The Anson County Partnership for Children is expanding services to Anson County families through an early literacy program proven to increase time spent reading to young children. Raising A Reader is a national literacy program for children birth to five that fosters parent-child bonding and brain development to prepare children for success in school. The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., the organization that leads Smart Start, has recently awarded approximately $20,000 to Anson County Partnership for Children to administer the program locally. The Raising A Reader program was first launched in Anson County More at Four Classrooms in February of 2010. The new funding has allowed the Raising a Reader program to expand to serve over 260 three and four year old children in Anson County.
     Nearly half of all U.S. children enter school without the early reading skills necessary to succeed in school. To address this challenge, Raising A Reader is offered in child care centers in communities with a proven need for an early literacy program. As part of the program, children take home bags each week with four high quality children’s books. The book bags are rotated among children and families weekly. The center also hosts weekly reading sessions and at least four

workshops a year to teach families book-sharing strategies. Children also visit the library and are encouraged to get their first library card.
     Smart Start has been implementing the program in counties across the state for the past three years. Last year alone, Smart Start Raising A Reader programs helped 831 families in 63 classrooms across 9 counties learn how to effectively read with their children to promote literacy skills.
     The Raising a Reader program is especially important in Anson County where many children start Kindergarten without the pre-literacy skills that are needed for success in school. Anson County Partnership for Children Executive Director, Elaine B. Scarborough, says that the Raising a Reader program, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Early Childhood Resource Center, Motheread, Teacheread, Reading is Fundamental and Books for Kids are the literacy programs currently sponsored the Partnership for young children in Anson County. The Partnership’s annual fundraiser, the Barn Blast, funds these literacy programs. The Barn Blast will be held on Friday, January 28 from 5:00 to 11:00 pm at the Lockhart Taylor Center, South Piedmont Community College in Wadesboro. Tickets are available by calling 704 694-4036.

     October is National “Let’s Talk” Month. Let’s talk about what? Parents need to be willing and prepared to talk to their kids abut anything and everything. Oooh, that’s a tall order that has some parents quaking in their boots. It’s understandable if you feel like you fit that category. The good news is that we, along with other community resource agencies, can help. Research has shown that parents are the most influential figures in their children’s lives. Conversely, research has also shown that a majority of parents want allies in delivering information and messages to their children.
     According to the Nationally Recognized “Parents Matter” program, “Parent-child communication and the child’s risk-taking behavior are related.” Children and youth today are hit with a borage of information and attitudes that can be counter productive to healthy well-being. For every potentially harmful and possibly fatal influence there is to assault young people, parents need a fully prepared stash of counter moves. The one shortfall in that method is that it is largely reactive to a situation after the fact. In juggling all the demands of daily living parents need to be able to address issues awaiting their children or teens in a productive manner before the situation arises.
     First and foremost, parents have got to be approachable or ‘ask-able.’ Are you? You may feel that you are not ‘ready’ to talk with your child or teen. Remember this, if you are not talking, someone else is. To whom are your children listening?

     Parents need to talk to their children early and often. Of course, parents need to use their judgment to determine how much information is too much. The idea is to be available and responsive, not emotionally reactive. A parent does not have to have a Ph.D. to answer a younger child’s question, “What is sex?” However, a parent does need to be realistic that if a pre-teen or teen is asking about sex, a parent can determine how much information that child needs by asking open ended questions to get a better handle on the direction the conversation needs to go. The idea is to be accurate and matter of fact in your response. This is also the time to underscore your family values.
     With the passage of House Bill 88 (Healthy Youth Act), the NC legislature has mandated that all NC public school systems address comprehensive sexuality education for youth in grades 7, 8 and 9. The schools can now be your ally in delivering medically accurate sexuality health education to your child. More resources to help parents feel better equipped in educating their child can be found through the “Proud Choices” program of the Anson County Partnership for Children. Additionally, the Partnership has a 10 session parent program that can be delivered at local community sites free of charge to help parents talk to their children openly, honestly and accurately within the realm of their family values.
     For more information call Cindy at the Anson County Partnership for Children (704) 694-4036 x 29

