Spring 2014
Volume 10, No. 1
Circle of Friends
Investing in the Future of Children
4C urges Kentucky legislators to ‘Fund Kids First!’
‘F
und Kids First!” was the rallying cry Jan. 16 at the
annual Children’s Advocacy Day in Frankfort, Ky.
Close to a thousand advocates from across the state, including a contingent from 4C Northern Kentucky, descended on
the Capitol for rallies and legislative meetings in support of
children’s issues.
At the top of the agenda at this year’s rally were the cuts
to the child care assistance program in Kentucky that went
into effect last April. These cuts have had devastating effects
on families and child care centers. Many families, already
struggling to make ends meet, have had to choose between
work and reliable child care. Children’s Advocacy Day was
an opportunity to communicate with legislators face-to-face
about the impact of these cuts.
Children’s Advocacy Day is coordinated by Kentucky
Youth Advocates, the only multi-issue statewide children’s
advocacy organization in Kentucky. A delegation of 20 business, community and early childhood leaders from Northern
Kentucky organized to meet with different legislators from
the House and Senate. The delegation from 4C included
Director of Kentucky Services Julie Witten, Northern Kentucky Advisory Board chair Janice Cushman, board member
Michelle Kolb and Sister Judith Niewahner, the director of
Holy Trinity Child Development Center in Newport.
The 4C delegation met with eight legislators to increase
their understanding of the child care assistance issue. Although the Governor’s proposed budget would reverse the
cuts to this assistance, these meetings with members of the
See 4C advocates for Kentucky children, page 2.
4C Northern Kentucky Advisory Board members Michele Kolb
and Janice Cushman, along with Julie Witten, director of 4C
Kentucky Services, met with Kentucky legislators Jan. 16 to
reverse cuts to the state’s child care assistance program.
4C a key player in Cincinnati Preschool Promise
A
end of third grade, and graduating
strong movement is afoot to enfrom high school prepared for college
sure that every 3- and 4-year-old
and careers.
in Cincinnati has access to high-qualThe approach
ity preschool—and
is modeled after a
4C for Children is
similar program in
playing a crucial
Denver. All families
role in bringing
regardless of income
this vision to realwould receive tuition
ity. The Cincinnati
Sign
the
Preschool
Promise
Pledge
at
credits to attend highPreschool Promwww.4cforchildren.org/Promise.
quality preschool.
ise will result in
The amount of the credit is based on
more children prepared to succeed in
family income and the quality rating
school, reading successfully by the
of the preschool. In addition to 4C for
Children, the key planning partners
are the Strive Partnership, United Way
Success By 6® and two teams from
Leadership Cincinnati.
The goal is to have a stable,
long-term source of public funding
to dramatically increase kindergarten
readiness over time. The source has
not yet been determined, but work is
underway to identify what that will be.
The Cincinnati Preschool Promise
See Preschool Promise, page 2.
4C for Children—leading resource in early education and care in Southwest Ohio, the Miami Valley and Northern Kentucky
32 volunteers promote school readiness
T
The dedicated volunteers!
he 4C School Readiness Program, made possible by a grant from the Greater
Cincinnati Foundation, set out to improve the literacy and school readiness of
children cared for in small family child care homes. Two groups of volunteers and
family child care providers participated in this nine-month program in 2013-14.
Volunteers made monthly visits to a child care
provider with each visit focusing on a specific school
readiness activity. Each month the child care provider
was given a book, a craft, or a concrete suggestion to
use with the children in her care in order to promote a
particular aspect of school readiness.
In a thank you letter to volunteers, project coordinator Josh Craig, shared these results of a final evaluation:
• A majority (87%) of providers were very to extremely satisfied and said they gained knowledge
because of their participation. Providers (92%) felt
that their School Readiness Volunteer was helpful,
professional and knowledgeable.
• About one half of the volunteers were satisfied with
their experience, noting that they liked meeting
and interacting with their providers and sharing the
materials. Many, however, worried they were not
School Readiness Volunteers took
adequately equipped to meet provider needs and
wooden block sets to family child care
effect lasting change.
providers to encourage free play.
“As we move forward,” Josh emphasized, “we will
look back on this project as a learning opportunity. It has given us important insights
into helping family child care providers improve the care they provide.”
Cincinnati Preschool Promise
Continued from page 1
is expected to serve about 5,000 children in addition to those who are currently served by Head Start. Including
Head Start, this means more than 70
percent of all 3- and 4-year-olds in
Cincinnati could be served by quality
preschool. Only Step Up To Qualityrated preschools will be eligible for
Cincinnati Preschool Promise tuition
credits. After a gear-up period, only
highly-rated (three-, four- or five-star)
programs can participate.
4C is currently leading the Implementation Work Group. This team will
spell out the ways in which parents can
access the tuition credits and what their
responsibilities will be. It will also spell
out the benefits to—and responsibilities
of—the preschool programs.
“This effort has the potential to
transform access to quality preschool
for our entire community,” says 4C
President/CEO Sallie Westheimer.
“We will keep you informed as the
plans unfold.”
4C for Children is currently
administering a $150,000 pilot of the
Preschool Promise with funds raised
by Crossroads Church. This pilot is
supporting tuition for children in toprated centers run by Cincinnati Union
Bethel, Cincinnati Early Learning
Centers, Children, Inc., and the YMCA
of Greater Cincinnati.
Right now, everyone who thinks
this is what our community needs
should express support by signing
“The Preschool Promise Pledge” at
www.4cforchildren.org/promise, says
Sallie.
Circle of Friends • Spring 2014
2
Jenna Addington
Rosemary Bailey
Kelly Bigham
Patricia Clancy
Anne Donelan
Judy Dunning
Jennifer Gibbons
Carol Holtmeier
Karen Hurley
Krystal Killingsworth
Joy Kraft
Susan Lovins
Dacia McCoy
Sarah Moeller
Georgia Moore
Dana Moorwessel
Peggy Ottke
Sandy Paul
Kyla Peacock
Sue Puthoff
Angela Radakovich
Beth Savchick
Brent Schmidt
Emma Schmidt
Sue Showers
Jackie Smith
Megan Stacey
Cathy Stegman
Marianne Tranter
Jenny Whitlow
Brian Woeste
Ginny Zimmerman
4C advocates in Frankfurt
Continued from page 1
House and Senate are essential to
ensure they preserve that part of the
budget when it reaches the legislature.
The 4C delegation told stories,
shared facts on the benefits of quality early education and discussed
concerns about funding with the eight
legislators. “We are hopeful that the
work that was done on Children’s Advocacy Day will result in success for
Kentucky families!” says Julie Witten,
director of 4C Kentucky Services.
Online learning now a part of 4C
Strategic planning underway
he debut of 4C’s first online learning opportunity, Reading the Meal Pattern
Chart, was a resounding success,” says Annetta Rutland, 4C’s director of
Family Child Care Services. This course, released in August 2013, met the annual
training requirement for family child care providers participating in the 4C Child
Nutrition Program, part of the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program. Of the
401 providers who needed the training, 351 chose the online course.
“Online learning is an important option for family child care providers,” explains Annetta. “These providers, who work out of their homes and provide care at
non-traditional hours, including evenings and weekends, have a difficult time attending traditional classes.”
4C plans to develop a new course each year to meet the annual training requirement. Reading the Meal Pattern Chart will continue to be offered as part of the
orientation for new participants in 4C’s Child Nutrition Program.
“We also hope to be able to generate income from these annual nutrition training courses,” says Terri Alekzander, 4C’s director of information systems, who leads
the online learning effort. “We think there is a good possibility of offering them at a
fee to other agencies that sponsor this federal nutrition program.”
A second course, Using the BRIGANCE® Early Childhood Screen, was made
available to programs in
Kentucky’s Boone, Campbell,
Grant and Kenton counties.
Funded by the Northern Kentucky Community Early Childhood Council, this course was designed for teachers
administering the BRIGANCE® using a protocol developed specifically for these
counties. In coming months 4C plans to tweak this course so that it can serve programs anywhere who administer the BRIGANCE®.
Two additional online courses are coming this spring: Reading With Young
Children, a course for all early child care providers; and Building Protective Factors,
a course for participants in the Strengthening Families network which now extends
across Ohio.
4C’s entry into the online learning field has been made possible by funding from
the Daniel and Susan Pfau Foundation, the Andrew Jergens Foundation and the
Thomas J. Emery Memorial.
‘T
NEWS BRIEFS FROM AROUND THE REGION
Respite Care services help
military families, expand
to Butler County
4C Parent Services began partnering
with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
in November 2012 to administer the
Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP). This program provides
respite care for military families who
have a child with special needs. 4C
has so far matched trained respite care
providers with 21 military families.
4C recently launched the Butler
County Respite Program, modeled on
EFMP, and is currently working with
its first Butler County family.
Loyal supporter passes
Maureen Dillon, longtime 4C supporter and former board member, passed
away Feb. 16. Maureen was most
recently involved with 4C as a member of its 40th anniversary committee
in 2012. “She always had more good
ideas that we could hope to implement,” says President/CEO Sallie
Westheimer.
Her volunteer efforts also included
the Urban Appalachian Council,
United Way, the Cincinnati Opera and
the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.
A memorial service is being
planned for the spring.
3
4C Trustee Robin Davis, E.W. Scripps
vice president for strategic planning
and development, participated in
4C’s Nov. 16 Board Strategic Planning
Retreat. The board intends to identify
several strategic goals to guide 4C
for the next three to five years—and
to have the plan ready by the annual
meeting in May.
Memorial Gifts
In memory of Derward Copeland, grandfather of 4C trustee Kristen Copeland
Jerry C. Bernstein
Meredyth & Ray Champ
Janet & Ira Godsy
Raleigh Pathology Laboratory Associates
Wake Emergency Physicians, PA
WakeMed Board of Directors
Tribute Gifts
In honor of Kristen Copeland
Frank K. Webb Charitable Trust
In honor of Dianne & David Rosenberg’s
granddaughter, Maren Aubrey Axe
Nancy & Howard Starnbach
In honor of Ann & Pete Williams 40th
Noel Julnes-Dehner & Joe Dehner
In honor of Dick & Dottie Simpson
Susan & John Frank
In honor of Sallie Westheimer
Noel Julnes-Dehner & Joe Dehner
Barb Rinto & Jerry Lawson
Jean Sepate & Peter Djuric
Jay L. Shatz & Stanley Elliott
Circle of Friends • Spring 2014
2014 CHAMPIONS FOR CHILDREN CELEBRATION
4C honors those who help create
bright futures for our children
O
ver 360 guests attended 4C’s
eighth Champions for Children
Celebration Feb. 1 at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza. Aerial artist Susie
Williams kicked off the program for this
sold-out event honoring 4C’s champions for children: Brent Cooper, co-chair
of Read On!; Alfonso Cornejo, driving
force behind City of Immigrants and its
anti-bullying strategy; and Buffie Rixey,
community volunteer who has raised
millions through Kindervelt for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
4C also presented its third annual
youth award, Champions for Children: The Next Generation, to students
from Mariemont High School for their
project, 5K for Eliminate, which raised
$12,000 to save thousands of babies and
mothers from maternal/neonatal tetanus.
New Champions for Children: Brent Cooper, Buffie Rixey and Alfonso Cornejo are flanked
by 4C Board chair Davida Gable (left) and 4C President/CEO Sallie Westheimer.
Champions for Children: The Next Generation: Sallie Westheimer (right)
presented the 4C youth award to students from Mariemont High School: Olivia
Earhardt, Holly Huber, Addison Shelley, Sarah Blatt, Abigail Moreton and Ryden Lewis.
New York-based aerial artist Susie Williams,
daughter of event co-chair Ann Williams, performs
as guests enter the Hall of Mirrors.
Circle of Friends • Spring 2014
4
Champion Alfonso Cornejo and wife
Marilyn.
Mike and Digi Schueler are loyal
sponsors of this 4C event. Digi is a former
Champion for Children and a past 4C Board
member.
4C board chair Davida Gable
welcomes guests.
Crystal Faulkner and husband Tom
Cooney, a 4C board member, hosted a
Cooney Faulkner & Stevens table.
Champion Buffie Rixey says an
emotional thank you.
Event committee members
Jennifer Saporito and Marla Fuller.
Mina Stricklin and Mari White, members
of the newly formed 4C Ambassadors Board,
pictured with husbands Taft and Brad. Twelve
members of the Ambassadors Board attended
the event.
Event co-chairs
Tori Ames and Ann
Williams announce
a final call for raffle
ticket sales.
Brent Cooper beams as he holds the
bead frame Champions for Children
award.
5
Circle of Friends • Spring 2014
Eighth annual Champions for
Children event is a sell-out
Sallie Westheimer
President / CEO
Elaine Ward
Senior Vice President / COO
Karen Hurley
VP, Development/Communications
Tara Noland
Development Director
Lori Shrider
Communications Specialist
Circle of Friends is published twice
each year. 4C invites comments,
guest editorials, agency news and
program updates.
Longtime 4C supporters Madelynn Matlock, David Campbell, Ray
Matlock and Cheryl Campbell reconnect at the Feb. 1 Champions for
Children Celebration at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza. They
joined many newcomers for this sold-out evening. For more event
photos, see page 4-5.
www.4cforchildren.org
513-221-0033 Southwest Ohio
859-781-3511 Northern Kentucky
937-220-9660 Miami Valley
4C for Children—leading resource in early education and care in Southwest Ohio, the Miami Valley and Northern Kentucky
A United Way agency partner funded in part by the City of Cincinnati, Ohio
Department of Job & Family Services, the Ohio Department of Education, and
the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
www.4cforchildren.org
513-221-0033
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Cincinnati, Ohio 45207
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