Assistance

Child care centers

Strong Beginnings childcare centers deliver high-quality early childhood services. Through an agreement with Hennepin County and Minnesota Department of Human Services, the childcare centers provide services and support that are not required at other childcare centers.

These Strong Beginnings program components have been evaluated and shown to improve children’s developmental gains, kindergarten readiness, and family engagement. They include developmentally appropriate curriculum, knowledgeable childcare professionals, small class sizes and staff-to-child ratios, systemic efforts to engage parents in their child’s development and education, and assistance with meeting the non-educational needs of the child and family.

Since 1992, Hennepin County has contracted with childcare centers to implement the Strong Beginnings strategy. Today the centers serve an average of 1,200 children annually.

Strong Beginnings program components

Sixty percent of enrolled children are low-income, special needs, and/or in foster care.

The program includes culturally responsive childcare practices, such as representative staffing, using children’s first language, and culturally relevant environment.

There is a higher staff-to-child ratio than required by state licensing.

We hold the belief that parents are their child’s first teacher. A family coordinator greets, engages, and assists families with participating in their child’s education and accessing services as needed.

The program holds twice-annual assessments of physical, social and emotional well-being. A child development specialist assists teachers in developing child-specific goals based on assessments and directs the center’s curriculum planning.

There is a child-specific transition plan to kindergarten. The child development specialist coordinates services with the local school district and the transition to kindergarten.

There is ongoing staff training and coaching with a focus on trauma, building social-emotional skills, strategies for working with challenging behaviors, practices for culturally responsive care, and empowering parents to become full partners in their child’s education.