Quality Care for Children (QCC) today announced that it, along with its collaborative partners — Kids 4 Kompany Learning Academy, The Learning Station, Little Ones Learning Center, and The School Gourmet — received a $75,000 grant from the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning to address food resiliency strategies and implement Farm to Early Childhood Education practices at four child care programs in Clayton County, Ga.
The Clayton County Farm to ECE Transformation Project, created by QCC and partners, was started because of shared concerns of low child-wellbeing, connected to income inequality and food insecurity, in Clayton County’s children. The project will focus on increasing family engagement in four child care centers, creating a thriving Farm to ECE program, and piloting a centralized kitchen that will provide high-quality meals using locally-grown ingredients daily to 400 children.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with these organizations to ensure that Clayton County’s children are obtaining the nutritional resources and support they need,” said Pam Tatum, President and CEO of Quality Care for Children. “Each of our partners is passionate about food quality and insecurity, and already diligently working in their communities to instigate positive change. We are glad to be able to learn from and alongside them as we begin this work.”
The Clayton County Farm to ECE Transformation Project is one of eight local collaboratives to receive a Community Transformation Grant. The recipients were selected from a group of 34 partnerships that participated in a rigorous application process. The applicants, representing communities around the state, first submitted detailed Letters of Interest (LOIs) describing their experience and capabilities, their identified community need, and the project they planned to develop in response to that need. Each LOI was reviewed and scored, with the 20 projects receiving the highest scores invited to submit formal applications.
We are proud to support this important project through a Community Transformation Grant,” said DECAL Commissioner Amy M. Jacobs. “It will help to advance our efforts to improve both the access to and quality of vital early education services for our youngest learners and their families across the state.”
The Community Transformation Grants are funded from the three-year, $11.2 million Preschool Development Renewal Grant (PDG) Georgia was awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S.
Department of Education in January 2020. The federal grant allows Georgia to design and implement activities to help ensure that children from ages birth to 5 in the state have access to high-quality early childhood programs and services.
As part of Georgia’s PDG activities, DECAL conducted a Community Needs Assessment to identify services that should be prioritized. To help advance those priorities, the agency created the Transformation Grants and required applicants to formulate projects that addressed one of the following Focus Areas identified in the Needs Assessment:
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Increasing access to high-quality early education programs for infants and toddlers (ages six weeks to 36 months)
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Increasing access to high-quality early education programs for dual language learners (ages six weeks up to kindergarten entry)
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Increasing access to high-quality early education programs for children living in rural areas of Georgia
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Supporting children with persistent challenging behaviors to reduce suspensions and expulsions from early learning programs
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Reducing food insecurity for children ages birth to 5 and their families
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Coordinating early learning services for children in foster care or protective services
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Providing mental health services for the birth-to-5 population and their caregivers
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Providing enhanced services to young children related to the early identification and treatment of developmental delays and disabilities
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Developing a system of care to support children ages birth to 5 and their families who are experiencing homelessness
The Community Transformation Grants have a term of 18 months, but DECAL hopes that many of the funded projects will be expanded or scaled-up over time. Researchers from the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students will provide support to grantees.