Partnership for Children of Lenoir & Greene Counties Celebrates Smart Start Month

Governor Roy Cooper proclaims September as Smart Start Month. This proclamation acknowledges the Smart Start Network's commitment for over thirty years to ensuring all North Carolina’s young children enter school healthy and prepared for success. The Partnership for Children of Lenoir & Greene Counties is a proud member of the Smart Start Network.

Investments in high-quality early childhood initiatives like Smart Start can yield substantial long-term benefits for children, families, and society through increased educational attainment, higher earnings, reduced crime, and better health outcomes.

Smart Start is a Network of 75 local nonprofit partnerships serving all 100 North Carolina counties to create better outcomes for children birth-to-five. The North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC) guides and facilitates the Smart Start Network, supporting the work of Local Partnerships and connecting them to the statewide early childhood system. Smart Start Local Partnerships work to 1) increase access to and enhance quality of early care and education; 2) collaborate with families to reach their goals through family support and education, engagement, and referrals; and 3) improve child health and development for children birth-to-five.

Partnership for Children of Lenoir & Greene Counties will recognize Smart Start Month by engaging our community through social media, opportunities to donate, and celebrating 30 years of impact at the annual Touch a Truck event on Saturday, October 26, 2024 from 10am – 1pm.

Smart Start Local Partnerships have the flexibility and the data to determine how to improve the health, well-being, and development of children in each community based on local needs and resources. In Lenoir and Greene Counties, Partnership for Children provides needed services and supports for the community such as NC PreK, Threeschool, Child Care Resources and Referral, Parents as Teachers, Child Care Health Consultation, SAFE Kids Eastern Carolina, Positive Parenting Program (Triple P), Real Men Read, Lenoir County StoryWalk, Greene County StoryWalk, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, Community Outreach & Engagement.

The first five years of life are a critical window of development, shaping a child's brain architecture and building the foundation for future cognitive, social, emotional, behavioral, and health outcomes. Through Smart Start’s comprehensive approach, our state’s youngest and those that care for them can receive the support they need to thrive.

Smart Start helps to provide critical infrastructure for North Carolina’s early childhood system through collaboration and partnerships with state and federal agencies and other nonprofits, bridging service gaps and providing needed administration to statewide programs. This includes the administration of state, federal, local, and private programs and services such as NC Pre-K, child care subsidy, Head Start, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, and more, serving as North Carolina’s infrastructure for promoting childhood development, learning, and health.

"We are honored that the State of North Carolina is recognizing Smart Start in September," said Amy Cubbage, President of the North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC), the nonprofit leading the Smart Start Network. "This recognition underscores the vital importance of investing in a comprehensive approach to supporting our youngest children and their families that is both statewide and locally designed. By working together with families, educators, and communities, we can build a brighter future for our children and our state."

Smart Start fosters collaboration among local partners, engages community stakeholders, and advocates for policies that support early childhood learning, health and family engagement. This comprehensive approach ensures that children and families receive the support they need from a network of community resources.

Investments in high-quality early childhood initiatives like Smart Start can yield substantial long-term benefits for children, families, and society through increased educational attainment, higher earnings, reduced crime, and better health outcomes.

“Smart Start is a proven example of a public-private partnership and the impact that sound investments, leveraging public and private dollars, can have on the development of our state’s youngest,” continued Cubbage.

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About the Partnership for Children
The Partnership for Children of Lenoir and Greene Counties is a local nonprofit organization that provides funding and oversight to programs serving young children and their families. The local Smart Start organization, established 1994, is dedicated to their mission of “developing today’s children to become tomorrow’s leaders.”

The Lenoir-Greene Partnership for Children, Inc. is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization so all donations can be tax deductions. Tax ID: 56-1898462.

About Smart Start

The Smart Start Network is a nationally recognized public-private initiative in North Carolina dedicated to ensuring that all children enter school healthy and prepared for success. Established in 1993, it is led by the North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC) and consists of 75 Local Partnerships that serve all 100 counties in the state through evidence-based and informed solutions. Partnerships support children and their families through innovation, flexibility, and collaboration, leveraging state support and local resources to support communities.

The North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC)

NCPC ensures fiscal and programmatic accountability and coordinates the statewide Network to create better outcomes for children and families. NCPC works to ensure Smart Start is sustainable and a trusted and valued early childhood system for children and families across the state. NCPC’s responsibilities include governance, facilitating organizational support, convening early childhood leaders statewide, and collecting critical early childhood data. For more information, please visit https://www.smartstart.org/ Media Contact: Jessica Carter, jcarter@smartstart.org, 919.221.1614