COLUMBUS, Ohio – The federal government is pumping more than $16 million over the next five year into an expansion of services to nearly 5,000 very young children in the poorest neighborhoods of Columbus.
The $16.5 million grant to Ohio State University from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is part of an effort to expand the Head Start program by 25 percent nationwide.
The grant, announced Tuesday, is intended to be used to establish an Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership, anchored by OSU’s Schoenbaum Family Center at Weinland Park, which will increase access to child-care, parenting and nutrition education and other services that contribute to an improved quality of life for children from infancy to age three in seven neighborhoods, according to a release from the university.
One of the few universities in the country to steer such a partnership, Ohio State will get $2.7 million in each of the next five years and matching funds from grant partners will elevate funding to $3.3 million annually.
The program, which plans to add 160 families a year, will support children and families living in Franklinton, the Hilltop, South Linden, the Near East, Near South and Far South neighborhoods, and the Near North/University District.
The partnership includes Action for Children, the Children’s Hunger Alliance, Columbus Public Health, the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities and several other public and non-profit organizations.
With guidance from OSU’s College of Education and Human Ecology, the Schoenbaum center will identify resources and with various organizations to improve the health and education of an estimated 2,500 infants and 2,300 toddlers in neighborhoods where the child poverty rate is above the norm.
Officials said many of the families in the targeted neighborhoods are led by young women with an average income of less than $800 a month.
“We will work intensely with parents to best meet their needs, whether it’s job training, medical care, nutrition education or other services,” with the goal of helping the families achieve self-sufficiency, said Cheryl Achterberg, dean of the college.
The Early Head Start grant also includes funds for professional development and coaching for 12 licensed child care centers and 13 licensed home-based child care providers to improve caregivers’ ability to provide early learning experiences that will promote the children’s readiness to enter kindergarten.
Professional training will include mental health counseling, medical exams and screening, nutrition education, early diagnosis of developmental delays or disabilities, adult education and job training, affordable and safe housing, and efforts to support family stability, according to the university.