Community Partnership for Children: Meeting the Challenges of Early Childhood Education
Grant County’s early childhood education (ECE) professionals and childcare providers offer safe and healthy places for young children to learn. They provide essential services for young children in our community and support the working families who are vital to our local economic growth. While 2020 was a challenging year for all Grant County businesses, early childhood education and care providers were greatly impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis. With many parents unemployed and school-age children learning remotely, more families were home caring for their children during the workday. As a result, local ECE providers struggled to maintain their business with reduced enrollment, revenue, and staff. The Community Partnership for Children (CPC), a local non-profit organization, has provided a life-line to ECE providers working to overcome these unique, current and future challenges.
During the COVID-19 health crisis, CPC has met a critical need by providing updates on state health requirements and financial resources; distributing PPE; and collaborating with local agencies to deliver child lunches to ECE providers. During 2020-2021, CPC partnered with two local home-visiting agencies, Hidalgo Medical Family Services and Gila Regional Medical Center’s Beginning Years, to develop and disseminate comprehensive “Early Learning Kits” to 50 local families, including age-appropriate materials aligned with the NM Early Learning Guidelines, to support the learning and development of infants and young children at home.
Since 2003, CPC’s goal has been to support the implementation of quality standards for the nutritional, social/emotional, and educational well-being of infants, young children, and their families through direct support of Grant County’s ECE providers. CPC strengthens the business and educational practices of local providers through a learning community model called LINKS (Learning Network for Kids). CPC/LINKS includes local ECE center and home-based childcare providers in activities to share best practices and resources, engage in collaborative training, identify and solve problems, and build professional alliances within our rural community. Additionally, CPC provides customized, site-based, phone, and email consultation and support; plus local, state, and national web-based resources.
The Community Partnership for Children believes that Grant County’s early childhood education and care providers will endure and prosper well beyond 2021, serving families and children in our thriving community. Working in cooperation with one another, CPC and its LINKS partners will meet and overcome challenges while providing exemplary educational and childcare services – proof that Together is Better!
Here are some ways you can celebrate the Week of the Young Child and help our community be better together:
- Learn why early childhood learning and development is important to lifelong success.
- Enroll your infants and young children in local, high-quality early childhood programs.
- Donate to CPC and your local ECE providers – every dollar helps!
- Share your gratitude for the essential services of early childhood education providers.
- Check out CPC’s website for more information and resources: https://www.grantcountycpc.com/