Success by Six Initiative

The Allegany County United Way Board of Directors is exploring the implementation of Success as an initiative. Success By 6 is an early childhood initiative, sponsored by the United Way of America. The initiative is intended to have far-reaching effects on all children in the county by shaping community conditions.

Success By 6 is:

• Largest network of early childhood coalitions in the country
• Led by the United Way in over 350 cities, counties, and states in the United States and Canada
• 68% of the nation's 1400 state and local United Ways focus on early childhood. Many United Ways have taken a community impact approach -- mobilizing multi-sector coalitions that focus on results and systemic solutions to improve young children's lives. Over 350 of these initiatives are branded Success By 6.

Success By 6 Vision:

All children will enter kindergarten ready to succeed

Success By 6 beliefs:

• The period of life from birth to age 6 offers a crucial window of opportunity to establish a foundation for success in school and life, and
• Children in this age group are dependent on their parents to offer early learning experiences that prepare them to succeed in school

The Success By 6 plan is:

• To empower parents to provide and secure high quality early learning experiences for young children by:
  • Strengthening and expanding the nationwide community/state infrastructure that supports parents, aligns resources and influences systems to provide quality early learning.
• To help parents and caregivers understand and implement effective early learning practices with young children
• Enable parents to choose high-quality out-of-home early education programs by increasing the supply and creating a simple assessment too.

Early childhood education is increasingly recognized by social scientists as critical to economic self-sufficiency:

• Quality child care is vital for parents to be able to work.
• Quality early childhood education is the key to success in school and in life.
• Helping the next generation break the cycle of poverty starts by giving young children a better start in life.

Longitudinal studies such as the High Scope Perry Preschool have shown that quality early learning experiences reduce crime rates, teenage pregnancy, welfare dependency, job training costs, special education costs and grade repetition. At the same time these experiences increase success in school, graduation rates, workforce readiness, job productivity, community engagement, and community based public private partnership of individuals and organizations.

The leadership Committee for the local initiative consists of the following members:

• Anne Geist - Jones Memorial Hospital
• Anne Mitchell - CAEW BOCES
• Barb VanWicklin - CAEW BOCES
• Belinda Clark - ACCORD Corporation - Head Start
• Brenda Austin - Cuba-Rushford Central School
• Dawn Tuttle - Parent Education Program, Allegany County
• JR Bennion, ACCORD Corporation
• Judy Hopkins - Literacy West, Inc.
• Judy May - Belfast Central School, Superintendent
• Julie Cunningham - Executive Director of the United Way of Allegany County
• Julie Hall - St. Bonaventure University Field Services
• Kathy Morris - Friendship Central School
• Lori Shoup - Parent
• Lynn Graves - ACCORD Corporation
• Michele Conklin - Cuba Memorial Hospital
• Michelle Hollier - Kinship - SHAPE
• Susan Belmont - ACCORD Corporation
• Theresa Moore - Allegany Dept. of Health
• Tyke Tenney - Wellsville Central School
• Vicki Grant - Dept of Social Services
• Anne Brungard - Allegany County United Way

If you would like more information ort would like to participate in the development of this initiative call any member of the Leadership Committee.

Success By 6 Mission Statement for Allegany County

Children in our community are physically and emotionally healthy and safe; eager and open to learn; and supported socially and environmentally in order to achieve success by six.

Here is a PowerPoint Presentation about Getting Started, an Early Childhood Initiative (ECI).