The Initiative Contact information: Smart Start Central Oklahoma Resource Rooms
- John Rex
Oklahoma City Business Leader and Chairman of the Board for Smart Start Central Oklahoma Only 57 percent of Oklahoma County two-year-olds are fully immunized. Not only does this pose needless risk, but it may also indicate a lack of routine health care. Enabling Health Care Smart Start Central Oklahoma partners with Blue Cross Blue Shield to deliver immunizations at child care and early education facilities by means of a Caring Van. Smart Start Central Oklahoma collaborates with the Oklahoma City-County Health Department to offer developmental screenings for at-risk children to identify problems early in life. The coalition also publicizes to parents the need for well-child examinations and assists with Medicaid applications. Linking Learning and Health And for families who visit the Women, Infant and Child clinics, Smart Start Central Oklahoma volunteers distribute information on parenting, health, early literacy and services available in the community. Often the volunteers read to young children in the waiting room. Fifty-seven percent of Oklahoma County children under five have working parents. For a typical working family, child care costs can use up one-fifth of the net family income. Many families cannot afford child care that includes developmental activities. Smart Start Central Oklahoma partners with Rainbow Fleet to train and assist child care providers in low-income communities, improving the quality of child care environments. A lending library adds books and educational games to these facilities, it is promoting early learning. Neighbors Helping Neighbors Smart Start Central Oklahoma is a community-based solution to community-level issues, with neighbors assessing needs and creating strategies for helping neighbors. And when neighbors come together to focus on young children, there's no limit to the progress that is possible. Local businesses, foundations, state agencies and public institutions are already supporting the coalition with leadership, cooperation and donations. Oklahoma’s governor and legislature support these local efforts with state funding for special grants under the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness Act. But the act also assumes that private organizations and individuals will volunteer their time and contribute money to sustain and enlarge our coalition. After all, school readiness is everyone’s business. Our economic future depends upon a better-educated workforce and more productive, self-sufficient citizens, who can give their own children a good start in life. How You Can Help Individuals can volunteer to read to children in almost any community setting. They can also collect and donate picture books and other early childhood materials. Businesses can sponsor family resource rooms and distribute informational materials to employees who have young children. They can help with child care costs and sponsor parenting seminars in the workplace. They can help child care providers improve their facilities or give money for scholarships to enable early childhood teachers to continue their education. Civic Groups can sponsor Raising A Reader sites and events that promote early care and education good parenting. And they can engage more people in the on-going school readiness Smart Start initiative. Working with the Smart Start Central Oklahoma coalition, we can all share the vision that someday… “Central Oklahoma will be composed of nurturing and supportive communities for young children and their families, so that children are healthy, eager to learn and ready to succeed by the time they enter school.” |