Lenawee County
March 2009 - Over 300 Lenawee citizens turned out to participate in focus groups to talk about the status of children and families in Lenawee county. The information gathered in these conversations will be used by the Collaborative to build a strong system of support
for children in our county.
Aug. 2008 -The Lenawee Great Start Collaborative is awarded $160,000 by Michigan's Early Childhood Investment Corporation. The funds will support the building of a system of services and resources to support families and the healthy development of children in Lenawee County.
Michigan
May 2009 - Great Start Collaborative have leveraged $6 million in public and private funds for programs and systems to help kids and parents throughout Michigan.
Sept. 2008 - Michigan's Early Childhood Investment Corporation announces that by April 2009 every county in Michigan will have a Great Start Collaborative.
Around the Country
North Carolina - 'Smart Start', North Carolina's early childhood system founded in 1993, reports great gains for children and families during the past decade. In 1993 only 20% of child care centers were rated high quality. Ten years later 78% have a rating of 3 stars or higher. Children who attend Smart Start supported child care centers have better language and math skills than children in centers not participating. In 1993 41% of child care teachers had a college degree compared to the 82% by 2001. More than $200 million has been donated to Smart Start and 1.4 million hours have been volunteered.
> Lessons Learned from 10 Years of Smart Start
by Carolyn Kroll & Michele Rivest
