Special to IFN
Gov. Josh Stein has proclaimed September as Smart Start Month. This proclamation acknowledges the Smart Start Network’s commitment for over 30 years to ensuring all North Carolina’s young children enter school healthy and prepared for success.
Iredell County Partnership for Young Children (ICPYC) is a proud member of the Smart Start Network.
Investments in high-quality early childhood initiatives like Smart Start can yield substantial long-term benefits for children, families, and society through increased educational attainment, higher earnings, reduced crime, and better health outcomes.
Smart Start is a Network of 75 local nonprofit partnerships serving all 100 North Carolina counties to create better outcomes for children birth-to-five. The North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC) guides and facilitates the Smart Start Network, supporting the work of Local Partnerships and connecting them to the statewide early childhood system. Smart Start Local Partnerships work to 1) increase access to and enhance quality of early care and education; 2) collaborate with families to reach their goals through family support and education, engagement, and referrals; and 3) improve child health and development for children birth-to-five.
Smart Start Local Partnerships have the flexibility and the data to determine how to improve the health, well-being, and development of children in each community based on local needs and resources.
In Iredell County, the Iredell County Partnership for Young Children provides needed services and supports for the community focused on raising the quality of early care and education, supporting families, advancing child health, and expanding literacy.
The first five years of life are a critical window of development, shaping a child’s brain architecture and building the foundation for future cognitive, social, emotional, behavioral, and health outcomes. Through Smart Start’s comprehensive approach, our state’s youngest and those that care for them can receive the support they need to thrive.
Smart Start helps to provide critical infrastructure for North Carolina’s early childhood system through collaboration and partnerships with state and federal agencies and other nonprofits, bridging service gaps and providing needed administration to statewide programs. This includes the administration of state, federal, local, and private programs and services such as NC Pre-K, child care subsidy, Head Start, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, and more, serving as North Carolina’s infrastructure for promoting childhood development, learning, and health.
In addition to being the local Smart Start partnership, the Iredell County Partnership for Young Children serves as the contract administrator for the county’s NC Pre-K program and serves as the lead agency for regional child care resource and referral services.
“By braiding funding from multiple early childhood initiatives, we’re able to maximize impact, reduce duplication, and ensure that families and child care providers in Iredell County and the region have seamless access to high-quality services. This integrated approach allows us to leverage the strengths of Smart Start, NC Pre-K, and Child Care Resource and Referral to build a stronger, more coordinated early childhood system,” said Lisa Familo, Executive Director of the Iredell County Partnership for Young Children.
Smart Start fosters collaboration among local partners, engages community stakeholders, and advocates for policies that support early childhood learning, health and family engagement. This comprehensive approach ensures that children and families receive the support they need from a network of community resources.
“We are honored that the State of North Carolina is recognizing Smart Start in September,” said Amy Cubbage, president of the North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC), the nonprofit leading the Smart Start Network. “This recognition underscores the vital importance of investing in a comprehensive approach to supporting our youngest children and their families that is both statewide and locally designed. By working together with families, educators, and communities, we can build a brighter future for our children and our state.”
ABOUT ICPYC
The Iredell County Partnership for Young Children (ICPYC) is a 501 (c)(3), nonprofit organization, dedicated to measurably increasing learning and healthy development of children birth to age five in Iredell County. ICPYC provides services focused on raising the quality of early care and education, supporting families, advancing child health, and expanding literacy. For more information, please call (704) 878-9980 or visit http://www.iredellsmartstart.org/. ICPYC is located at 734 Salisbury Road in Statesville and 919 N Main Street, Suite 101, in Mooresville.