Agenda Item No. 18

Introduced by the Human Services Committee of the:

INGHAM COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

WHEREAS, the capacity of children to learn and grow into productive persons and good citizens is essential to the growth and well being of our community; and

WHEREAS, the City of Lansing prompted the establishment of a Ready to Succeed Blue Ribbon Committee which is just issuing a report with recommendations on actions to support the development of capacity for learning and growth among young children in the City of Lansing; and

WHEREAS, the Committee has requested that agencies that have participated in the development of the recommendations make pledges to support the implementation of the plan; and

WHEREAS, the Ingham County Health Department participated in the Blue Ribbon Committee; and

WHEREAS, the Health Department= s mission includes services to vulnerable populations, with young children being one of those populations; and

WHEREAS, Health Department staff have proposed a set of pledges that flow from the Department= s mission and could be implemented from existing resources; and

WHEREAS, the Health Officer recommends that the Board of Commissioners support the Health Department in its proposed pledges to assist the implementation of the Ready To Succeed Task Force Report.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Ingham County Board of Commissioners supports the Health Department= s proposed pledges to assist in the implementation of the Ready To Succeed Task Force Report.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Health Department shall provide the following assistance to implement the Ready To Succeed Task Force Report and to help disseminate these best practices throughout the County:

Recommendation 1: Public Awareness

Assign staff to participate in the planning and implementation of a public awareness campaign.

Recommendation 2: Safe Environments

Offer to convene a strategy development workgroup to increase public awareness around lead poisoning issues. Work to improve the effectiveness of the County-wide system of prevention and follow-up care for lead poisoned children.

Recommendation 3: Stimulating Environments

Recommendation 4: Raising Readers

Commit staff to continued participation in community literacy projects, collaborating with other agencies.

Agenda Item No. 18

Recommendation 5: Healthy Beginnings

Maintain capacity, directly and through partnerships with other community providers, to assure capacity for appropriate care of all pregnant women. Maintain capacity, directly and through partnerships with other community providers, to assure access to pediatric care for all infants and children. Develop and maintain a system of outreach to provide all pregnant women, infants and children with access to health insurance products: Medicaid, MichCare, MIChild, etc.

Recommendation 6: Community Support for all Families

Assign staff to work with the Ingham County Human Services Advisory Committee on a newly formed 0-5 Committee, to study the feasibility of implementing some of the Ready to Succeed strategies to serve the rest of the County. Commit Jump Start staff to assist in the development and implementation of a universal system of screening, assessment and graduated system of education and support services to families. Convene a work group to develop and implement the Passport to Success incentive program.

Recommendation 7: Comprehensive Resource Directory

Continue efforts coordinating a City/County community coalition to establish and maintain a community agency database of human services and particularly of services to assist families with young children. Work with this coalition to help identify all current programs and services, enter information into a data base and make the information available to human services providers and community residents through a variety of methods, including the Internet, computer files and print media.

Recommendation 8: Parent Education

Recommendation 9: Ensuring High Quality

Assign staff from the Office For Young Children to participate as one of the four initial conveners to create the initial structure for the Quality Education and Child Care Network.

Recommendation 10: Training for High Quality

Assign staff to assist in the development of a proposal to seek funding for the Lansing community to become a pilot demonstration program for the State funded TEACH training grants.

Recommendation 11: Financing High Quality

Assign Office For Young Children staff to work with a community coalition to plan efforts to develop and maintain economic conditions necessary to providing high quality care.

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Recommendation 12: Ready Kids for Ready Schools

Participate in a collaborative planning process with the Schools and City to develop a system for smooth transitions from preschool and child care programs into kindergarten.

HUMAN SERVICES: Yeas: Czarnecki, Smiley, Grebner, Schmit and Severino