ASTORIA, Ore. — The Way to Wellville, on behalf of Clatsop and Tillamook counties, received a welcome Christmas gift in the form of a Preschool Development Grant. The $350,000 Pay for Success program grant was announced by the U.S. Department of Education. The federal funds actually will go to Clatsop County, which will administer the grant for The Way to Wellville.
The grant will fund a feasibility study of establishing preschool in the two counties. The study will be conducted by the Way to Wellville – Clatsop County.
We are very excited to be a community partner and stakeholder in this grant said Mimi Haley, Executive Director, for Columbia Pacific Coordinated Care Organization, which is the sponsor of The Way to Wellville. “We know that good education plays such an important role in a lifetime of well-being, and that preschool is a proven way to get kids started off prepared and able to learn.”
The study team will develop the details necessary to establish up to 600 free preschool positions for children of the two counties, according to Dan Gaffney, chair of the Way to Wellville Strategic Advisory Council and coordinator for Clatsop Kinder Ready, a countywide consortium.
As envisioned in the grant application, the program will be for children who qualify for free and reduced-cost lunch, children from families earning up to three times the threshold for the lunch programs, and for children learning English as a second language.
Among the issues to be considered in the study are transportation for the children and compensation for the teachers, Gaffney said.
“Being rural counties we recognize the need for affordable, ongoing, high-quality professional development and higher wages for preschool teachers as well as transportation for children attending preschool,” he said.
The study will commence in the spring of 2017. It is expected to take six to nine months, at which time operational funding will be sought. Parents of children who will benefit from the preschools can expect to be an important part of the study.
“We will reach out to parents, current preschool providers, elementary schools, local health care providers and others touching the lives of our youngest population to determine how best to engage children and their families in high quality preschool,” Gaffney said.
Haley noted that the grant opens up possibilities for all children in the two counties, and Columbia County as well, because it supports the goals of the regional Early Learning Hub.
“It will potentially create a pathway for sustainable funding allowing all children in Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook counties to access quality pre-school education,” Haley said. “The commitment and collaboration of the Wellville Strategic Advisory Council with regional stakeholders was a key component of the success of this grant being awarded by the Department of Education.”
About Columbia Pacific Coordinated Care Organization
Established in September 2012, Columbia Pacific CCO coordinates health services for about 23,000 Oregon Health Plan members in Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook counties. For more information, please visit www.colpachealth.org.
About The Way to Wellville – Clatsop County
Clatsop County was chosen in 2014 as one of just five areas nationwide to take part in The Way to Wellville, an innovative, five-year challenge to improve measures of health and economic vitality. The goal is to build community networks to increase access to and use of beneficial services, activities and resources to improve the health of Clatsop County residents.
