Champions for Children

PROGRAMS
 Child Care
 Health
 Family Support
 Service Providers

PARTNERSHIP
 Staff
 Board
 Employment
 RFAs and RFPs

GET INVOLVED
 Donate
 Volunteer
 Supporters

Home Page

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The local Partnership works with many different local agencies who provide services to children and families and works to identify needed programs and services as well as resources to meet those needs. Often, programs exist but are not being utilized. Sometimes duplication of services are noted. The Partnership was formed to eliminate those duplications and fill the voids in the service delivery system.

By blending and leveraging existing resources and providing funding through Smart Start - the following programs are made possible to young children:

Child Care Health Consultation (Rutherford and Polk County Service Area)

The Child Care Health Consultant (CCHC), a Health Educator trained by the NC Child Care Safety and Resource Center, offers health consultation, training, and technical assistance to all licensed child care centers and family home child care providers in Polk and Rutherford Counties and provides more intensive on-site services to up to 10 targeted centers as recommended by the Partnership Child Health Team. The goal of this activity is to improve health and safety and to increase the quality of regulated out-of-home child care in Polk and Rutherford Counties. The CCHC will assist child care providers in evaluating/developing health policies and procedures, complying with health and safety regulations, and incorporating good health practices (such as hand-washing, classroom sanitation, contagious disease control, etc.) in their classrooms. In addition, this activity will connect children with Health Check/Health Choice and primary medical homes, and will help ensure that children in child care programs receive regular well-child preventive health care. The Child Care Health Consultant provides education primarily to child care providers, and also to children and parents, on health and safety related topics with a focus on increasing the capacity of child care providers to create and maintain safe and healthy child care environments. For more information, contact:

Rutherford/Polk/McDowell District Health Department 
221 Callahan-Koon Road 
Spindale, NC 28160 
828-287-6082

Program Coordination (Rutherford and Polk County Service Area)

The in-house full time Director of Program and Planning will provide program coordination services which include: serving as the Smart Start liaison to outside community services; orient, train, monitor and oversee Partnership service providers, especially new providers or providers with new Smart Start funded programs; develop proposals for new and revised services, including long-range strategic plans and shorter-range activity descriptions; assist the Executive Director in the service provider bidding process; serving as the liaison to the local Partnership Board in regard to service planning and delivery; coordinate meetings of the Partnership’s Child Care Committee and Family Support Committee and organize a Child Care Health Committee to act as an advisory/support role with the contracted Child Care Health Consultant, and build capacity by researching, seeking and securing resources outside of Smart Start.  The service will be administered out of a designated satellite office and also at the local Partnership office during normal working hours. For more information contact:

 

Cathy Brooks, Director of Program and Planning

828-625-4008

 

Evaluation (Rutherford and Polk County Service Area)
The Rutherford/Polk Smart Start Evaluator evaluates the effectiveness of each Smart Start Project in order to make sure all the Partnership's Smart Start projects have measurable objectives and that these objectives are reported both quarterly and annually. Smart Start is committed to making sure its projects work. For more information contact:

 

Mr. Tracy Parris, Program Evaluator
Rutherford/Polk Smart Start
668 Withrow Road 
Forest City, NC  28043 
828-287-2775

 

 

 


Smart Start

Innovations in American Government Award

 

 PO Box 823
Spindale, NC  28160
ph: 828-287-2775, fx: 828-288-9552
smartstart444@bellsouth.net