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Project Description

The Cuyahoga County Early Childhood Initiative is a public/private collaborative effort to promote and improve early intervention and supportive services to all children in the County, from birth through age five. The Initiative consists of five interrelated components: (1) a universal home visitation program for every first-time and teenage mother giving birth in the County [Welcome Home], and an intensive multi-year home visitation program for new parents facing the greatest challenges [Early Start]; (2) improved childcare services, including expanding the network of home-based child care in the County while maintaining quality; (3) enhanced childcare services for children with special needs through training and technical assistance to childcare providers; (4) expanded health insurance coverage of children from low-income, working families; and, (5) a public education campaign to raise awareness of the importance of a child's first few years of life.

Project duration: Oct 2000 -

Sites studied include Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Sample Characteristics and Sites Studied

See data section.

Recent Findings in Brief

05/01/05: Cuyahoga County Early Childhood Initiative: Phase II Final Report Executive Summary

Final Descriptive/Analytical Findings:

• A community-wide network of services for young children and their families has been established, and the apparatus of county government has been altered to directly support and coordinate early childhood services.
• More children under age six in Cuyahoga County are receiving needed services at earlier ages than ever before.
• Children and their parents are beginning to show benefits from the services provided through the initiative.
• Efforts to deepen and extend the services, tailor them to individual needs, and assure continuing quality should continue.
• The public and private partners who established this Initiative have maintained their commitment for half a decade and recently recommitted to it, with a new strategic plan that outlines a continued focus on program improvement based on evaluation.

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