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• Expanding Quality for Infants and Toddlers
• Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation
• Family Leadership Training Institute
• The Incredible Years
• Systems Building
• Community Collaboration and Outreach
• Adams County Safe Schools Healthy Students Initiative
  

Adams County School Readiness Quality Improvement Project

This funding from the Colorado Department of Human Services is allocated to communities throughout Colorado in order to improve the quality of early childhood programs - and subsequently the school readiness - of young children who are cared for at facilities that feed into elementary schools receiving low or unsatisfactory academic performance ratings on their 2005 School Accountability Reports. Governor Owens said of the grants, "How well a child does in high school in many ways depends on how well they are prepared for kindergarten and grade school. We cannot let doors be shut for our children because they are not ready to learn. These school readiness grants will make a difference in many lives." ECPAC will receive approximately $300,000 each year from July 2006 to June 2009 in order to improve school readiness in Adams County.

Based on the results of the 2005 Adams County Comprehensive Early Childhood Community Needs Assessment conducted by ECPAC, the Adams County School Readiness Quality Improvement Project is focused upon:

• Measuring the quality of Adams County ECE facilities and tailoring individual quality improvement plans based upon identified needs
• Increasing the number of ECE providers who have college-level training in early childhood
• Increasing access to early childhood mental health services in child care settings
• Increasing the involvement of families in their children's early care and education
• Addressing the unique early education experiences of second language learners
• Collecting reliable outcome data about participating children that can be used to guide the Project.

Through the School Readiness Quality Improvement Project, ECPAC partners with 2 family child care homes, five child care centers (24 classrooms), five Head Start sites (12 classrooms) and 9 school district preschool sites at three districts (29 classrooms).

The following agencies are currently partnering to provide services to ECPAC School Readiness sites through the School Readiness Quality Improvement Project:

• Adams County Foundation
• The Beacon Center
• Child Care Innovations at Red Rocks Community College
• Front Range Community College
• Invest in Kids
• Qualistar Early Learning

For more information about the ECPAC School Readiness Quality Improvement Project, please contact Janet Campbell at (303) 818-1818.

Expanding Quality for Infants and Toddlers

Expanding Quality in Infant Toddler Care Initiative (EQ) is an exciting educational course now being offered in Adams County. The EQ Initiative began in Colorado in 1999, after statistics showed that Colorado was doing poorly in quality care of infants and toddlers and had an extreme shortage of qualified infant/toddler caregivers. The EQ Initiative is funded through the federal Child Care and Development Fund and administered in Colorado by the Colorado Department of Education and Human Services, Division of Child Care.

Adams County participants who complete the 16 EQ class sessions will join 3,400 other professionals in the state who have completed the course. The participants are both center and family home providers. The EQ curriculum covers a variety of topics including child development, responsive caregiving, safety, health, nutrition, culture, partnering with families, and welcoming children with special needs. EQ is based on the understanding that infants and toddlers grow and learn through relationships.

Along with the EQ coursework, on-site coaching is available for participants who would like individual feedback. The Early Childhood Partnership of Adams County is also able to provide all participants the opportunity to receive college credit through Front Range Community College for their completion of the EQ class. EQ classes will be offered every spring and fall at no cost to infant and toddler caregivers.

For more information about Expanding Quality classes in Adams County, please contact Elizabeth Groginsky at (303) 453-8503.

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Family Leadership Training Institute

In 2008, in partnership with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, ECPAC was chosen as one of five Colorado communities to pilot the Family Leadership Training Institute (FLTI). This program is well-established nationally, but has never been implemented in Colorado until now.

FLTI seeks to enable parents to become leading advocates for children. It is designed by the American Leadership Forum, Leadership Greater Hartford, and the Connecticut Commission on Children. The cornerstones of the program are respect, validation and a belief that when the tools of democracy are understood, the public will become active participants in communities.