     "Early childhood education has a tremendous impact on the national economic security and the viability of the American dream."
     These are the words of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - not typically known for speaking on behalf of children's issues.
     Yet business leaders and economists are becoming some of the best advocates for young children. They know early childhood investments are critical to keeping the United States competitive in a global market. After all, their future workers are today's newborn babies. Building a strong and productive labor force largely depends on how well we baby-proof the economy today.
     Just as parents baby-proof the top of the stairs to prevent a dangerous fall, policymakers must protect the economy from making a major misstep. Investments in early childhood education are the economic equivalent to investments in gates for stairs and covers for electrical outlets.      So what does economic baby-proofing look like? It starts with investing in high-quality early childhood programs. Science has shown that early experiences have biological consequences. . .
     For instance, these experiences shape the brain's wiring, determining whether a child's brain architecture will provide a strong or weak foundation for all future learning. In addition, brains, like houses, are built from the bottom up. You can't put the second story on until you have built the foundation. This is why remediation is less effective and more costly than providing what children need to thrive from the get-go. Simply put, the building blocks for learning are well established before a child enters kindergarten.
     The Chamber's new report, "Ready, Set, Go! Why Business Should Support Early Childhood Education," addresses these essential building blocks. It recommends that states support hiring qualified and effective early childhood educators, integrate early learning and care systems for children from birth to age 5, develop seamless transitions from the early childhood education system to the K-12 system and increase the availability of high-quality programs that support working parents.
     Fortunately, beginning with the leadership of Gov. Jim Hunt in the early 1990s, North Carolina has led the way in early childhood. With Smart Start, North

Carolina became the first in the nation to create a statewide early childhood system. It was one of the first to create a statewide high-quality pre-kindergarten program. And it was the first to develop a Quality Rating and Improvement Systems - the star-rated license. All are national models. The Chamber report highlights North Carolina's work as one of five promising practices included in the report.
     The bad news is that even as the state's population of children birth to age 5 increases, funding for early childhood programs like Smart Start has been declining for the past decade. The consequences are magnified further as the percentage of children living in poverty also has increased significantly. The most recent census data found that almost a quarter of all North Carolina children are living in poverty. These are the very children that benefit most from high-quality early childhood programs.
     Cutting effective early childhood programs hurts all of us. Our future depends on ensuring that today's children are tomorrow's successful and productive adults. We will be relying on them as our next generation of leaders, workers, parents and taxpayers.
     But there are short-term benefits as well. The average working parent misses five to nine days of work per year because of child care problems, costing U.S. businesses $3 billion a year in lost productivity. Such public investments also help attract new business. In addition, many child care programs are small businesses, and together they employ thousands of North Carolinians.
     The Chamber's report concludes with an ominous warning:
     "With current early childhood education resource levels, too many kindergarteners will continue to begin school ill-prepared, language skills and achievement scores in math and reading will likely remain at mediocre levels, costs for interventions during the K-12 years and after will continue to rise, high school graduation rates and postsecondary degree completion rates will likely remain unchanged, and businesses will lack the necessary workforce to fill the jobs of the future."
     Let's be sure we baby-proof the economy to prevent such a tragedy from taking place.

