Grant to improve early childhood development awarded to Kentucky

On Tuesday, a grant aimed at improving Kentucky’s early childhood development was announced by Gov. Matt Bevin from the National Governor’s Association (NGA).

“Kentucky is building a strong foundation to prepare our youngest children for success, and we are grateful for NGA’s investment in that critical mission,” said Gov. Bevin. “This grant will enable the Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) to assess current resources and develop necessary supports for our infants, toddlers, and expectant families. As we identify and implement these best practices, the Commonwealth will continue our momentum toward becoming a national model for serving and equipping children and families, especially the most vulnerable among us.”

The NGA Center for Best Practices grant is aimed at the following goals:

• Assessing the current nature and alignment of partner agency policies targeting infants, toddlers, and expectant families,
• Assessing opportunities for improving policies and procedures that affect child and family services,
• Increasing state stakeholder awareness of the needs of infants, toddlers, and expectant families, the impact of trauma on family stability and child development, and how to promote resiliency in families,
• Developing a policy agenda targeting comprehensive services and supports for infants, toddlers, and expectant families, and
• Developing guidance for state agencies (adopted by ECAC) for promoting best practice policy strategies.

In addition to this grant awarded by the National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices, the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood was also awarded a federal preschool development grant for $10.6 million by Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Education and early childhood development are top priorities of the Kentucky Chamber. Recently, the Kentucky Business-Education Roundtable released Striving to Be Top-Tier for Talent, a report that prioritizes investing in early childhood and preschool, along with other goals to improve education attainment.