FLTI has these goals:

• Help parents become the leaders they would like to be for children and families
• Expand the capacity of parents as change agents for children and families
• Develop communities of parents within regions of the state that will support one another in skills development and successful parent action for children
• Facilitate systems change for parental involvement with increased utilization of parents in policy and process decisions
• Increase parent-child interactions and improve child outcomes through parent involvement

Participants are offered leadership training that includes:

• a retreat to develop group communication
• 10 weeks of classes on self and perception of leadership
• 10 weeks on practicing democracy skills
• a community project based upon the student's personal passions

The 20-week course also includes instruction on:

• Understanding personal history and its impact on perceptions of leadership Thriving and working with diversity
• Assessing and defining problems - thinking critically
• Using the media
• Public speaking
• Using benchmarks and outcome measures
• Forming useful coalitions and building community
• Working with and how to engage the opposition
• Understanding policy and municipal budgets
• Becoming familiar with city, state and federal law

For more information about the FLTI model and its outcomes, please visit http://www.cga.ct.gov/coc/plti_about.htm.

For more information about local implementation, please contact Elizabeth Groginsky at (303) 453-8503.

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The Incredible Years

Through a grant from Tony Grampsas Youth Services, ECPAC coordinates and funds Incredible Years activities and implementation in Adams County.

The Incredible Years is an evidence-based early childhood social-emotional curriculum that has been proven to boost academic success, reading and school readiness as well as expand the competencies of parents and teacher to prevent and address behavior problems in children. It is designed to be implemented in early childhood education settings, and is responsive to the cultural context of the community in which it is conducted.

The Incredible Years program has three distinct components that work together to achieve outstanding outcomes:

• Skill Building for Children: "Dinosaur School" is presented with puppetry (including two life-sized child puppets, a wide-eyed Dinosaur and timid turtle) in a 15-20 minute large group circle time with the entire classroom 2-3 times a week. It is followed by a 15-20 minute small group activity. "Dinosaur School" provides children with special attention and tools that help build skills in anger management, problem solving, emotional competence, empathy and developing friendships.
• Skill Building for Parents: Groups are offered weekly for 12-14 weeks. The goals of the group are to offer parents support and additional information in strengthening parenting skills that promote the parent - child relationship, build social competence, reduce behavior problems and promote school readiness. Modalities of learning include the collaborative process, group discussion, video vignettes, role-play and home activities.
Skill Building for Teachers: Video-based training, modeling and guided practice provide teachers with proven classroom management strategies, including the effective use of teacher attention, praise and encouragement that promote academic success in the classroom.

These programs for children, parents and teachers are proven to be effective and developmentally appropriate. In addition, they provide children, parents and teachers with strategies to promote healthy social and emotional development that helps support early school successes.


For more information about the Incredible Years model and its outcomes, please visit www.iik.org.

For more information about local implementation, please contact Elizabeth Groginsky at (303) 453-8503.

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Systems Building

Community Assessment: At least once every two years, ECPAC conducts an extensive review of available data about Adams County and uses this information to set strategic priorities, determine the effectiveness of ECPAC activities and communicate with policymakers. Key findings from recent community assessments include:

• Adams County is a culturally, economically, and linguistically diverse community.
• According to the Community Readiness Assessment, there is vague awareness and concern in Adams County regarding early care and education.
• The data indicate a significant need for more quality child care and early education opportunities in Adams County.
• Only 38% of the 1,710 Head Start eligible children are receiving services.
• The data indicate that many Adams County children are at-risk for academic and school failure.
• Adams County school districts are facing the challenge of increased poverty and an increasing number of English language learners.
• Resources for at-risk families are available in Adams County; however they are limited and not well coordinated.
• Community agencies indicate child care, parent education/parent involvement, and mental health services are the top three needs for Adams County families.
• The Early Childhood Partnership of Adams County is a strong collaboration that is ready to initiate activities to address the identified needs.

