stimulate their child's intellectual, social and physical development through evidence-based home visitation and parenting programs such as parents as teachers.

School transition-developed by South Carolina First Steps - and identified as a promising state practice by the national governor's association in 2005 - countdown To kindergarden is a home visitation program pairing the families of high-risk rising kidergartners with their future teachers during the summer before School entry. Teachers complete six visits with each family, centered upon classroom and content expectations.