early childhood investment corporation great start spring 2011

8/6/2019 Early Childhood Investment Corporation Great Start Spring 2011

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A publication of the Early Childhood Investment Corporation, Michigans early childhood authority

SPRING 2011

Great StartsHERE

I N S I D E

Page 2 Ofce o Great Start holdspromise or early childhood inMichigan

Page 7 Local communities createimprovement unds, child carescholarships

Page 8 Star Power celebrates5th anniversary


2/8

At a gathering of educators in Detroit on April

27, the governor announced his intent to sign

an executive order creating the Ofce of Great

Start Early Childhood, which will coordinate earlychildhood programs and resources that currently are

scattered across multiple state departments. Snyder

called it the rst plank in his drive to reform

Michigans entire educational system.

The move is long-awaited help for Michigan

parents who must contend with different state

bureaucracies in getting help for their children, and it

is long-awaited news for early childhood advocates

who believe that moving public investment from 84

program outcomes to a more coordinated, integrated

child-centered approach is the only way to change

school and life readiness for young children.

This new ofce will refocus the states earlychildhood investment, policy and administrative

structures by adopting a single set of early childhood

outcomes, said Snyder, who also noted the important

role the Early Childhood Investment Corporation

(ECIC) will have in making the Ofce a reality.

This is a marked, bold change from current

practice, said Judy Y. Samelson, ECIC chief

executive ofcer. With an increasingly resource-

strapped state focusing on how to more efciently

target public funds toward documented needs, and

with ECIC continuing to focus

on quality, accountability,

innovation and expandingprivate investment

in early childhood,

Michigan could lead

the nation in how

to set children on a

course of achieving

their potential,

making

parents a

priority in that

process, and

strengthening

Michigans

workforce andeconomy.

Were very

excited about

it here in the

Department of

Education,

said Dr. Lindy

Buch, director

of the Ofce of

Early Childhood

Education and

Family Services.

The level ofcollaboration

in the ofce will facilitate and focus all of our efforts

on better opportunities and therefore better outcomes

for young children. (This) should allow us to be more

efcient and to have a common vision.

Until now, early childhood has fallen under the

radar in government, she said. The new ofce

without adding staff will create more visibility

for the importance of developing early childhood

responses that lead to school readiness, she added.

Ultimately, it will streamline and make it easier for

parents to get the help they need locally.

Its not like our different entities havent beenworking together, Buch added. But weve all sort

of been buried within different department structures

and the whole purpose of this is to create a single

entity big enough to make enough ruckus so people

will pay attention.

The idea of making a ruckus for her child sounds

pretty good to Lauren Heilman, the mother of a 4-year-

old from Cadillac. Its critical to get parents involved

she said. Most parents are just in survival mode

and just trying to get basic needs met. But through

Governor Snyder SupportsOfce o Great Start

Five months ater taking ofce, Gov. Rick Snyder is

undamentally changing how Michigan will be approaching

public education, including more intense ocus on the years

that are pivotal to school readiness.

BY TERI BANAS

2 GREAT STARTS HERE / SPRING 2011


3/8

SPRING 2011 / GREAT STARTS HERE 3

the Great Start Parent Coalitions thats the group

I belong to were doing everything we can to get

awareness out there. To really make a difference, it

starts with us parents.

In his remarks, the governor said the new ofce

would reduce duplication and administrative overhead,

and reinvest resources from efciencies into quality

improvement and improved service delivery.

In an article in theDetroit News, Snyder adviserGreg Tedder reiterated that the new ofce does not

represent a growth of state government or duplication

of the public/non-prot ECIC, created in 2005. He said

ECICs continued role is signicant and distinctive

because it can leverage public and private money in

ways state government cant.

At its core, ECICs job is to implement the Great

Start early childhood system for Michigan. That

means getting all things early childhood focused on

working together on behalf of children, Samelson

said. The ECIC-supported statewide Great Startnetwork of local collaboratives and parent coalitions

are making tremendous strides toward building

systems in their communities, starting with a

painstakingly built assessment of community needs

and assets around early childhood. For the rst time,

Michigan communities not only can document what

needs to happen to ensure children are ready for

school and life; they also have a plan to get it done.

What has been missing are the resources to implement

those plans.

What is so exciting about the promise of an Ofce

of Great Start is that in time, we just might be able to see

state resources go to communities to make those plansreal. If so, well move from making incremental progress

on school readiness in Michigan to leaps, Samelson said.

Imagine a time in the not too distant future when

someone says, Great Start, and everyone knows

that means early childhood, because all Michigans

early childhood programs, resources and supports are

interconnected and working together to support families

of young children. We can do this.

