School Readiness

Child Abuse Council, Inc.
3108 W. Azeele Street, Tampa, FL  33609
www.childabusecouncil.com
813-673-4646

Family Involvement Connections (FIC)
Who the Program Serves:
Child care centers primarily in the University area, Palm River, Ybor City, Riverview and Temple Terrace communities
What the Program Does:
Family Involvement Connections supports and builds on the strengths of parents to help them fortify the entire family, changing the parent’s traditional role in childcare centers and engaging in their child’s early learning.  The FIC family support programs strengthen families to meet their needs through a shared process of decision-making between parents and childcare staff.  FIC supports parents in assuming leadership roles, breaking through the traditional barriers, allowing them to support their child’s development.  Parents and center staff work together as partners while choosing education, fun and appropriate family involvement activities.  During this partnership, family competencies will help identify families and children with special needs earlier so that they get access to appropriate services, improved school readiness scores, positive transitions from pre-kindergarten into kindergarten, and continued school success in later years. FIC works closely with a number of other community supports including those services that comprise the Early Childhood Education On-Site Technical Assistance Network.

Hillsborough Community College Foundation, Inc.
39 Columbia Drive, Tampa, FL 33606
www.earlyliteracymatters.com
813-253-7014

Early Literacy Matters
Who the Program Serves:
Preschool teachers and early childhood education practitioners in child care centers that are located primarily in the University West area and Ybor City/East Tampa communities
What the Program Does:
Early Literacy Matters (ELM) uses coaching to improve preschool teachers’ abilities, develop new skills and learn more about evidence-based practices to help build children’s growing reading skills such as understanding what is read, letter and word sounds, and how to read a book.  Teachers show awareness of which book and teaching practices should be used for each age group.  In partnership with Hillsborough Community College, ELM also offers a professional career pathway through accessible, affordable, community-based educational opportunities to early childhood education practitioners. 

Hillsborough County School Readiness Coalition, Inc.
D/B/A Early Learning Coalition  Of Hillsborough
1002 E. Palm Avenue, Tampa, FL  33605
www.elchc.org
813-204-1769

Quality Counts for Kids
Who the Program Serves:
Legally operating child care providers in Hillsborough County
What the Program Does:
Supports the operating costs of the Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County and funds Quality Counts For Kids (QCKF), a voluntary quality rating improvement system.  QCKF recognizes and promotes early care and education as well as out-of-school time programs meeting quality standards over and above the minimum health and safety standards required by Hillsborough County Child Care Licensing. The programs are rated on key qualities that help children succeed including low child-to-staff ratios, group size, staff qualifications, family engagement, program administration, program activities and the environment.  Participating child care programs can access services and supports such as training, scholarships for continuing education, mini-grants, and technical assistance to assist continuous quality improvement.

NOVA Southeastern University, Inc.
3301 College Avenue, Tampa, FL  33314-7796
www.nova.edu
954-262-5365

Project PITCH
Who the Program Serves:
Directors, teachers and staff in Hillsborough County child care centers
What the Program Does:
The Program to Improve the Early Childhood Training Capacity in Hillsborough County (PITCH) works to improve the quality of care in child care centers.  Participation in high quality early childhood education programs can help low- and middle-income children prepare for school and perform better in the early years of school.  The Mailman Segal Institute at NOVA Southeastern University has been able to bring $3 in private, state and federal funds for every $1 invested by the Children’s Board. 

Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA, Inc.
110 E. Oak Avenue, Tampa, FL  33602
www.tampaymca.org
813-224-9622

Family Child Care PLUS (Promote Leadership Understanding and Support) or FCCP
Who the Program Serves:
The owners/operators of at least 38 licensed family child care homes in Hillsborough County
What the Program Does:
Family Child Care PLUS (Promote Leadership Understanding and Support) or FCCP consults with family child care homes owners/operators to improve the quality of care in their home-based child care setting.   FCCP  makes attaining National Accreditation and National CDA certification easier.  FCCP also provides a telephone helpline, distributes a newsletter of Family Child Care specific resources and information, and offers limited additional technical assistance to the licensed family child care homes in Hillsborough County.

