GSC Web Admin
03-31-2009, 03:50 PM
By FRANK KONKEL
Sentinel-Standard writer
Published: Tuesday, February 3, 2009 11:47 PM CST
IONIA - It didn't take long for the Ionia County Great Start Collaborative to get down to business Tuesday, as the newly-formed communitywide group held its first full meeting.
Once the introductions and formalities were out of the way, the 36 members (and counting) of the Great Start Collaborative began breaking down Ionia County data and brainstorming ways to serve Ionia County's youth.
“We're reviewing this data and determining what other information we need to collect,” said Great Start Collaborative director Cari O'Connor. “We're gathering information for the needs assessment and strategic planning phase, which we'll be working on for the next year. We're off to an excellent start.”
In Ionia County, the Great Start Collaborative combines the expertise of community leaders, educators, business persons and parents in the interest of serving Ionia County's youth, particularly pre-kindergarten children.
The program took root in Ionia County on Oct. 1, 2008 after expanding from an urban early childhood program four years ago, made possible by a partnership between the state of Michigan and the Early Childhood Investment Corporation.
On Tuesday, the Great Start Collaboratives' 36 members split into five groups to cover five categories: Child safety, parenting education, physical health, basic needs and early childhood care and education.
Each group was given an extensive array of information provided by Kids Count under the Michigan League for Human Services.
After brainstorming, the Great Start Collaborative cited several important pieces of information that needed further attention. Some was good, some wasn't.
“One piece of information we found interesting is that 18.8 percent of Ionia County children are eligible for special education,” said Wendy Nowicke of Portland, who is one of two parent representatives at Great Start. She joins Belding's Jenna Perry. “The state average is 14.7 percent. That's something we want to explore a little more; are our levels higher because of our program or for other reasons?”
Other information was just as thought provoking. Ionia County teens contribute to 42 out of every 1,000 new births, far higher than the state average of 33 per 1,000. Furthermore, 18.7 percent of pregnant teens in Ionia County are having their second (or more) child.
Along the same line, 13.4 percent of Ionia County children up to 17 years of age fall in the poverty zone, while another 14.7 percent are not receiving child support; 46.8 percent of children under the age of 17 receive less than 70 percent of the child support they're entitled to.
Though much of the information presented is important on its own accord, Great Start Collaborative member Tim Click said in many cases, more information is needed to make necessary corelations in the data.
“We need more demographic data to compare to other counties in the area,” said Click, who presented data for the ‘physical needs' group. “We'd like to see more regional data.”
The Great Start Collaborative will continue to meet each month, as will the executive and communications committees and the parent coalition, which are made up of Great Start Collaborative members.
Sentinel-Standard writer
Published: Tuesday, February 3, 2009 11:47 PM CST
IONIA - It didn't take long for the Ionia County Great Start Collaborative to get down to business Tuesday, as the newly-formed communitywide group held its first full meeting.
Once the introductions and formalities were out of the way, the 36 members (and counting) of the Great Start Collaborative began breaking down Ionia County data and brainstorming ways to serve Ionia County's youth.
“We're reviewing this data and determining what other information we need to collect,” said Great Start Collaborative director Cari O'Connor. “We're gathering information for the needs assessment and strategic planning phase, which we'll be working on for the next year. We're off to an excellent start.”
In Ionia County, the Great Start Collaborative combines the expertise of community leaders, educators, business persons and parents in the interest of serving Ionia County's youth, particularly pre-kindergarten children.
The program took root in Ionia County on Oct. 1, 2008 after expanding from an urban early childhood program four years ago, made possible by a partnership between the state of Michigan and the Early Childhood Investment Corporation.
On Tuesday, the Great Start Collaboratives' 36 members split into five groups to cover five categories: Child safety, parenting education, physical health, basic needs and early childhood care and education.
Each group was given an extensive array of information provided by Kids Count under the Michigan League for Human Services.
After brainstorming, the Great Start Collaborative cited several important pieces of information that needed further attention. Some was good, some wasn't.
“One piece of information we found interesting is that 18.8 percent of Ionia County children are eligible for special education,” said Wendy Nowicke of Portland, who is one of two parent representatives at Great Start. She joins Belding's Jenna Perry. “The state average is 14.7 percent. That's something we want to explore a little more; are our levels higher because of our program or for other reasons?”
Other information was just as thought provoking. Ionia County teens contribute to 42 out of every 1,000 new births, far higher than the state average of 33 per 1,000. Furthermore, 18.7 percent of pregnant teens in Ionia County are having their second (or more) child.
Along the same line, 13.4 percent of Ionia County children up to 17 years of age fall in the poverty zone, while another 14.7 percent are not receiving child support; 46.8 percent of children under the age of 17 receive less than 70 percent of the child support they're entitled to.
Though much of the information presented is important on its own accord, Great Start Collaborative member Tim Click said in many cases, more information is needed to make necessary corelations in the data.
“We need more demographic data to compare to other counties in the area,” said Click, who presented data for the ‘physical needs' group. “We'd like to see more regional data.”
The Great Start Collaborative will continue to meet each month, as will the executive and communications committees and the parent coalition, which are made up of Great Start Collaborative members.