SMART START OF PENDER COUNTY

Programs

1. CHILD CARE RESOURCE AND REFERRAL (3125):Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) is an activity designed to promote continuous quality improvement of child care centers and/or homes. Services that are provided using Smart Start dollars in this activity include: (1) Technical assistance: Technical assistance (in the form of coaching and modeling) provided to early childhood educators working in start-up, licensed and/or G.S. 110 child care facilities serving children birth to five years old. The Technical Assistance activity will be focused on improving on Participating Facilities Star Levels; Participating Facilities Star Rating Education and Program Standards points, POEMS, and ITERS/ECERS/FCCERS scores. (2) Training for child care providers: Training for DCDEE credit hours provided on child care related topics and coordination of CEU opportunities. Child care centers may receive incentives or noncash grants based on meeting their requirements as part of their TA and outlined in the Annual Program Guidelines.

   $32,874 spentof which $1,088 as grants
   9% of program spending

2. EARLY CHILDHOOD LENDING LIBRARY (3115): The Pender County Early Childhood Lending Library (PCECLL) offers a variety of materials to support to community members, as well as caregivers and early childhood educators of children 0-5. The PCECLL provides access to child development resources and materials such as, books, manipulatives, reference materials, curriculum kits, etc. The PCECLL serves as a resource room with access to die cuts, laminating machines, etc. Use of materials from the PCECLL will be available to active members of the PCECLL. Annual membership fees vary depending on the level of membership and the fee scale is reviewed annually. Guidance on the appropriate use of the materials may be provided by Smart Start of Pender County Staff.

   $119,741 spent
   31% of program spending

3. COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND EDUCATION (5517): The Community Outreach, Education, and Systems Building activity will increase awareness and improve the early childhood experiences for young children and their families in Pender County. This activity will serve to establish, coordinate and support activities and interventions that will build a strong, coordinated Early Childhood System across Pender County and will work to strengthen stakeholder relationships, improve collaboration and coordination between community organizations serving children birth to five and their families, share information about early education resources and tools and integrate resilience strategies and best practices across the community. The work in this activity may include communication between agency staff and; early educators, child care agencies, early learning advocates, local, state and national resilience advocates and resources; as well as planning, hosting, or attending community events. The work will also involve identifying potential community collaborators through intensive outreach and partnering with educational, business, faith, civic, social, and health organizations. Publications and…

   $125,423 spentof which $27,068 as grants
   33% of program spending

4. DOLLY PARTON IMAGINATION LIBRARY (5526): The Dolly Parton's Imagination Library activity will promote emergent literacy skills through a partnership with Dollywood Foundation. Through this activity, age-appropriate books will be mailed to registered children birth up to age five (0-5) monthly. Families will be recruited in target zip codes. Children are eligible to receive books regardless of family income. The books will be ordered using the Dollywood Foundation Book Ordering System (BOS) database. Families will be encouraged to participate in surveys designed to evaluate the program's impact on participating children. Books that are returned as non- deliverable can be redistributed to locations in the community such as waiting rooms at Social Services and Public Health, local child care programs, and other locations where families can receive information about early childhood services.

   $25,563 spent
   7% of program spending

5. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACCESSING HIGHER EDUCATION (3105): The Professional Development Grant: Early Educators working in child care facilities and attend the SSPC grant information session may apply for professional development awards related for credit courses. Early Educators must complete a grant application, enroll and complete an ECE course of study with a B or higher, participate in SSPC or state level early education outreach or advocacy, attend one SSPC training per grant cycle, or implement one developmentally appropriate literacy activity per semester. The participant must be a member of the SSPC Early Childhood Lending Library in good standing. Funds will be paid to the early educator after course transcript is obtained by SSPC. Individual professional development awards will not exceed $600.00 per semester.

   $12,537 spentof which $5,200 as grants
   3% of program spending

6. PROGRAM COORDINATION AND EVALUATION (5603): Program Evaluation/Coordination (PE/C) may employ up to one full-time Program Evaluation/Coordination staff person to provide Evaluation/Coordination. Up to two additional staff persons may cost allocate time to this activity. The program will offer technical assistance (TA) to all Service Providers. Individualized meetings and/or training sessions and TA may be held with all service providers to orient them to Program Evaluation/Coordination and to provide an opportunity to assist with the development of outcome strategies. TA will be provided on-site or telephonically to ensure the quality of service provision, to encourage program development, and to assist in the delivery of services. PE/C will offer on-going TA and conduct an on-going evaluation with all service providers to include reviewing and measuring activity outputs and outcomes and reporting efficiency and effectiveness of each program on a quarterly basis. PE/C will monitor each activity to assess compliance with the funded activity description at a frequency consistent with the Monitoring Policies and Procedures and PE/C will provide bi-annual reports to the partnership…

   $31,084 spent
   8% of program spending

7. RAISING A READER (5512): A Raising A Reader (RAR) Community Coordinator will implement Raising A Reader, a program that promotes improved literacy development through daily book sharing between caregivers and young children. The RAR Coordinator will hold a Bachelor's degree in early childhood education or related human service field and is required to attend the RAR National Coordinator Training prior to initial implementation. Coordinators will host two trainings for the site implementers that have been identified to participate in this project. Identified families will be loaned a book bag containing high quality developmentally appropriate children's books. The books will be exchanged each week. Parents of the children in the project will be invited to participate in at least two parent workshops where they will learn book sharing strategies. At least one library event will be provided for RAR participants and their families. Participants and their families will be provided with library information, library card application, and other community literacy resources. The program will be implemented with model fidelity as described above. Child care centers, child care homes, or…

   $38,155 spent
   10% of program spending

The 7 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $385,377.