Thank you for visiting the Community Partnership for Children page. Below you will find more information about this groundbreaking effort. If you are a parent looking for tips, tools or resources, please also click here to visit the Kids' Corner!
Click here to view a new Public Service Announcement.
“The early childhood years lay the foundation for later economic productivity, responsible citizenship and a lifetime of sound physical and mental health.”
- Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Director, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Our community’s future is directly tied to the success of all of our children. Decades of research prove that the opportunities we provide to children today, starting at birth, will absolutely shape who they become tomorrow. The Community Partnership for Children is grounded in this knowledge.
The Community Partnership for Children is coordinated through the Brown County United Way. Founded in 2005, it has brought together the largest and broadest childhood-based coalition in Brown County's history.
The initiative’s goal is to improve how all parents access and receive help – beginning at their babies’ births. This is being accomplished through identifying families’ needs at the hospital, agencies working better together, and ultimately creating a prevention-based, coordinated System of Care for children of all ages.
As a part of this effort, an independent Executive Committee led by Ginny Riopelle and Paul Beideman created the Community Partnership for Children Fund for the express purpose of building service capacity for the front-end or "gateway" System of Care elements (targeting children age 0-5), which include:
- Welcome Baby visits, parenting newsletters and resource guides for every new parent at all Brown County hospitals
- Follow-up assistance and referrals for families who need extra help
- Ramping up the availability of voluntary in-home visits and parenting support classes within three existing local agencies
The United Way is donating its services as fiscal agent for this Fund (which is separate from its own annual fundraising campaign). It is also providing ongoing staff support to the Executive Committee and the Community Partnership for Children initiative as a whole.
Through the Community Partnership for Children, more than 100 people representing business, government, nonprofits, education, philanthropy and others are working cooperatively to improve how all Brown County children and their families receive the help and information they need – right from the start.
The end results will be stronger families, thriving children, and, over the long term, an improved future workforce and economy.
For more information, contact Sarah Inman, Community Impact Manager: sarah@browncountyunitedway.org.
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News and Resource Documents