ECIC does not run programs except for those

focused on quality improvement such as the Great

Start Child Care Quality Program. It also works on

demonstration projects such as a forthcoming Great

Start Quality Rating and Improvement eld test that

will help parents nd quality child care. A rating

and improvement system helps child care providers

identify strengths and weaknesses as well as paths to

better service.

We will continue to see that as much money

as possible reaches communities where the realwork of change lies. Samelson said. Having the

statewide Great Start network to ensure that local

communities make this work a priority and also that

the customer voice is key to decision making are

among the reasons other states see Michigan as an

early childhood leader.

Though Snyder said he hoped to enact changes by

July, he didnt immediately say how administrative

changes would begin. He outlined his plan to include:

n Creating the new ofce by combining the Ofce

of Child Development and Care, now located

in the Department of Human Services, with theOfce of Early Childhood Education and Family

Services, currently located at the Department of

Education.

n Housing the new Michigan Ofce of Great

Start Early Childhood at the Department

of Education and placing under it existing

programs such as Great Start School Readiness,

Great Parents/Great Start, Preschool Special

Education, Child Care Licensing, Head Start

State Collaboration, Child Care and Development

Program, and Early On.

Our goal must be to create a coherent system ofhealth and early learning that aligns, integrates and

coordinates Michigans investments from prenatal to

third grade, Snyder said. This will assure Michigan

has a vibrant economy, a ready workforce, a pool of

people who demonstrate consistently high educational

attainment, and a reputation as one of the best states in

the country to raise a child.

The future of the states labor force depends

on it, he said.

Within hours, reaction and praise from leaders

in the early childhood eld across the country began

pouring in.

Most exciting news in the country! said long-timenational early childhood champion, Karen W. Ponder,

former president and founder of North Carolinas

Smart Start early childhood initiative.

For a text o Gov. Snyders address to the Michigan

Legislature, including his plans or an Ofce o Great Start

Early Childhood, see http://www.michigansandboxparty.org/

media/in-the-news/react-education-reorm

Imagine a time in the not too distant

uture when someone says, Great

Start, and everyone knows thatmeans early childhood.

Judy Y. Samelson,ECIC Chie Executive Ofcer


4/8


Topics drew crowds on issues as far-ranging

as piloting the states rst Quality Rating and

Improvement System and implementing medical

homes for the most disadvantaged to strengthening

families and building effective collaboratives to

help improve services and programs for Michigans

youngest children, prenatal to ve.

Set against a backdrop of gut-wrenching andunprecedented pending state budget cuts, the annual

Great Start Conference on March 14-16 this year

energized 400 collaborative members, parent liaisons

and partners for the work.

The passion, the intensity, the sincerity of what

people are working on and their willingness to share

and learn thats what this conference does, said

attendee Robert Struck, vice chairman of the Marquette-

Alger Great Start Collaborative. So whatever the

session people attend, I know theyre getting that

energy and are bringing back to their communities.

Important peer-to-peer learning ruled the day

during the one time a year when the statewide Great

Start community gathers, said Judy Y. Samelson,Chief Executive Ofcer, of the Early Childhood

Investment Corporation.

We really are mindful and respectful of the

unique contributions made by each local community.

Its about sharing best practices and lifting one

another up.

Making a difference underlined the presentation

by Dr. Pennie Foster-Fishman, a professor of

psychology at Michigan State University and

researcher in organizational change. She is working

to improve the outreach and effectiveness of Great

Starts 54 Collaboratives and 70 Parent Coalitions and

has been involved in a year-long evaluation of ECICand its state network.

Theres strong evidence to suggest youre making

strong headway, Foster-Fishman told the conference.

Children and family outcomes are actually starting to

improve because of your work.

Now involved in using the results of that survey

customized to each community to improve their

efforts, she said hard work is paying off. Attendees

should be very proud that they are making an impact

on meeting the needs of young children and families.

Great StartConferenceIt was a coming

together to share ideas,encouragement and

to bolster the work of

the diverse Great Start

community in every

county in Michigan.

||| Harriet Meyer delivers the keynote address at the conerence.

||| Dr. Pennie Foster-Fishman tells Great Start collaborative and

coalition members that their work is making a dierence.

