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FUNDING FOCUS AREAS OF NEED 2018-19 <br />Introduction: <br />The 2014 IRC Children's Needs Assessment has provided valuable information to help <br />guide the Child Services Advisory Committee (CSAC). Parts of this data was <br />reevaluated in 2018. The following outlines what will be considered for all grant <br />requests. <br />Larger Picture <br />The community must start taking a long-term view focusing 15-25 years out. We have a cycle of <br />poverty in IRC that has been increasing and needs to be broken. <br />Interventions should start as early as possible in a child's life in order to have the greatest impact. <br />IRC agencies should use best practices. <br />a. Evidence based with measurable outcomes over time <br />b. Cost effective/efficient <br />c. Skilled executive, program, and board leadership <br />d. Strong fiscal management <br />e. Opportunity for broad impact (replicable, scalable, lever gable) <br />Focus should be on the pockets of poverty. Given that IRC poverty is in geographically <br />disbursed pockets and that we have unique transportation problems, we must always keep in <br />mind that services need to be available where and when people need and can access them. We <br />must utilize the best mediums to clearly communicate what, when and where these services are <br />available. <br />Collaboration in the community is essential and can help optimize human and financial <br />resources, expose and eliminate overlap. <br />The considerations highlighted above have precedence over the actual CSAC Focus Areas listed <br />below. <br />2018-19 CSAC Focus Areas (ranked in order by the Advisory Team at the completion of the <br />Needs Assessment process and updated for clarity <br />Mental health affects every Focus Area. We have decided not to make mental health a separate <br />Focus Area, but to evaluate mental health interventions relevant to each Focus Area. <br />1. Early Childhood Development <br />This encompasses birth to age 5. For the younger children, this would mean improving the <br />interactions they have beginning at birth with their caregivers and with focus on physical, social <br />emotional and cognitive development. It would include improving the quality at childcare, PreK <br />183 <br />