University of South Florida
4202 E. Fowler Avenue, ADM200, Tampa, FL  33612
http://cfs.fmhi.usf.edu/project-details.cfm?projectID=340
813-974-2897

Early Childhood Program-Wide Positive Behavior Support (PWPBS)
Who the Program Serves:
Provides support to staff working with children from infancy through five years of age at:  Mango Head Start, HCC-Ybor, Achieve Tampa Bay (UCP), Mary Go Round - Southpointe, Mary Go Round - Hannahway, USF Preschool, and St. John Presbyterian Learning Center.
What the Program Does:
Early Childhood Program-Wide Positive Behavior Support (PWPBS) provides training, technical assistance and coaching to help community early childhood programs in Hillsborough County develop, implement and evaluate positive behavior support for children who have difficult behavior to handle.  Child care centers that participate in PWPBS have only two percent of their children who need help with their behavior while child centers without PWPBS have seven percent who need help.  PWPBS uses their work with these programs to develop materials and support for in-service and pre-service training and family supports and materials.

Child Abuse Council, Inc.
3108 W. Azeele Street, Tampa, FL  33609
www.childabusecouncil.com
813-673-4646

Family Outreach and Community Education Services
Who the Program Serves:
Hillsborough County families with children ages birth to five.
What the Program Does:
The Family Outreach and Community Education Services include:  Baby Bungalow, Parents as Teachers (PAT) and Fathers Resource and Networking Center (FRANC).  These programs help parents understand how their children develop at each stage and how to keep them on track to start school and so reduce the risk of child abuse or neglect.  Baby Bungalow is an “any baby, any family“ early childhood program for parents and caregivers with children under age 5.  Baby Bungalow offers parent support groups, infant massage classes, developmental playgroups, breast feeding classes and a variety of other services.  Parents as Teachers (PAT) uses certified parent educators to teach parents about child development.  The parents learn appropriate ways to stimulate their children’s intellectual, language, social-emotional and physical development through information and support from prenatal months to kindergarten.  FRANC encourages responsible fatherhood by targeting fathers to encourage helpful fathering and involvement with their children.

Hillsborough County Center of Excellence, Inc.
P.O. Box 291447, Tampa, FL  33687-1447
www.hc-coe.org
813-974-4858

Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY)
Who the Program Serves:
Low-income families with preschool-aged children primarily in the University West area and Temple Terrace communities.
What the Program Does:
HIPPY employs and trains assistants from the targeted communities to help parents get their three, four, and five year-old children ready for school success.  HIPPY helps parents become their children’s first teacher, giving them the tools, skills and confidence they need to work with their children in the home.  The HIPPY 30-week curriculum works mostly on mental skills such as developing language, problem solving, thinking logically and discovery. Learning and play are mixed;  parents introduce their children to how sounds are put together to make words, learning the alphabet and its sounds, the parts of a book, and early writing practice.  These activities help children get ready to enter kindergarten and first grade and continue to do well.

United Way of Tampa Bay, Inc.
5201 W. Kennedy Blvd., Suite 600, Tampa, FL  33609
www.uwtb.org
813-274-0908

Imagination Library
Who the Program Serves:
Infants born September 1, 2006 and later in Hillsborough County are eligible for this program through their fifth birthday.
What the Program Does:
Imagination Library provides free age-appropriate books each month to registered children until their fifth birthday through the Dollywood Foundation.  One book per month is mailed to each enrolled child who resides in Hillsborough County.   There is currently a waiting list.

University of South Florida
3650 Spectrum Blvd., Suite 160, Tampa, FL 33612
www.research.usf.edu
813-974-0606

Helping Our Toddlers ~ Developing Our Children’s Skills (HOT DOCS)
Who the Program Serves:
Caregivers of young children (ages 1-5) with challenging behaviors and community professionals who work with those caregivers.
What the Program Does:
HOT DOCS is a six-week parent education course providing family support delivered in a group setting in English or Spanish. HOT DOCS teaches families and community professionals practical, problem-solving skills to develop children’s social/emotional skills and deal with their current and future challenging behavior problems so that they are ready for kindergarten.