A five-year, $1.38 million grant to the Wichita Public Schools, the Center for Health and Wellness in northeast Wichita and the Sedgwick County Health Department will create a unique partnership that will help some of the community’s neediest families access the health and education services needed for their children to enter school ready to learn.
Called Wichita CARES (Children Able to Read will Excel in School), the project will reach out to families in Wichita’s northeast/mid-town neighborhoods. Funding, from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation of Miami, Fla., will allow the three organizations to work together, providing a continuum of services that include parent education, health screenings and a new pre-kindergarten curriculum.
“Many lower-income urban children start out school so far behind that they never catch up,” said Julie Tarr, Community Liaison Program Officer for the Knight Foundation. “Through the Wichita partnership, we’re working to make sure all children are ready to learn when they start school.”
According to the foundation, the value of early education programs is well documented. Studies show that high quality child-care programs, well-trained caregivers, caring and responsive parents and accessible health and social services are important for a child’s success in the classroom and in life.
Each agency has strong programs that reach families of young children in the targeted area. The newly funded program essentially cross-trains workers so they are familiar with services provided by each agency. As such, when workers are interacting with families, especially during home visits, they will have a broader perspective with which to assess a family’s needs, as well as a wider network for references and referrals to programs offered by partner agencies.
Among the activities planned for the new project:
- Wichita Public Schools is training its early education teachers in a new curriculum called “Curiosity Corner.” The research-based curriculum focuses on language, social, physical and emotional development for 3- and 4-year-olds
- The Sedgwick County Health Department will hire a field nurse and a community liaison who speak Spanish and who will visit homes and provide a combination of early infant care, family support services, health education and intensive case management
- The Center for Health and Wellness will expand its parent education programs and health care services to more families
“We are extremely happy with Knight Foundation for providing us the funds that will allow us to work together,” said Winston Brooks, Superintendent for Wichita Public Schools. “Through better coordination and expansion of services, we will be able to reach the families where we can have some of the greatest impact.”
A 2002 survey of local opinions and attitudes funded by Knight Foundation identified educational performance and access to physicians as areas of concern for families who are in need in Wichita. A community advisory committee, led by former Wichita Eagle publisher Peter Pitz, recommended focusing on funding programs that would improve access to health care and early childhood development for those families, so their children would enter school ready to learn.
“Sedgwick County is proud to be a partner, to focus on families in need and to make a difference for the children in our community,” said Carolyn McGinn, County Commissioner.
Arneatha Martin, co-president for the Center for Health and Wellness, said: “We’ve always believed that by reaching out and educating our neighbors, our families, our friends and those in need, we can prevent unhealthy behaviors that threaten not only the health of individuals, but also the health of our community. This grant will allow us to reach more families with the information and services they need.”
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities where the Knight brothers had newspaper interests. Since 1986, the foundation has invested more than $12 million in the Wichita community.