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Early Learning Coalition of Indian River, Martin and Okeechobee Counties Inc. <br /> RFP - Indian River County Board of County Commissioners <br /> C. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION (Entire Section C 1 — 6, not to exceed two pages) <br /> 1 . List Priority Needs area addressed. <br /> Focus Area III : Childcare Access <br /> Goal #1 : Improve the capacity of children in Indian River County to succeed to adulthood in <br /> a safe, healthy, and productive manner. <br /> Goal #2 : Support caregivers, a child' s most important resource, to be and do what is needed <br /> to shepherd children to adulthood in a safe, healthy, and productive manner. <br /> 2. Briefly describe program activities including location of services. <br /> Providing affordable and accessible quality early childcare and education to eligible children <br /> ages birth- 8 , is the top priority of the Coalition. Funding is provided through the Agency for <br /> Workforce Development, Office of Early Learning, which serves as the administrative entity for <br /> federal and state dollars allocated to child care . The Coalition staff provides services to find and <br /> oversee child care providers, determine eligibility, and assist providers in maintaining quality <br /> programs and completing child screenings. <br /> Parents of eligible children have a right to choose their child care provider and most have chosen <br /> providers contracted with the Coalition. These providers undergo an initial and annual <br /> monitoring to ensure that they meet the Coalition' s requirements for quality services. These <br /> providers are also required to have a family involvement component in order to encourage parent <br /> interaction with their children and the child' s teacher. Each family pays a sliding parent fee, <br /> based on their income and the number of individuals in the family. <br /> In addition to child care services, preschool age children are screened for appropriate <br /> developmental progress and social/emotional well-being. Health screenings are provided in the <br /> areas of height, weight, body mass index, dental, hearing, vision, speech and language. <br /> Child care providers in every region of Indian River County receive additional training through a <br /> variety of Coalition programs and offerings . <br /> 3. Briefly describe how your program addresses the stated need/problem. Describe how <br /> your program follows a recognized "best practice" (see definition on page 12 of the <br /> Instructions) and provide evidence that indicates proposed strategies are effective with <br /> target population. <br /> We provide access to child care services for children of eligible parents and pay for that child <br /> care with federal dollars and the 6% local match. <br /> 6 <br />