Dominique McKever

     Anson County Partnership for Children is collaborating with the Anson County Sheriff’s Department, Hamlet Police Department and the Anson County Health Department to ensure that Anson County’s children are safe as they travel in vehicles. A Child Safety Seat Clinic will be held on Wednesday, August 4th at Happy Days Child Care in Peachland from 2:00 to 5:00 pm. All parents, grandparents and caregivers are encouraged to stop by to have their children’s safety seats inspected. The children do not have to attend Happy Days Child Care. There is no cost to have a seat inspected and no car seat related citations will be issued during this clinic. The clinic will provide an opportunity for caregivers to learn proper child safety seat installation in their own vehicles. Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians will be available to inspect and properly install each child safety seat.
     Previous Child Safety Seat Clinics were held recently at The Kids Express and Anson Children’s Center. At these clinics certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians inspected 56 child seats, 55 of which were not installed correctly and distributed 12 car seats to children who needed their seats replaced. Technicians also discarded 21 child safety seats that were either expired or not in working order.
     Parents who cannot attend the Child Safety Seat Clinic on August 4 at Happy Days Child Care are encouraged to call the Anson County Partnership for Children at 704-694-4036 to schedule an appointment with a technician to have their car seats inspected or installed. Anson County Partnership for Children, Anson County Sheriff’s Department and The Hamlet Police Department appreciate all the parents and caregivers who have taken the time to have their children’s safety seats inspected.

     The Anson County Partnership for Children Board of Directors recognized Dr. Don Altieri and Bonnie Morgan at the May 27, 2010 Board Meeting.
     Dr. Don Altieri was honored for his 14 years as a Partnership board member. Serving since 1996, Altieri is a Founding Board Member of the Partnership and has always been a strong advocate for young children. Altieri said that as President of Anson Community College in 1996, he was involved in the initial application for Smart Start funding in Anson County. Altieri pledged to continue to support the work of the Partnership in the community.
     Bonnie Morgan was recognized for her seven years of employment as the Teen Information and Parenting Services (TIPS) Coordinator at the Partnership. Morgan has touched many lives of pregnant and parenting teens in Anson County. She has grown and transformed the TIPS program to its current success and notoriety in Anson County. Morgan has wonderful compassion for each of the TIPS participants and has gone beyond the call of duty to ensure that each has what she needs to be successful.
     Morgan will continue working with the Anson County Partnership for Children as Literacy Coordinator.

     Anson County Partnership for Children has a “clean bill” of financial health, according to an independent audit. An audit of 2008-2009 Smart Start activities found the organization was in compliance and had appropriate internal controls. Anson County Partnership for Children administers Smart Start and More at Four funding for Anson County.
     The state requires an audit of Anson County Partnership for Children every two years. Auditors look for compliance in three core areas: accuracy of financial statements; how the partnership processes and authorizes transactions such as grants, accounts payable, payroll and cash receipts; and contract compliance.
     “We are very pleased with our results,” said Dana Maness, President of Anson Bank and Trust and board chair for Anson County Partnership for Children. “We have worked hard to use every tax dollar wisely to help our children and our counties thrive, and this audit shows we have done just that.”
     Smart Start is an early childhood leadership network that leverages private and public dollars to address issues critical to North Carolina’s young children. Created in 1993 by Governor Jim Hunt, Smart Start is funded in all 100 North Carolina counties and is administered by 77 local Smart Start partnerships that create community-based programs. Smart Start financially supports programs that

increase the number of quality early childhood program, provides education credits to early childhood workers, supports parent education programs and connects families with medical services.      Anson County Partnership for Children also administers the More at Four Program in Anson County. The community based More at Four Pre- Kindergarten Program prepares children for success in school and helps provide a smooth transition for children to Kindergarten. Anson County Partnership for Children is currently taking applications for children who will be four years old on or before August 31, 2010. To apply for More at Four, please contact Kim Wilson at 704-694-4036.
     The North Carolina Partnership for the Children (NCPC), Inc. leads the state Smart Start initiative. NCPC places great emphasis on local control, coupled with strict accountability, oversight and measures to ensure financial integrity. The Smart Start partnerships undergo either annual or biennial financial and compliance audits by an independent auditor.
     For more information about Anson County Partnership for Children or the programs offered for children and families, visit the Partnership’s Web site at www.ansonsmartstart.org, call 704-694-4036 or find us on Facebook.

