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ELC Honors Community Partners

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Contributed by: Nancy Archer on 6/20/2008

ST. LUCIE COUNTY -- The Board of the Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County recently honored the Department of Children and Families (DCF), United for Families (UFF), and the Workforce Development Board's One Stop Career Center for their contributions to the organization's success.

"The Coalition's success is contingent on successful partnerships with other community based agencies," stated Board Chairman Anthony F. Loupe. Executive Director Nancy Archer acknowledged how valuable these partnerships are to community families. Mr. Loupe presented a certificate of appreciation to each agency during a recent Coalition Board meeting.

The DCF and UFF work closely together to partner with the Coalition's eligibility department to ensure high risk children receive the Coalition services they need as quickly as possible.

Mrs. Archer explained, "If, for example, the DCF receives a call about a suspected abuse case, that agency contacts UFF. UFF investigates the claim and refers the child to the appropriate resources. Child care services are often immediately required."

The DCF's investigative services division developed a procedure to enroll high risk children in need of immediate child care services with the Coalition. Investigators work diligently to obtain the documentation necessary for enrollment. Once a protective services child is enrolled, UFF certifies those enrollments and researches phone calls from child care providers regarding unexcused child absences. UFF also assists the Coalition with the Safety Net program by dispersing and reviewing medical daily check lists for children in protective services.

In addition, the DCF's licensing division collaborates with the Coalition. The division, under the direction of Licensing Supervisor Tom Peer, keeps providers abreast of new rules and regulations regarding child care licensure.

Vern Melvin, Circuit 19 Administrator, accepted the DCF's certificate. Todd Trumpore, Network Services Director for Family Preservation Services, accepted UFF's certificate on behalf of Executive Director Christine Demetriades.

The Workforce Development Board's One Stop Career Center teams up with the Coalition to help enroll children so parents can begin working immediately and become self-sufficient. The Center provides documentation necessary for a streamlined enrollment process and monitors cash assistance and referrals from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF). Linda Pack-Young, Program Specialist for the Welfare Transition Program, and Coalition Board Member Gwenda Thompson, Executive Director of the Workforce Development Board, accepted the certificate for the One Stop Career Center.

The Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County is a non-profit organization offering child care resource and referral services, the School Readiness (SR) program and the Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) program. Child Care Resource and Referral Specialists refer more than 5,000 families to child care providers or community services each year. The SR and VPK programs provide high-quality early childhood education in order to prepare children for kindergarten and beyond.

For information about the Coalition's programs, please call 772-595-6424 or visit www.elcslc.org.

Sponsorship by the Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County, Agency for Workforce Innovation, Office of Early Learning.

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