BY TERI BANAS


5/8

According to Foster-Fishman, the survey probed

32 areas or outcomes, all designed ultimately to get

children ready for school. Some ndings:

n Fifty-ve percent of respondents said parent

coalitions were highly valued and 47 percent said

Great Start Collaboratives were highly valued in

their communities.

n Phase matters. Over time, collaboratives becomemore effective and parents in these areas report their

ability to access services improves as well. Phase 1

collaboratives originated in 2006; the newest groups

formed in 2009.

n Strong outcomes are rooted in the unique core

strategy of Michigans Great Start system, the only

such coalition in the country with a built-in parent

base found in its vast network of parent coalitions.

Becoming a valued presence in local

communities is critical to the work of Great Start

Collaboratives, she said, because it will improve

prospects for leveraging funds and commitments and

even recruitment for parent coalitions.

Harriet Meyer, a national leader on early

childhood and former president of the storied

Ounce of Prevention advocacy organization basedin Chicago, delivered the keynote speech in which

she urged advocates to continue to push the concept

that education begins at birth. National statistics

indicate that almost 48 percent of U.S. children enter

school at risk for failing.

Unreadiness for school is a problem embedded in

a fragmented and disconnected early child care and

preschool system that may take America 50 years to

reform for better outcomes for families, she said.

Yet, strengthening the nations economy depends

on improving opportunities and providing early

intervention for those most at risk.

For a complete story on Harriet Meyers speech at the Great

Start Conference, please turn tohttp://greatstartorkids.org/

content/harriet-meyer-parental-involvement-targeted-unding-

key-early-childhood.

Fierce Heart AwardBY BRENDA BRISSETTE-MATA

LANSING Lucy McClintic, associate

director of Head Start and Early

Childhood Programs for Capital Area

Community Services in Lansing, andDonna Lackie, co-coordinator of the

Great Start Collaborative-Oakland,

were selected as this years recipients

of the ECIC Great Start Fierce Heart

Award.

The award was established by

the Early Childhood Investment

Corporation (ECIC) to honor and recognize an individual

who has shown unwavering dedication to the Great Start

vision and who is taking relentless action at the national,

state and/or local levels to bring that vision to reality.

Rich Van Tol, director of early childhood programs for the

Saginaw Intermediate School District, received the award in2009. In a pay-it-forward twist, he selected one winner, Lucy

McClintic, who runs the Head Start program for more than

40 school districts in four counties near Lansing. The ECIC

selected Donna Lackie.

When I made a list of the people I most respect and

admire, Lucy McClintic was at the top, Van Tol said.

McClintic praised Great Start and ECIC for helping

communities become focused on collaborative work.

Bringing additional partners to the table so that we can all

work together is imperative, she said.

Darlene Zimny, Lackies co-coordinator, praised Lackie

for what she called her greatest strength knowing her

community so well.

She nds out about upcoming, research-based new

ideas that have great outcomes and sees how it can t our

community, Zimny said.

Parent Cafes is an initiative started by Lackie in Oakland

County. At each host location, a facilitator talks to parents

about the ve protective factors identied in Strengthening

Families resiliency, social connections, knowledge of

parenting and child development, concrete support of basic

needs and social/emotional competence. There have been mo

than 35 cafes in Oakland and estimates show they have reach

more than 400 parents. Research shows these factors strength

families and promote optimal child development.Another of Lackies initiatives is placing the Ages and

Stages questionnaire on line for greater access by parents.

Used by parents to monitor their childs development, it also

helps collaboratives discern in which areas families need mor

information and resources. It is located on the collaboratives

website, greatstartforkids-oakland.org.

This story ran in its entirety on the Great Start Website at http://

greatstartorkids.org/content/advocates-receive-ferce-heart-awards-

great-start-conerence.

Unreadiness or school is a

problem embedded in a ragmentedand disconnected early child care

and preschool system.

Learn about poverty competency by

visiting the Great Start website at http://

greatstartforkids.org/content/defeating-

poverty-has-become-donna-beegles-life


||| Donna Lackie


6/8

PEDIATRIC & FAMILY HEALTH

Anew survey in the works is expected

to reveal some tender spots in the oralhealth o the states youngest residents.

Five times more common than

asthma dental decay is the single

most common childhood

disease, according

to the Michigan

Department o

Community Healths

Michigan Oral

Health Plan.

Thats

prompted a

six-month

survey o

children,

parents

and

providers aimed to create an oral health

baseline assessment o children, birth to5 years old.

The state o Michigans childrens

oral health has become a serious

problem and a key component

in plans to improve the states early

childhood system. For underprivileged

children in particular,

its been billed as no

less than a silent

epidemic.

Thats because

poor children have

12 times as many

activity-restricted

days per year due

to dental illness,

according to

the U.S. Surgeon Generals Report, Oral

Health in America.

