Elkhart County’s Early Education Initiative the focus of May 25th Child Dashboard’s Action Meeting.

The Source and Child Dashboard are part of the effort with the Community Foundation of Elkhart County and Horizon Education Alliance (HEA) to help the youngest in our community get the resources they need to have successful outcomes. Sixty-two people from our community attended the early childhood focused child dashboard meeting, including those working in churches, manufacturing, healthcare, social services, daycares, libraries, afterschool programs, food banks, higher education, law enforcement and, of course, schools.

Data helps frame how we approach the challenges and opportunities for our community. Key data points regarding childcare, maternal and child health, kindergarten readiness, and caregiver supports show that Elkhart County is underperforming when providing quality child support services like childcare and education. Through HEA”s work with Early Childhood Skills Inventory we know that nearly two-thirds of children entering Elkhart County kindergarten are not prepared. This fact becomes all too real through parent feedback expressing the shortage of childcare centers, high costs, and lack of standardized information about how to prepare their child for kindergarten. These issues have a direct impact on all levels of our community. 

As we do at these meetings, those in attendance got to work discussing how to build solutions. Efforts are already underway to bolster child and maternal health, childcare and learning environments, and family and caregiver support. Volunteer stakeholders agreed to meet three times this summer to start action team work in these key areas.

This is learning together how to best invest in our children at an early age. We know that better education outcomes help individuals in our community in so many ways, including behavioral and mental development, family economic stability, and more.