A Chinese proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.  The second-best time is now.”  The time has come to step back and ask how well we are doing to shape the early experience of all children. This is a very important question for one simple reason – decades of scientific research have concluded that a child’s experience in the first few years establish a foundation for human development that is carried throughout life.  And how well these foundations are constructed constitutes an important shared responsibility of everyone in our community.

United Way of Sheboygan County aims to take specific evidence-based actions to improve the health and well-being of Sheboygan County’s children and prepare them to succeed in the 21^st century.  Sector leaders from business, health care, faith communities, government, non-profit, education, private funders, and parents gathered together just a few short years ago and learned about working together to achieve this goal. They have set a goal to scale up and sustain a collaborative, coordinated System of Care that will make it possible to reduce child abuse and neglect, improve child health, promote optimal child development, and strengthen families.

These diverse individuals and groups worked together to achieve a collective impact that would be impossible for any of them to achieve alone.  Collective impact focuses the entire community on a single set of goals, measured in the same way.  Unlike most collaborations, collective impact initiatives involve a central infrastructure, a dedicated staff, and a structured process that leads to a common agenda, shared measurements, continuous communication and mutually supportive activities.  Our objective, in this case, is to coordinate improvements at every stage of a young person’s life, from cradle to career.

This System of Care is called the Community Partnership for Children (CPC). The CPC is a prevention-focused initiative and a Wisconsin state model. Its vision is that all Sheboygan County children are safe, healthy and prepared to grow, learn and achieve. In November 2016, the first program set into action through this partnership, Welcome Baby, began.

Now 100 families strong, and growing, the program is an overwhelming success.

Welcome Baby visits are made either prenatally or at the hospital, which links families to community resources and lays a foundation of success (especially for those that have added challenges). Customized referrals to a full spectrum of local agencies increase this impact.  Such services include in-home visits, parenting classes, and structured play groups along with additional core services including short-term and longer-term intensive home visits, parent education and mentoring, structured playgroups, wrap around services, and coordinated referrals.

Home visits help support good parenting during children’s early years through high-quality consulting programs which can improve outcomes for children and families, particularly those that face additional challenges such as teen or single parenthood, maternal depression and lack of social and financial support. Children’s early brain development influences cognitive skills, emotional and social competence, and physical and mental well-being that will enable them to achieve in school and later in life.

The CPC has reached further by expanding the Welcome Baby program to support the most vulnerable population of babies and their families in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The nursery is designed to care for babies who need medical monitoring and specialized services. Parents in this situation often have additional stress in caring for their new baby, which calls for a greater response to strengthen their support system.

Research shows that babies' brain development in the first 1,000 days of life can set patterns that will affect them for their entire lives. By the age of 3, a child's brain has grown to 80 percent of its full size. Interacting with caregivers actually shapes their brains and helps set them up for mental wellness and healthy emotional development.

If there is one thing we can do to change a child’s future for the better, it’s this: prepare that child for kindergarten. Babies are born learning, and the first years of a child’ life constitutes the greatest period of brain development they will ever experience.  Decades of scientific research have concluded that experiences in the first few years establish a foundation for human development that is carried throughout life. 

You can make a difference by supporting the Community Partnership for Children - hundreds of more families in our community.  A Greek proverb says, “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”

Plant the seed, big or little, through a gift to the United Way campaign.  You can designate your workplace campaign contribution or your individual donation to the Community Partnership for Children, or let our team of dedicated community volunteers determine the best use of it.  Over time, your seed gift will provide learning and strengthen generations of babies and families.