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FUNDING FOCUS AREAS OF NEED 2017-18 Introduction: The 2014 IRC Children's Needs Assessment has provided valuable information to help guide the Child Services Advisory Committee (CSAC). The following outlines what will be considered for all grant requests. Larger Picture The community must start taking a long-term view focusing 15-25 years out. We have a cycle of poverty in IRC that has been increasing and needs to be broken. Interventions should start as early as possible in a child's life in order to have the greatest impact. IRC agencies should use best practices. a. Evidence based with measurable outcomes over time b. Cost effective/efficient c. Skilled executive, program,.and board leadership d. Strong fiscal management e. Opportunity for broad impact (replicable, scalable, lever gable) Focus should be on the pockets of poverty. Given that IRC poverty is in geographically disbursed pockets and that we have unique transportation problems, we must always keep in mind that services need to be available where and when people need and can access them. We must utilize the best mediums to clearly communicate what, when and where these services are available. Collaboration in the community is essential and can help optimize human and financial resources, expose and eliminate overlap. The considerations highlighted above have precedence over the actual CSAC Focus Areas listed below. 2017-18 CSAC Focus Areas (ranked in order by the Advisory Team at the completion of the Needs Assessment process and updated for clarity.) 1. Early Childhood Development This encompasses birth to age 5. For the younger children this would mean improving the interactions they have beginning at birth with their caregivers and with focus on physical, mental and cognitive development. It would include improving the quality at childcare, PreK and Voluntary PreK providers as well as improving financial accessibility by leveraging available federal and state funds. VI P64