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The Alabama Partnership for Children (APC) – through its Read Right From The Start (RRFTS) program – is offering a limited number of financial incentives to individuals who are employed in a child care facility or family child care home, and who complete a minimum of 5 hours of online coursework through the “Cox Campus.” The response since April of this year when it began in Alabama has been beyond anyone’s expectations.

As of July 1, there are 1,746 registered Cox Campus members in Alabama. During the month of May, a total of 851 courses were started with 691 courses being completed by users. To date, the APC has paid out $16,700 in incentives, with another 218 individuals who are in the process of completing the requirements for the incentive.

The one-time $100 cash incentive – provided by the APC and the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education through grants – is designed to create an awareness of the training courses and to enhance the skills of the teachers working with young children. Funding support comes from the Alabama Department of Human Resources, the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education, the Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foundation, and the Daniel Foundation of Alabama.

“I would like to encourage other childcare providers to participate in this program. The incentive was a nice bonus; however, I feel these videos and the information shared are crucial to what we do as childcare providers. We are helping to raise the next generation! Language skills, emotional development, social interactions, modeling behaviors … all of it starts with parents at home and with us during our precious time with the children in our care. It’s important for us to work alongside parents to ensure children are brought up in the healthiest, safest environment to learn and explore.

“Even if you have been in childcare for a lengthy amount of time, we can all use reminders and further education in child care. Thank you for including me in this program. It has helped me at work and at home with my own children! I cannot wait to continue to learn more.”

Karen Hobbs
Lead teacher at Hooper Early Learning Center in Hope Hull

Early Literacy RRFTS Facilitators are working with multiple child care programs in Alabama to support implementation of the RRFTS initiatives, which includes content from the online training (via Cox Campus), onsite modeling and coaching, and technical assistance that will positively impact young children’s language, cognitive, and social/emotional development.

“I enjoyed the online classes. The process was easy and I was able to complete them on my down time.”

Arlean Cole
Administrator-director of Arlean’s Little Treasures in Harvest, AL

Alabama Partnership for Children adopted the RRFTS initiative to promote early-language development for children birth through age five. A key partner in our efforts is the Atlanta Speech School’s Rollins Center for Language & Literacy, who developed RRFTS to improve the instruction of teachers. RRFTS is a free, online professional development platform whereby individuals can complete courses, access resources, and learn strategies to enhance their language and literacy instruction with the children in their care. This interactive, video-based coursework is focused on practical strategies teachers can use immediately in their classrooms.

“Thank you so much for this opportunity. The training at Cox Campus is the best training I’ve received in 31 years of child care! I’d have never found those classes on my own, and I plan on taking the rest of the classes offered by Cox Campus very soon.”

Carol Lyn Dubbs
Child Care Worker for Tender Loving Childcare in Decatur, AL

Click here to access Cox Campus through our website and apply for the incentive program.

Read what more teachers who have participated are saying:

Registration is closed for the 2019 Alabama Project LAUNCH Early Childhood Summit that will be held on May 8-9 at the Bryant Conference Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. If you need information or have questions, please contact Sarah-Ellen Thompson; toll-free 1-866-711-4025 or sthompson@alabamapartnershipforchildren.org.

ABOUT THE SUMMIT:

The Summit will focus on strengthening adult capacities to ensure children’s optimal development, and is open to all early childhood professionals, mental health practitioners, physicians, educators, home visitors, or any other professionals across the state working directly with children birth to eight years old.

Project LAUNCH, which stands for Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health, promotes the wellness of young children from birth to eight years by addressing the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of their development. The Alabama Partnership for Children partners with the Alabama Department of Mental Health, the Alabama Department of Public Health, and Child Development Resources of The University of Alabama for Project LAUNCH’s local implementation in Tuscaloosa.

The Summit includes programs on: CARE – Child Adult Relationship Enhancement; Brain Development; Reflective Supervision – Does It Have a Place in Clinical Supervision; Brain Architecture Game; Calming Tools for Use in Early Childhood Settings; Behavior 101 – A Practical Guide to Lying, Cheating, Stealing, Manipulation, Violence/Aggression & Hoarding; and Early Childcare Providers – Supporting the Whole Family.

Registration costs $30 for the Professional Development Institute, $35 for the Project LAUNCH Summit, and $60 for both days. CEU certificates are also available.

For more information about Alabama Project LAUNCH at the state level, please contact Sarah-Ellen Thompson; toll-free 1-866-711-4025 or sthompson@alabamapartnershipforchildren.org. For information about Alabama Project LAUNCH in Tuscaloosa, please contact Caroline Branton; 205-348-0459 or ccbranton@ches.ua.edu.

Click Here for more about Project LAUNCH.

