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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 […]

We’re off and running with the second installment of Play To Learn, a project of our Success By 6 program that works to bring engagement through early education to low-income families at accessible neighborhood locations. Over the course of four installments, the Play To Learn project will impact more than 200 families in Austin’s low-income communities. Play To Learn is an eight-week parent education course that teaches parents of 2- and 3-year-olds how to help their children become school ready through interactive play that fosters brain development. UWATX created an enriching curriculum that allows children to interact with others and teaches parents about developmental milestones and age-appropriate expectations. “One student wouldn’t speak at all when he was first introduced to Play To Learn. He was shy and didn’t want to participate in any of the programming,” said Kaley Horton, Success By 6 VISTA, who manages the project. “At the end of the first group, he stood in front of the class and counted to ten.” The project is the latest effort funded by a generous million-dollar grant from Samsung Austin Semiconductor. The grant initially allowed UWATX to create a first-of-its-kind baseline that showed only 13 percent of children in Austin’s low-income communities were ready to start school, far lower than the 52 percent who are ready in Central Texas overall. “Play To Learn encourages my daughter Jaelizza to step outside of her comfort zone,” said Esmeralda Martinez, parent participant. “Ever since she’s been in the program she wakes up excited to […]

This afternoon, we unveiled a landmark document that has been years in the making: the School Readiness Action Plan for Austin/ Travis County, an ambitious three-year plan to increase the percent of children who enter kindergarten school ready to 70 percent by 2015. In Central Texas, only 50 percent of children are school ready, meaning only one in two students enter school developmentally ready to learn. The number of ready children drops to 13 percent in low-income communities, according to UWATX research released earlier this year. “When children enter school behind, they tend to stay behind,” said Debbie Bresette, President, UWATX. “Children under 6 represent the future of our community- they’re one of our fastest growing populations- so changing these statistics means changing the future of Greater Austin.” The Action Plan is informed by recent census data, which show one in three households in Travis County include children under 6 and nearly half of young children are low-income, which on average means a family of four living on less than $46,000 annually. “We want to change these numbers so every child has the opportunity to be successful and Greater Austin can continue to thrive,” said Bresette. To get here, UWATX led two years of collaborative efforts with the City of Austin, Travis County and a variety of local stakeholders, bringing together more than 200 entities. This true community effort was endorsed by Mayor Leffingwell, Judge Samuel Biscoe, Senator Kirk Watson and Representative Larry Gonzales. Long-time supporter Representative Mark Strama spoke […]

United Way Capital Area’s Success By 6 initiative released the results of a year-long study of Central Texas children at the 2012 Central Texas Early Childhood Business and Civic Leaders Summit at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center on Thursday, Jan. 26. The research project made possible by a donation from Samsung Austin Semiconductor and conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, illustrates the state of Central Texas children from early childhood through kindergarten. Among the findings, the research indicated that the achievement gap is visible in children by three years of age; developmental delays are especially apparent in neighborhoods within Dove Springs, Manor, Quail Creek and St. John; and developmental delays are in specific skill sets, including communication, problem solving and fine motor skills. “Currently, there is no publicly accessible development data being collected in Central Texas for children ages zero to five,” Debbie Bresette, president, United Way Capital Area (UWCA), said. “This creates a significant challenge in planning for early childhood services. With this research, we are going to change that.” The Samsung-sponsored project resulted in localized data maps that indicate developmental vulnerabilities in Central Texas children. The maps will allow UWCA to better monitor, diagnose, plan and improve early childhood systems performance. In Central Texas, only 52 percent of children enter kindergarten school-ready, indicating that delays are emerging even before children begin their education. Furthermore in some local neighborhoods UWCA assessed , only 13 percent of children are considered school ready. “A child’s […]