The Children First! Initiative is a grass-roots effort initiated by community members believing that the entire community must be involved in the education and care of our young children. Children First! specifically focuses on children ages 0-5 in Itasca County . The initiative involves a broad representation of community members including parents, health and human service professionals, educational institutions, community non-profits, businesses and employers, the medical community and the media.

The vision for Children First! was established at the November 1998 conference involving over 240 people from Itasca County . Input from the above-mentioned groups pointed towards the need for specific issues to be addressed by Children First! They include:

• Parent Education and Support
• Quality Early Child Care and Education
• Accessible and Affordable Health Care
• Public Awareness of the Importance of Early Childhood Care and Education
• Strengthening Families.

Approximately 75-100 volunteers met monthly with a program manager of the Blandin Foundation to carry out the Children First! mission. The accomplishments of Children First! can be directly attributed to the strong support of its volunteers as well as the overwhelming community support of the program. Some noted accomplishments: :

• Conducted nine successful countywide Week of the Young Child events (1999-2007), eventually renaming it Celebration of the Young Child (due to events being held all month long in April) .


• Partnered with 50-75 agencies and organizations for eight years in a row to educate families on available services and resources in the area (Children’s Fair).


• Hosted nationally known authors and speakers such as Cecile Culp Mielenz, Ph.D. (child development specialist), Dr. David Sousa (brain research), Robin Karr-Morse (licensed family therapist), Mary Sheedy Kurcinka (family educator) and Art Rolnick (economist) at community forums and workshops.


• Itasca Community College and Bemidji State University signed an articulation agreement for a two year Associate in Science degree in Early Childhood Education.


• Held eight family-oriented, countywide New Year’s Eve celebrations (1999-2006) .


• Worked with evaluator from the Wilder Research Center to identify outcomes and indicators for the Children First! Initiative as well as to collect baseline data.


• Partnered with the medical community and Itasca County Public Health in designing a prenatal curriculum.


• Designed, developed and implemented an innovative incentive program specifically for Itasca County families – that of Baby Steps Boutique.


• 40 early childhood education professionals completed a day and a half workshop on an assessment system for use with infants and toddlers – they work with families in promoting understanding of child development and their importance of being partners in the assessment process.


• Hosted several ICTV talk show segments involving various community partners.


• Hosted public policy and advocacy training sessions for early childhood education professionals, childcare providers and parents – Ready 4 K is a valuable partner in this effort.


• Sponsored Child Care Awareness and Appreciation Banquets as well as Child Care Awareness Day.


• Designed and distributed a report to explain the Children First! efforts as well as a statement dealing with the economic impact and importance of early childhood education.


• Itasca Area was selected as one of 36 communities to participate in the statewide Early Childhood Initiative (launched by the six Minnesota Initiative Foundations with major funding support from the McKnight Foundation) .


• Recruited 40 members from diverse sectors of the community to be a part of the Early Childhood Coalition in order to increase public awareness on issues related to early childhood.


• Revisited community vision for healthy growth and development of our children.

Children First! has worked with several school districts, agencies and organizations in developing a collaborative model to address the outcomes that affect young children and their families. The ultimate outcome of Children First! is to have all children in Itasca County start kindergarten healthy and ready to do their best, and a strong team effort with strong partnerships is the foundation needed to accomplish this goal. Please see the Invest Early web site.