PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Mission
To assure a coordinated system of community resources to assist all Hillsdale County families in providing a great start for their children from birth through age five.
Vision
To ensure every child in Hillsdale County is safe, healthy, and ready to succeed in school and in life. |
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In October 2008, Hillsdale County ISD received a grant from the Early Childhood Investment Corporation to launch a Great Start Collaborative. At the end of November 2008 they hired a Coordinator to facilitate the Collaborative. The Hillsdale County Great Start Collaborative held its first official meeting in January 2009. The Collaborative is comprised of community leaders from health care and mental health, education, child welfare, child care, and business, as well as parents. The mission of the Collaborative is to oversee the planning, implementation and ongoing improvement of the local Great Start system. The collaborative will also serve to engage in a broad spectrum of community events and create a broad-based web of public support for early childhood policy change at the local and state level.
The Hillsdale County Great Start Collaborative will also oversee the Great Start Parent Coalition. The purpose of the coalition will be to support parents in their role, educate and motivate parents about leadership involvement in the community, and to help parents find and use their voice for young children. In March 2009, the Great Start Collaborative hired a Parent Liaison to facilitate the Parent Coalition.
Where We Are Headed
The Hillsdale County Great Start Collaborative will spend the next several months evaluating data about young children in our county. We will be looking at areas relating to young children and how we are doing as a county in meeting the needs of all children. The five key areas we will be focusing on are pediatric and family health, family support, social and emotional health, child care and early education, as well as parenting leadership. The Collaborative will spend time evaluating the data and deciding where the gaps are for the families of young children. Then the collaborative will develop a strategic plan to work toward building support and awareness for the immediate needs of our youngest citizens and their families.
EARLY CHILDHOOD
INVESTMENT CORPORATION (ECIC)
The Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC) was created in August of 2005 to ensure that every young child in Michigan has a Great Start and arrives at the kindergarten door healthy and ready to succeed in school, with parents who are committed to educational achievement. Accomplishing this important goal is not the work of any one organization or individual but will take the combined efforts of parents, community leaders, business, the legislature, state and local government, faith-based organizations, and philanthropy.
The ECIC is uniquely positioned as a public corporation to bring state and local leaders together on behalf of a better life for Michigan's youngest learners and their families. Click here to visit the ECIC website.
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