UNITED WAY LEADS CHILDREN TO SMART START

June 29, 2003

JUNE 29, 2003 State-funded initiative offers incentives to improve child-care programs.

Many think there is a strong connection between crime and education, or rather the lack of it.

And in Savannah, which has had high crime rates and struggling schools in recent years, at least a few think the link is even stronger.

Some think that means that an early start on education makes especially good sense here.

So when someone asked local United Way president Gregg Schroeder last year whether his organization could help fight crime by doing more to improve early childhood education, it made sense to Schroeder, too.

The timing was right.

This week, about 200 state officials, business leaders, service providers and educators will gather in Savannah to roll out Smart Start Georgia, a statewide initiative seeking to improve early childhood development.

The hope is that the sooner childhood education and quality of life needs are met -- even as early as just after birth -- the more crime will be reduced.

State leaders rolling out Smart Start Georgia cite voluminous research on the benefits of early intervention in steering youth away from crime. The key premise is that learners become earners and that earners have the self-respect and independence that makes criminal conduct less attractive. A major finding from one study is that $1 spent on education saves $7 on incarceration.

Advocates of the program say it's a risk-free investment, but acknowledge that results won't be seen for years down the road.

For the fiscal year starting July 1, Smart Start Georgia will receive $7.5 million from the state and $2.2 million from the Whitehead Foundation, an Atlanta-based charity.

The multi-year program will offer child care providers financial incentives and helps them improve their educational programs and services.

The United Way of the Coastal Empire will administer $425,000 in Smart Start funds this year through about 25 licensed child-care providers in the tri-county area.

To participate in the program, at least 25 percent of families served by providers must qualify as lower income through Chatham County Department of Family and Children Services.

The program involves multiple state and private partners as well as leaders in business and early education.

Especially in tough economic times, the public/private partnership will be more effective than if agencies were working by themselves, said Charlotte Rehmert, director of Chatham County DFCS. Working together, she said, the partners will leverage more resources and inspire wider and deeper commitments, Rehmert said.

"Our families need this kind of support," she said. "To help families transition from welfare to work, they have to have quality child care."

This year, 3,656 children in Chatham County have been impacted by DFCS funds.

Now Chatham, Bryan and Effingham counties join 11 other counties within the state participating in the Smart Start programs.

The United Way of the Coastal Empire is the only new United Way in the state to receive Smart Start funds this year, Schroeder said.

Early childhood development first surfaced as one of the United Way's "critical issues" in a board strategic planning process last fall. The United Way changed its funding focus to five critical issues in the area including early children development.

Schroeder then asked Bill Garrett, executive director of Smart Start Georgia, how the United Way of the Coastal Empire could make sure it gets the program here.

"He said, 'It's simple. You just have to want it badly enough.' "

With support from the United Way board of directors, Bill Hubbard from the Savannah Chamber of Commerce and C.B. Rathburn from Savannah Technical College, Schroeder took the advice to heart. He launched an aggressive campaign to the statehouse, with the assistance of State Senate President Pro Tem Johnson, R-Savannah, as well as the entire Savannah delegation and local city officials.

"We personally wrote letters to Gov. Barnes and then to Gov. Perdue," Schroeder said. "We worked with the Chamber of Commerce, and they agreed to list us as one of (its) top four legislative priorities."

And Schroeder said connections he established through previous work with the Whitehead Foundation helped the campaign.

Representatives from the Georgia Office of School Readiness will visit the local providers in August to assess the state of early childhood development in the tri-county area. Then consultants selected by the United Way will begin working with the selected child care providers about three hours a week for the next year.

About a year from now, the state assessors will return to measure the program's progress.

"There were a lot of community partners more than willing to participate in Smart Start," Schroeder said.

"We're trying to be as inclusive as possible in bringing in those partners."

A local Smart Start steering committee includes representatives from DFCS, Savannah Technical College, Savannah State University, the Chamber of Commerce, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., the City of Savannah and other community leaders.

"We see ourselves as being the convener of a community project," Schroeder said. "We're bringing everyone to table." 

â?? This article posted with permission from the Savannah Morning News.