Strategic Planning: Each year, ECPAC completes a facilitated strategic planning process that examines the needs of our community in order to establish a work plan for the coming year. Currently, ECPAC has task forces addressing each of the following components of early childhood systems in Adams County:

• System of Care
• Operations
• Communications
• Fiscal and Finance

ECPAC 2008 Work Plan
ECPAC 2008 Strategic Plan
ECPAC 2007 Work Plan
ECPAC 2007 Strategic Plan

Community Collaboration and Outreach: ECPAC seeks to consistently engage local government, nonprofits, families and other early childhood stakeholders in its work and to align ECPAC activities with other related activities in the community for maximum impact. ECPAC staff and partners are continually seeking information, funding and collaboration opportunities to support the improvement of early childhood systems in Adams County and exploring how to refine these systems to be more cost-effective, efficient and accessible.

For more information about ECPAC Systems Building Initiative, please contact Elizabeth Groginsky at (303) 453-8503.

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Adams County Safe Schools Healthy Students Initiative

With seven cities, 13 law enforcement agencies, and seven school districts within its borders, Adams County has long seen obstacles in service delivery to its constituents, particularly children. Now, a new multi-year, multi-million dollar grant from the federal government should help the county better coordinate its resources to promote the health and well being of its children.

A consortium of partners, led by Adams 12 Five Star Schools has been awarded a $7.8 million grant from the US Department of Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services as the lead agency for the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative.,] The initiative proposes an integrated community-wide approach to create and sustain safe, respectful, drug-free school environments, and to promote pro-social skills and healthy childhood development. Hundreds of applicants applied for the grants and were screened down to only 27 awards around the country.,]Adams County is the only 2007 grantee in Colorado.

The award will fund various programs and services in Adams County that support safe school environments and violence prevention activities, alcohol and other drug prevention activities, student behavioral, social and emotional supports, mental health services and early childhood social and emotional learning programs.

SS/HS Vision: To create a countywide collaborative to support a locally-driven human service delivery partnership designed to create a comprehensive and integrated system of care for youth (ages pre-birth to 21) and their families.

The Early Childhood Partnership of Adams County (ECPAC) will ensure coordination and effective implementation of programs, strategies and curricula identified under the early childhood element of the initiative. ECPAC brings a countywide perspective and consistency in approach and oversight to early childhood programming and services.

The Early Childhood Partnership of Adams County Agrees To:

• Provide oversight and coordination with relation to all SS/HS Element 5 activities.
• In partnership with the Beacon Center, serve as the lead agency responsible for coordination and execution of the activities related to Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation.
• In collaboration with Growing Home, a family resource center, serve as the lead agency responsible for coordination and execution of the activities involved in implementation of the Parents as Teachers program.
• Collaborate with the Tri-County Health Department in the coordination and implementation of the Nurse Home Visitation program expansion.
• Collaborate with Invest in Kids to implement the Incredible Years program in all five school districts' preschool programs.

SS/HS Guiding Principles and Strategies:

• Increase access to services and formal and informal supports where youth and families live and congregate in Adams County.
• Use capacity building models to leverage and build upon existing resources and to sustain effective activities after the grant (e.g., build in parent-to-parent; peer-to-peer; cross-age mentoring; multi-generational and multi-sector supported services wherever possible).
• Enhance meaningful and authentic youth, parent and community engagement, involvement, and leadership in both school and community.
• Grow, diversify and strengthen collaborative and multi-sector partnerships via interdisciplinary teaming and learning, comprehensive service coordination, and community organizing. Implement within a given geographic area (e.g., neighborhood, precinct, municipality, school) and will work together as a seamless system of compatible and reinforcing services.
• Use strength-based approaches focusing on the assets, competencies and overall development of youth and families.
• Utilize culturally competent, developmentally appropriate, and family driven approaches at all levels of service and in all interventions.
• Maintain focus on outcomes and quality; implement research and evidence-based approaches with fidelity for quality assurance and provide on-going evaluation of SS/HS activities and the partnership.

For more information about the Adams County Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative, please contact Beverly Kingston at (720) 972-6188. For more information about the early childhood components of the Initiative, please contact Elizabeth Groginsky at (303) 453-8503.

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