     Smart Start is North Carolina’s early childhood leadership network dedicated to assuring that every child reaches his or her potential and is prepared for success in a globally competitive world.

Anson Bank and Trust Presenting Sponsor of 2010 Barn Blast: Anson Bank and Trust of Wadesboro recently contributed $3,000 to the Anson County Partnership for Children, earning the organization the title of presenting sponsor for the 2010 Barn Blast. The Partnership would like to thank Anson Bank and Trust for their generous contribution and for helping make Anson County a better place to be a child and to raise a child.

     (October 15, 2009) - North Carolina's teen pregnancy rate fell to a 30-year low in 2008 according to new data released on Thursday. Teenage girls in North Carolina had 217 fewer pregnancies in 2008 than in 2007.
     The new data, compiled by the NC Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS), shows that 58.6 out of every 1000 teen girls ages 15 to 19 became pregnant in 2008. The new rate reflects a 7% decrease from the 2007 rate of 63 per 1000 girls. A small portion of this decrease can be attributed to a change in the way the state demographer calculates total population.
     Teen pregnancy rates in North Carolina have consistently decreased since 1991 following a spike in the late 1980s. Pregnancy rates fell across all age, racial and ethnic categories, as well as in all but 25 North Carolina counties. Abortion rates also decreased in all categories.
     While teen pregnancy rates declined across the board, significant disparities still exist between racial and ethnic groups and between rural and urban residents. The pregnancy rate among white teens was 47.8 per 1000 girls, while the corresponding rate for minority teens was 77.7. The rate specifically for Hispanic teens was 147.5. North Carolina's underserved rural counties typically saw higher rates of teen pregnancy.
Evidence-Based Strategies Credited

     Experts credit the trend toward targeted implementation of evidence-based approaches to pregnancy prevention as one cause of the improvement in pregnancy rates. Evidence-based approaches are rooted in behavioral research and have been evaluated for proof of their effectiveness.
     "North Carolina has been smart to leverage investments from the General Assembly and the Centers for Disease Control to bring proven pregnancy prevention strategies to North Carolina," says Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina (APPCNC) Executive Director Kay Phillips. "This new data shows that we are headed in the right direction, and that we must keep pressing forward so that more communities can benefit from these tools."
     The Anson County Partnership for Children has positively impacted their teen pregnancy rate by implementing the Adolescent Parenting Program (APP), a program created by NC DHHS's Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiatives to reduce the number of repeat teen pregnancies. Repeat teen pregnancies account for approximately 30% of teen pregnancies each year. APP increases the self-sufficiency of young mothers,

and has a multi-generational impact by improving the long-term health and success of both mother and baby. Twenty-nine sites in 27 counties have implemented the APP program and only 1.6% of APP enrollees statewide had a repeat pregnancy. Due in part to APP, Anson County's teen pregnancy rate fell by 32.9% in 2008.
     Chatham County has reduced their teen pregnancy rate by 26.3% by leveraging both state and private funding available to host Plain Talk, a nationally recognized and replicated promising program. Used for the past four years by nonprofit Chatham County Together, Plain Talk is a neighborhood-based initiative that teaches adults how to communicate effectively and comfortably with youth about health and personal responsibility.
     "Keeping these programs strong - and offering them in more communities - is crucial to maintaining a positive trend in our pregnancy rates," said Phillips. "We must not let these programs get lost as state and local dollars get harder and harder to come by."
     Phillips also expressed excitement for the new opportunity presented by the passage of the Healthy Youth Act by the North Carolina General Assembly. The Healthy Youth Act removes restrictions on local school boards that limited the number of evidence-based sexuality education curricula schools could use. Starting in the 2010-2011 school year, local school boards will be able to choose from a broad range of evidence-based curricula that cover abstinence as well as comprehensive sexual health and relationship topics.
     With the release of today's statistics and the continued expansion of evidence-based approaches, North Carolina's teen pregnancy prevention experts are confident the state will see continued declines in teen pregnancy rates.