And sadly, unlike many childhood

diseases, dental disease is preventable.

Risks o chronic diseases such as

diabetes, stroke and heart disease haveall been linked to dental disease.

While surveys o school-age children

have changed the way parents and

proessionals deal with dental care in

children, public health experts believe

that starting care even earlier birth

to age 5 can prevent many o the

long-term medical problems, said Jenny

Salesa, health specialist with the Early

Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC).

Through September, the University o

Michigans Child Health Evaluation and

Research Unit is conducting the study,

which has been commissioned by the

ECIC, Head Start and the University o

Michigan. It is being unded by Head Start

and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

A Silent Epidemic BY JENNIFER WALKLING

When state unding cuts eliminated theChild Care Enhancement Programthat oered mental health services or

inants and toddlers last year, the Great

Start Traverse Bay/Manistee Collaborative

did what it was designed to do.

The collaborative talked over

community needs with its partners

and developed a novel plan to fll the

gap, continuing to serve amilies o

young children who are struggling with

challenging behaviors.

The collaborative working with theGreat Start Regional Child Care Resource

Center or Northwest Michigan and three

area intermediate school districts put

their heads together and developed a

new response to support the social-

emotional needs o young children.

We knew there was still a need. And

we talked about what we might be able

to do that was comparable and could be

accomplished within our scope o work,

said Pam Ward, executive director o the

regional resource center.

We know social emotional health

is the basis or children becoming

successul in their uture learning. And

early intervention is hugely important.

This is one o the strengths o

our Great Start system, said Karen

Roback, director o the Great Start

Child Care Quality Program. Its

all about community members,

parents, providers and partnerstalking about the needs o young

children in their communities and

how they can be met.

This story is a perect example o

how our Great Start communities are

working together, assessing needs,

creating efciencies and providing

solutions or services or our youngest

children, Roback added.

SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL HEALTH

Collaborative Fills Service Gap BY TERI BANAS


To read more about this story, pleasesee http://greatstartorkids.org/content/tc-great-start-flls-gap-missing-mental-health-service.


7/8


T

hirty-one Great Start Collaboratives

across the state have been awarded

$3 million in grants to stimulate private

investment in local early childhood eorts

and to pay or child care/preschool

scholarships or vulnerable 3-year-olds.

The grants, made by the Early

Childhood Investment Corporation, ranged

rom $3,000 or the Ionia County Great

Start Collaborative on up to $400,000 or

the Kent Great Start Collaborative.

The collaboratives receiving grants

will establish local matching unds

and challenge local businesses and

oundations to contribute to the und,thereby creating an ongoing pool rom

which to boost local early childhood eorts.

In addition, collaboratives will spend

their original seed grants rom ECIC on

child care/preschool scholarships or the

most at-risk 3-year-olds rom low-income

amilies, creating an immediate beneft.

In Michigan, the cost o quality child

care is oten prohibitive or amilies. The

average cost o ull-time care or an

inant or young child in a amily child care

home or center in Michigan is between

$6,400 and $8,900, according to a study

by the National Association o Child Care

Resource and Reerral Agencies.

Early childhood advocates say quality

child care is among the supports that

children need to boost their chances o

being ready to thrive once they reach

kindergarten. Research has shown that

early childhood supports increase the

chances o lie success, cut government

costs and stimulate local, state andnational economies.

Kids rom low-income homes need

quality care the same as anyone else, so

were pleased to help the collaboratives

oer these scholarships, said Karen

Roback, director o the Great Start Child

Care Quality Program or the ECIC, which

oversees the collaboratives. But in these

tough times its also crucial to stimulate

continued private investment in early

childhood at the local level, and the

matching und aspect o these awards

will help the collaboratives do that.

In the last our years, the Collaborativesand ECIC have raised over $23 million in

unds rom public and private sources.

The grants are unded through a

combination o public and private sources.

In uture years, local communities will

help decide how contributions to their

matching unds are used.

Local collaboratives will identiy the

most appropriate local fduciary a

community oundation, Chamber o

Commerce or Intermediate School District

to receive and administer the unds.

The child care scholarships will be

awarded to licensed child care homes and

centers beginning in late summer 2011.

For a complete story on the $3 million grant

program please see http://greatstartorkids.

org/content/nearly-3-million-early-childhood-

grants-will-boost-school-readiness-and-

uture-workorce

BY BRENDA BRISSETTE-MATA

Jessica Rowland never imagined herselas a parent leader. And yet the mother oa now 3-year-old daughter has been with

the Ionia County Great Start Collaborative

and Parent Coalition since May 2009.

