PITTSBORO — The Early Childhood Care and Education landscape in Chatham County is in a challenging spot after the pandemic. Chatham County Partnership for Children continues to engage Chatham community partners in building a shared understand the dynamics and impacts of this community challenge through its Early Childhood Action Plan’s Community Collaborative.
The Early Childhood Community Collaborative is a convening of community partners (i.e. nonprofits, public sector, service providers, faith-based organizations, etc.) that share a common goal of ensuring the well-being of Chatham County’s youngest residents and their families. This collaborative provides ongoing input and feedback on the Community Needs Assessment and Chatham Early Childhood Action Plan, and assists in connecting community members with this process.
The Community Collaborative met for the second time on Thursday, April 6, at the Chatham County Agriculture and Conference Center. The Chatham County Partnership for Children and Early Childhood Community Needs research partners — Partners for Impact and Community Voice Consulting with facilitation support from Hilary Pollan Facilitation, convened a diverse group of nearly 20 Chatham community partners. Attendees included representatives from the Chatham County Public Health Department, Chatham County Schools, Chatham County Court Services, Central Carolina Community College, Chatham Education Foundation, Communities In Schools of Chatham County, Blue Cross Blue Shield of N.C., and United Way of Chatham County.
During the meeting, the group reviewed the Community Needs Assessment research process. This process is grounded in the perspectives of real members of our community and will shape an Early Childhood Action Plan for Chatham County.
Since its kickoff in November 2022, the Community Needs Assessment has involved a survey for Chatham parents and caregivers of children ages 0 to 5, phone surveys with childcare providers, and focus groups with current and former providers of the North Carolina Pre-K program.
The Community Collaborative also reviewed the N.C. Early Childhood Action Plan (ECAP) Framework. Chatham’s Early Childhood Action Plan will focus on three key areas of healthy babies, supportive families, and quality early learning. These areas key areas were selected as the focus because research shows they are the most important aspects to address for healthy outcomes for young children.
Using these three key areas of framework, the Community Collaborative engaged in an environmental scan to identify Early Childhood programs and services available in Chatham. The group identified that while many resources exists, many of the programs and services that were available before the pandemic are no longer available or they are unable to meet the actual need of Chatham’s youngest residents and their families due to strict income requirements or limited resources. In particular, there was urgent concern about the fragile infrastructure of early childhood care and education and the mismatch in the economics of child care.
The Community Collaborative meeting was an energizing gathering of critical voices in addressing the challenges present in the Early Childhood landscape.
“It is gratifying to see people from throughout our communities joining to help guide this project and contributing to make it a success,” said Michael Hobbs, board chairperson of Chatham County Partnership for Children. “I hope that when this community needs assessment project is completed, it will help provide a road map to a more resilient early childhood education and care network in Chatham County that will better serve our families and our children.”
Similarly, Jaime Detzi, executive director of Chatham Education Foundation and member of the Chatham Kids Matter Advisory Committee, commented, “Through our work at the Chatham Education Foundation, two things are apparent. One, access to quality early learning is imperative to the increased success of students in K-12 schools. Second, unless we work collectively as a community to secure resources and opportunities for our students, all students will not have what they need to succeed to graduate from high school on time and obtain a bachelor’s degree or high-quality, industry-aligned credential to become part of the N.C. workforce.”
The Early Childhood Community Collaborative will meet again in late July for a preview of the Chatham Kids Matter film comprised of voices from recorded interviews with a diverse range of stakeholders from Chatham’s Early Childhood landscape. The Chatham Kids Matter film, in conjunction with findings from the Community Needs Assessment, will be the catalysts for deliberative conversation at four Community Listening Sessions that will occur throughout the county in early Fall 2023. The public will be encouraged to participate to share their experiences and perspectives.
Chatham Kids Matter is a collaborative project led by Chatham County Partnership Children, with generous funding support from the Chatham Education Foundation, Chatham County government, and NC Smart Start. Learn more about Chatham Kids Matter Community Needs Assessment and Early Childhood Action Plan and how you can be involved by visiting www.chathamkidsmatter.org. For specific questions, please contact the Project Director-Facilitator at ecap@chathamkids.org.