The Alabama Partnership for Children (APC) held its annual “Joining Hands for Week of the Young Child” event April 9th to raise awareness of the most important time of all children’s lives — the first five years.

“We take this time each year to thank every legislator for supporting and prioritizing programs that serve our youngest children,” said APC executive director, Gail Piggott. “They understand that the first five years of a child’s life are critical to ensuring their healthy development. Investing in strong families, early childhood health, and quality early learning programs are necessary to improve outcomes in Alabama.”

Week of the Young Child spotlights the need to make early childhood education and development a state priority. It also brings awareness to the programs and partnerships in Alabama that are vital to ensuring all children, their families, teachers, and child care providers, have access to every resource they need to be successful.

Child advocates and volunteers delivered to every state legislator packets, which contained handprints made and decorated by preschoolers from around the state. It also provided important information on several programs that serve children including the Alabama School Readiness Alliance, Help Me Grow Alabama, T.E.A.C.H. scholarship program, and Project LAUNCH.

The APC coordinates the annual Joining Hands for Week of the Young Child event in conjunction with the national Week of the Young Child which is designed to bring attention to the needs of young children ages birth to five and the critical importance of the first five years of life.

On March 27^th, Governor Kay Ivey signed a proclamation making April 8 – 12, 2019, the Week of the Young Child in Alabama. The proclamation states that “high-quality early childhood services represent a worthy commitment to our children’s future and an investment in improved schools and a brighter future for Alabama.”

Child advocates from across the state volunteer each year for this Joining Hands event to help collect handprints that children have traced and decorated. APC staff and volunteers deliver them to the Alabama Legislative offices with the hope of meeting personally with the elected officials representing their districts.

Secretary Jeana Ross, Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education (ADECE), kicked off the day by welcoming the event’s volunteers, and thanking them for spending their day focused on making early childhood education a priority for legislators. ADECE provided the meeting space for volunteers to gather and coordinate the deliveries.

“I look forward to this event every year, and I am so grateful to the volunteers that help bring attention to the needs of Alabama’s young children,” said Sec. Ross. “Seeing the children’s handprints go up on doors all over the State House is inspiring and encouraging. We thank our legislators for making support for the programs that promote the best possible start for children – during the most critical first five years of their lives – a high priority.”

Allison Muhlendorf, the executive director for the Alabama School Readiness Alliance (ASRA), shared with the volunteers ASRA’s work to expand Alabama’s voluntary First Class Pre-k program statewide, and the progress that has been made thanks to their partners and the support of the Alabama Legislature.

“I proudly stand with the Alabama Partnership for Children in shining a light on the needs of young children in our state,” said Muhlendorf. “Alabama’s early childhood community is united in our desire to provide the high-quality care and support to children and their families beginning at birth. I was very pleased to hear from many lawmakers that they are supportive of a comprehensive early childhood vision and are prioritizing new funding to help expand Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program to more families as part of this commitment.”

Stephen Woerner, the executive director of VOICES for Alabama’s Children, also shared support and information during the event, outlining VOICES legislative priorities that, if embraced by state leaders, will have a positive impact on services to Alabama’s children and families.

“VOICES for Alabama’s Children is delighted to support Week of the Young Child and the Alabama Partnership for Children,” said Woerner. “Our youngest Alabamians need powerful advocates and special consideration. Week of the Young Child is a tremendous opportunity to engage with legislators and decision makers to ensure that these most vulnerable and important residents are accounted for and considered in all decisions.”

The Week of the Young Child™ is an annual celebration hosted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC.org) to spotlight early learning, young children, their teachers, families, and communities. 

The Alabama Partnership for Children is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization committed to enhancing the quality of life for Alabama’s children from birth to 5 years of age. This public-private partnership focuses on finding ways to use the state’s limited resources most efficiently to ensure that every Alabama child will have an opportunity to succeed in life. For more information, visit www.SmartStartAlabama.org. 

The APC staff is very excited to share with you our new website! It’s been a long-time in the making!

As APC continues to expand and add new programs and services for young children and families, the website upgrade helps provide improved access to resources and information through a more user-friendly navigation. This new site is also mobile-friendly, allowing APC’s resources to be easily accessed from any mobile device.

The navigational menu is located on every page, and it links to all areas of the site. From this menu pages are organized to meet the common search areas for our programs, resources, and contact information. For example, a visitor can quickly find; the Alabama Blueprint for Zero to Five statewide strategy, links to connect with Help Me Grow resources, links to the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship program, links to resources for families, new program links for Early Language and Literacy, and much more.

Please browse around and send us your feedback; especially if you experience any problems finding what you need. We will continually work to improve and enhance your experience with our presence online.

Click here to start browsing from the homepage.