Leaders in the six KELC organizations began meeting in spring 2008 to discover ways to better meet the needs of Kansas children from birth to three years.
The six organizations provide an array of high quality services throughout Kansas including:
- child care referrals
- early education programs
- special needs assessment services
- parental education to promote healthy child development
- health care for young children
- referrals to community resources to meet family needs
The group recognized services were not available for all children and families in need. In addition, services were sometimes difficult for parents to locate and service delivery was not always coordinated.
The Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund (a state of Kansas administrative division located in the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services) issued a request for proposal (RFP) in 2008. The KELC organizations submitted a grant proposal to meet KCCTF’s request for expansion and enhancement of services to children from birth to three years, for family supports for the children’s families in unserved and underserved areas of the state, and for non-native speaking English families.
The proposal included collaboration assistance to designated counties to coordinate service delivery and replicate successful community service models such as those for centralized and integrated intakes for young children and their families. Evidence based services were planned to be provided to 12 counties with unmet needs and an expressed interest in improving collaboration.
The proposal was accepted by the KCCTF and funded for the calendar year of 2009. Funding was continued in 2010.
Source: 2010 Kids Count Data Book, datacenter.kidscount.org.
