Over the last year, CCCC has refocused its efforts to outreach to the community with a focus on improving the quality of care that children receive. These efforts have included revamping of the Advisory Board into the CCCC Foundation Board after a long hiatus. The Board has added new members and is now meeting more frequently. In addition to raising Agency awareness and importance of quality child care, the Board is also playing a central role in securing outside funding through fundraising like Cartridges for Kids and grants. The Foundation Board is excited to announce its partnership with these following organizations to develop innovative projects and obtain new provider resources to enhance quality countywide.

United Way-Quality Child Care Training Project
Objective: Research shows that quality early care and education can give all children an equal chance to succeed and stay on course--socially academically, and developmentally. Expand current training efforts in English and Spanish throughout the County on various topics such as children with special needs, health and safety, nutrition and early literacy.

Kaiser Permanente-“Get Ready, Get Set…Get Fit 4 Life”
Objective: CCCC will extend nutrition and physical activity training, healthy recipes and resources to the teachers and parents of preschool children in licensed child care centers within the City of Bakersfield. This project is designed to address childhood obesity and help children “thrive” by establishing healthy eating and activity habits in the early years.

Castle & Cooke-“Links to Literacy” Activity Calendar
Objective: Support the development and production of the 2006 “Links to Literacy” activity calendar, in an effort to provide developmentally appropriate early learning opportunities, promote early childhood literacy and improve children’s school readiness. The calendars will also provide a comprehensive list of resources that will help connect the project’s audience with local programs and service providers that benefit children. CCCC plans to make copies of this calendar available at each office location and to staff providing home visitations. In an effort to increase access to this calendar, CCCC will also post this project on the web.

Kern Community Foundation
Objective: Increase the supply of learning materials within CCCC’s Lending Library in order to increase check-out options for caregivers and promote children’s healthy growth and development. This grant would allow CCCC to expand its outreach and help parents, caregivers, child care providers, and educators increase their capacity to promote children’s health, social/emotional development and improve their learning readiness.

CCCC greatly appreciates the partnerships and generosity of these private and public organizations and looks forward to matching their resources with the Agency’s expertise in child care operations, health and safety and early childhood development to ensure good beginnings for all Kern children. We will be sharing more information about these exciting projects as they are launched!