Knowing that no single agency alone can achieve Project HOPE goals, these memos remind us of our shared North Star:
Each and every child, regardless of race, neighborhood, or family income, has equitable opportunities to achieve positive health and education outcomes.
What is Project HOPE?
In sum Project HOPE is funded Robert Wood Johnson and implemented through the Build Initiative to 1)promote optimal health and wellbeing, 2) shift or realign aspects of systems to increase access, & 3) engage community members and create feedback loops to ensure ongoing communication between state and local policy.
Our cross-system team has gathered this month to analyze data we’ve gathered during the past few months to secure ways that will highlight how we move forward. We identified 3 actions to address opportunities and challenges, determined which agencies or departments can take on those actions, and return to the focus communities to check our analysis.
Project HOPE Timeline
- September 2019: Confirm and frame the cross-sector equity challenge or issue; host race/ethnicity, equity and inclusion training.
- October 2019: Identify mechanisms to modify policy, practices, and funding; host Cross State Project HOPE Meeting in Montgomery
- November 2019: Develop a process for feedback loops between communities and state; confirm and frame the cross sector equity challenge or issue
- April 2020: Select mechanism to modify policy, practice and funding; begin the process needed to improve service access and quality for a targeted population
Alabama Project HOPE Cross Sector Team
- Bernard Houston, Administrator for Childcare Services and Workforce Development at the Alabama Department of Human Resources
- Lee Johnson III, Director of State and National Cross-Agency Collaboration at the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education
- Faye Nelson, Deputy Commissioner at the Alabama Department of Human Resources
- Gail Piggott, Executive Director of the Alabama Partnership for Children
- Janice Smiley, Director of the Perinatal Health Division at the Alabama Department of Public Health
- Jane Duer, Early Intervention Coordinator, Alabama Department of Mental Health
- David Walters, State Director, Alabama Adult Education, Alabama Community College System
- Betsy Prince, Director of Early Intervention at the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services
- Kathy Hall, Deputy Commissioner at Alabama Medicaid
Alabama Project HOPE Staff
- Dr. Ramona Okonya, Project HOPE Coordinator shared among Alabama Partnership for Children, Alabama Department of Human Resources, Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education
- Dawn Owens, Project HOPE Diarist, BUILD Initiative