I was never much o a joiner, said

Rowland, noting the twist o irony.

Rowland, who became a Great

Start parent liaison six months ago,represents hundreds o Michigan parents

empowered through Great Start. Gov. Rick

Snyders recent message on education

reorm to the Michigan Legislature

confrmed the important role parents

play as Michigan moves toward an

independent and successul uture.

Parents, said Snyder, have a daily,

personal stake in education.

Advocates or early childhood have

long believed, like the Governor, that its

essential to engage parents in the work

o rebuilding Michigans early childhood

system which is why the Early Childhood

Investment Corporation (ECIC) prioritizes

parenting leadership as one o the key

components needed or school readiness.

Historically, programs have been

designed by groups o well-intentioned

proessionals who come together to meet aneed. But the process changes dramatically

i, along the way, the people who use the

system become part o the design process.

Who better to ask how a program

is working than those who use it?

said Bryn Fortune, director or Great

Start Parent Coalition Development and

Assistance. We have to think o the

people that a program will serve as the

customer. In a very meaningul way,

we are bringing the customer into theprocess. What do parents need? What

are the problems aced by those using

these programs?

Rowland agrees. Theres a need

out there or my voice to represent other

parents just like me, she said.

Parents o special needs, parents

without insurance, parents who have been

on assistance. Nobody will deend my

child like I will. I I dont make the change

frst, nobody else will do it or me.

Fortune, who has been conducting a

series o dialogues with collaborativesand coalitions around the state to learn

more about what each community is

acing, how parents are aring and what

next steps are necessary to create a

more amily-centered approach, said

it is an enormous shit to get human

services, a service-centered approach,

to move into a amily-centered approach.

It really is about this continuum

toward leadership, Fortune said.

CHILD CARE & EARLY LEARNING

PARENTING LEADERSHIP

$3 Million in Grants Awarded

Parents Provide Vital Role


8/8

8 GREAT STARTS HERE / SPRING 20118 GREAT STARTS HERE / SPRING 2011

The group, the largest since 2007, gathered at Cooley

Law Stadium, home of the Lansing Lugnuts, and

paraded down Michigan Avenue, led by the Waverly

High School Marching Band and Drum Corps.

Judy Samelson, CEO of the Early Childhood

Investment Corp. (ECIC), which sponsors the event with

private dollars, said Star Power has a unique magic to

bring people together.

Star Power is always a wonderful chance for

lawmakers to hear one-on-one from their constituents

about the need for us to continue making school readiness

a primary focus, not a secondary one, Samelson said.

She said this year was particularly important because

of the number of new lawmakers in Lansing.

There were 148 legislative meetings that occurred

inside the Capitol and nearby legislative ofces. The

members of 54 Great Start Collaboratives and 70 Parent

Coalitions came to thank lawmakers for support andto continue to press the case that early childhood

supports and programs need to be a priority in the

state budget.

The Allegan County Collaborative met with their

senator, Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, on the oor of

the Michigan Senate. There they presented him with a

token of our appreciation, a potted Gerber daisy and

a copy of the beloved childrens

book, The Legend of Sleeping

Bear, based on the Michigan

legend of how Sleeping Bear

Dunes and Manitou Island

were formed.

Collaborative Director

Megan Koops-Fisher said

the meetings were making

a particularly strong

impression on the children.

Roughly half of Star Powerparticipants this year were youngsters, from infants to

school-age children.

These kids know whats going on, Koops-Fisher

said. Kids feel connected when they meet their

legislators face to face.

Read more about Star Power at http://greatstartorkids.org or

http://michigansandboxparty.org.

Star Power 2011a Success!

For more inormation about Great Start and ECIC, visit www.greatstartorkids.org. To receive Great StartsHere, email us at [email protected] and put Great Starts Here in the subject line.

Great Starts HEREEditor: TeriBanas

Writers:AndrewHeller BrendaBrissette-Mata JenniferWalkling TeriBanas

GreatStartisMichigansnationallyrecognized

state-wideinitiativetofosterschoolreadiness

andlifesuccessforyoungchildren.

TheEarlyChildhoodInvestmentCorporation

isapublic,nonprotorganizationworkingtorestructureMichigansinvestmentinchildren

frombirthtovethroughstateandlocal

communityefforts.

112E.AlleganLansing,MI48933

www.greatstartforkids.org

More than 4,300 parents, children and community leaders from across

Michigan braved the rain for a chance to talk to their lawmakers during the

fth annual Star Power 2011 event on May 19.

early childhood investment corporation great start spring 2011

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