Yuma branch of First Things First receives $3.6 million for local programs
Yuma County and the Quechan and Cocopah tribes will receive more than $3.6 million for local services promoting early childhood development and health from state tobacco tax funds.
First Things First, the regional agency for the Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board that was created in November 2006 by Proposition 203, will be distributing $3.6 million to Yuma County and the Quechan tribe and $19,391 to the Cocopah tribe.
Mary Reyes Sanford, the coordinator for the program in the Yuma region, says that this initial allocation of funds will be guaranteed over the next three years.
While First Things First "does not provide direct services," Sanford says service providers in the community will be given an opportunity to apply for grants for projects approved by council members.
She says they're "looking at what's already there" in the way of early childhood services and augmenting or improving the services that are already provided.
Examples of eligible services include children's health groups, pediatricians, child care providers and educational groups.
The Yuma Regional Council for First Things First is currently in the process of putting together a list of local early childhood needs that need to be addressed, she says.
While the final decisions of the council won't be published until the first part of October, the issues that keep recurring at the top of their agenda according to Sanford are professional development issues for caretakers, child care access, coordination of community service systems, health issues, parental support issues and communication issues.
"What is glaringly obvious," she says, is that "we don't have enough professionals in the early childhood field in occupational therapy."
The council will be making grant applications available to local service providers in January 2009 and expects to award grants beginning July 1, 2009.
While Sanford says that "what we do in these early years is so important and crucial," she also says that, "bottom line we won't truly see the true impact of all this until 10 years' time."
But she says the returns on a program like this, if successful, can be enormous and last a lifetime. "If we invest money early in the life of an individual, we're going to get a lot more in return."
It is more cost effective, she says, to invest in an individual early in their life in order to prevent delinquent behavior and instill safe and productive habits in their personal lives.
And money isn't all that should be invested, she says. Sanford states that people need to invest time into early childhood development and health in order for it to pay off.
"Public awareness of the importance of investing early" is key, she says.
Sanford says each regional council for First Things First is comprised of 11 council member from the community it serves.
The council's next monthly meeting, which will take place on Sept. 18 in Yuma Regional Medical Center Conference Rooms One and Two, will address some of these issues, she says.
According to Sanford, the meeting is open to the public and will provide an opportunity for community members to share thoughts on the current agenda and suggest items for subsequent agendas where possible.
The Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board also operates statewide programs though 81 percent of all funding received through the tobacco tax is allocated to the regional councils, says Sanford.
One statewide program which has been partially implemented in Maricopa County and through Healthy Start in Yuma County is the distribution of a "parent kit," which Sanford says includes six DVDs, a children's book, and access to support personnel who can reinforce and receive feedback on the information contained in the materials.
Sanford says the plan is to provide these kits to new parents in hospitals immediately following the birth of their children.
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Erin Orozco can be reached at eorozco@yumasun.com or 539-6849.
