Early Childhood University (02-07)
Date of Project: 02-2007
Name of Coalition: Austin ECI
MIF: Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation,
Project Overview: To update and complete a needs assessment for a unified single location shared by multiple social agencies serving families with young children, complete an inventory of the resources and needs of potential participants, and develop a business plan and governing structure that will allow interested partners to move forward in time to take advantage of the 2008 Minnesota bonding bill cycle.
Cost of Project:
# of Children 0-5 Served: 0
# of Children 6-18 Served: 0
# of Adults Served: 0
# Families Served: 0
Lessons Learned/Outcomes: The Austin ECI has been working for the past 3 years on identifying current community needs and existing assets, and identifying opportunities for collaboration. A major outcome has been the development of the Early Childhood University concept, the idea that programs and services for young children can be divided into “colleges” that are inter-related and cooperative, and which include a one-stop-shop early childhood education center that provides information, assistance, and service. The City of Austin, Mower County, and the Austin Public Schools each have programs and services that are targeted to this population and the parents of these children, and are natural partners and participants in the Austin ECI planning process for a center. Each of these partnering agencies has programs and services that can supplement and significantly enhance an ECI initiative, examples are: Early Child and Family Education (ECFE) school programs, Austin Public Library children’s and parenting programming and collections, City of Austin Park and Recreation family and youth programs, and certain Mower County social services. The City of Austin, Mower County, and the Austin Schools all are poised to collaborate with Austin ECI as each is facing timely related and unrelated pressures, such as space needs and organizational change, that make it especially feasible to create a cooperative single location as the cornerstone of the Early Childhood University concept developed by Austin ECI.
Project Frequency: