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Our Americorps VISTA volunteers have been with us for a year and done some amazing things. Now they are on to bigger and better things, but they’re not going too far. Kaley Horton, VISTA for UWATX’s Success By 6 program, has been focused on our Play To Learn project: a strategic initiative to bring high-quality services to Austin’s most vulnerable children at local libraries and other accessible neighborhood locations. “I could quickly tell from my interactions with partner agencies and people from the community that United Way was something exceptional, something special – I was proud to be a part of it,” said Kaley. This year alone, Kaley ensured that 55 families completed this 8-week program. Because of Kaley’s successful leadership and grant funding from Samsung, she will continue to manage this project beyond her VISTA service, helping 200 families complete the program. Steven Olender spent a year managing the Youth Program Quality initiative, a part of our Target Graduation program that works to address the need for quality standards in out-of-school programs. Working with more than 50 organizations, Steven coordinated more than 80 assessments of afterschool and summer programs that serve youth and 23 related trainings.  Steven also researched, analyzed and wrote the 2012 Early Care and Education Survey and assisted in teaching the Volunteer Project Leadership class at Webb Middle School, part of our Target Graduation program. “I’m incredibly proud to come to work every day at United Way because we bring together community members to address not simply the symptoms of poverty, but to work for long-term, sustainable solutions,” said […]

United Way for Greater Austin has released the 2012 Early Care and Education Survey – a detailed look at trends across early care and education centers in Travis County, including key data about quality and availability. Compared with previous editions, this year’s survey shows some encouraging trends but also points to clear challenges. Key findings include: Early care and education teachers, on average, made between $9.82 and $13.92 per hour with limited benefits. This is roughly half of wages for public school Pre-K teachers. Teacher education varies greatly between the regions of Travis County. In South and West Austin, the percent of teachers with at least a bachelor’s degree is nearly double the percent in North, East and Central Austin. Survey results indicated a large shift in center priorities. In 2010, reducing parent fees was listed as one of the top three priorities for 50% of all centers surveyed. In 2012, it registered as a top priority of only 5.5% of centers. Since we started conducting this survey, strides have been made in  teacher education, benefits and retention, but these areas still have significant room for growth. Center directors across the board stressed the need for increased staff wages to properly compensate and motivate teachers, especially when raising education requirements for teachers. Funding increases and community support for the early care and education community are necessary to make these changes happen. “The survey was conceived to help improve and consolidate knowledge of early care and education centers and provide a valuable planning […]

Name: Communities In Schools Partner for: 19 years Partner with: Success By 6, Target Graduation Our relationship: Funding programs that serve children and parents UWATX funding supports Communities In Schools (CIS) in their ASPIRE program – a dual generation program where low-income parents take ESL or GED classes while their children enjoy quality child care, allowing all family members to get support at the same time. UWATX also funds CIS parent education programs that provide evidence-based courses that improve school readiness and also decrease child abuse and neglect. Additionally, CIS provides services to three high-need middle schools – providing mentoring, tutoring, case management and behavioral health services. Creating solutions that work Working collaboratively, UWATX, CIS and Child Inc. brought Early Head Start services to teen parents at two local high schools. These services allowed vulnerable children to receive engaging care shown to help brain development while their parents focused on their own education. CIS is also providing valuable insight to our Target Graduation’s Out-of-School Time (OST) Agenda – a detailed plan for improving the OST system in Central Texas. Meeting the challenge of quality programs When UWATX set the bar high in 2006 by requiring funded program to adopt evidence-based models, CIS enthusiastically embraced the new standards and expanded quality programming as a result.   What we’ve accomplished: Through this partnership, CIS and UWATX have brought quality, innovative solutions for the challenges of Greater Austin. How Communities In Schools makes Austin greater: “Because CIS programs operate in or near public schools, […]

Name: Faith Presbyterian Child Development Center Partner for: 5 years Partner with: Success By 6 Our relationship: Funding programs to maintain quality care Faith Presbyterian Child Development Center (Faith Presbyterian) has been a UWATX grantee for five years. Thanks to that support, they have been able to increase the number of low-income children that participate in their high-quality program. Participating in innovative partnerships Thanks to their relationship with UWATX, Faith Presbyterian can take part in Success By 6’s White Glove Health project, where provides free health care services on-site to staff and the children and families they serve. To date, nearly 200 families, children and staff members have registered for this service through the SB6 project. Planning for the future of our youngest children Faith Presbyterian leadership have taken an active role in the School Readiness Action Plan, a project led by UWATX Success By 6 to increase the percent of children who are school ready to 70 percent by 2015.   What we’ve accomplished: Together, Faith Presbyterian and UWATX have helped more than 150 children receive high-quality child care. Through their relationship with UWATX, Faith Presbyterian has also maintained the NAEYC accreditation- the gold standard for early education programs. How Faith Presbyterian Child Development Center makes Austin greater: “Faith Presbyterian is a sensitive program that addresses all needs of a family or child- and they will do whatever it takes to provide support. The program director is always willing to lend a hand to other center directors in the SB6 family […]

Name: Workforce Solutions Partner for: 7+ years Partner with: Success By 6   Our relationship: Implementing proven solutions in Central Texas In 2009, UWATX arranged for local experts to attend a proven training  program in Chicago and then worked with a variety of funders to implement the program locally through Workforce Solutions. Since then, more than 50 directors have completed the 100 hour program, earning up to 12 credit hours in child care administration and measurably improving the quality of care. Improving child care centers UWATX and Workforce Solutions have partnered to improve the quality of care for our youngest community members. With UWATX funding and planning support, , Workforce Solutions employs experts who help child care center directors improve their programs through one-on-one mentoring and coaching. Workforce staff members have attended UWATX trainings that focus on skills-based, respectful approaches to working with families and young children. Leading the early childhood community Workforce Solutions joins other local leaders in working on the School Readiness Action Plan, a UWATX project which has set out to increase the percent of children who enter school ready to learn to 70 percent by 2015. Workforce Solutions also facilitates the Quality Child Care Collaborative, which UWATX funds and where SB6 staff serves on the leadership team.   What we’ve accomplished: By working together on joint goals, we have increased the percentage of centers serving low-income communities who meet state quality standards from 18 percent to 62 percent. Today, nearly 1,300 3- to 5-year olds are enrolled […]