By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Two new reports suggest South Carolina lawmakers can do a better job of educating and helping children by coordinating public policy efforts and services across state agencies and budgets.
At the end of October, the Office of First Steps Study Committee recommended a “governance structure that increases accountability, quality and impact of statewide early childhood education programs.” The committee, chartered by legislators in 2014 to review the effectiveness of the South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness early childhood education initiative, recommended a cabinet-level agency to streamline and coordinate services to children, which often are fragmented across myriad agencies. Alternatives included making First Steps part of the state Department of Education.
Then this week, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) issued a detailed study that called on states to raise the bar for early childhood education programs, in part, by better coordination across state agencies.
“States should build a statewide policy framework to serve children from birth to age 8 and establish a statewide council to coordinate policy and make better use of all available public and private funding, which, in many cases, is spread across many government agencies, nonprofit entities and budgets,” said the SREB report, called “Building a Strong Foundation: State Policy for Early Childhood Education.”
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, who chaired the SREB commission that developed the report, said that it was important for states to lead with good governance structures to give children the best start possible.
“It takes committed leadership to bring together the various agencies and programs that play different roles in early childhood education,” he wrote in the report. “A coordinated and unified approach to early childhood governance facilitates progress in measurable ways.
None of the examples of successful and leading early childhood education programs in the report mentioned South Carolina. But Melanie Barton, executive director of South Carolina’s Education Oversight Committee, served on the SREB Commission that produced the report.
“South Carolina has an opportunity to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its early childhood programs,” she told Statehouse Report. “In fact, the SREB report was included in the recommendations of the Office of First Steps study committee that were released. South Carolina needs higher-quality programs for our children who are in poverty.”
Current system “makes my head hurt”
Centralizing early childhood education and other services makes a lot of sense because the current system is confusing and rife with duplication and waste, said Tim Ervolina, president and CEO of the United Way Association of South Carolina.
“We have one agency in charge of licensing providers (the S.C. Department of Social Services) and another (S.C. First Steps) in charge of making sure providers have good quality,” he said. “First Steps is also, in one of the strangest mission drifts in state government, the lead agency for BabyNet, the state’s Medicaid early intervention program for developmental delays.
“Meantime, some 4K programs are run by the Department of Education, some by private companies funded by First Steps, and some by nonprofit organizations funded by federal Head Start funds. Child care resource and referral services are coordinated by USC, while training comes from DSS, First Steps, USC, the South Carolina Center for Child Care Career Development and local United Ways.”
“The whole thing makes my head hurt,” he said,. “To make any progress at all in early grade performance, we have to put someone in charge, an early childhood czar, if you will. Otherwise, we just keep spinning our wheels.”
Other recommendations
The report on First Steps also offered other recommendations, including:
- Develop and com
municate a consistent statewide vision with goals for early childhood education and strategies before determining a governance structure. This includes fulfilling various state requirements, planning a statewide childhood data system and promoting accountability.
- Continue public-private partnership between First Steps and local county organizations, with modifications.
- Conduct technical assessment, and strengthen the capacity and capability of local First Steps offices.
“The Institute of Child Success is encouraged to see more attention drawn to the need for increased statewide coordination among early childhood services, and strongly supports the recommendations of the First Steps Study Committee to advance that effort in South Carolina,” said Joe Waters, ICS vice president.
What’s ahead
Now armed with state recommendations and a companion regional report pushing better governance, the legislature is expected to take a closer look into service delivery for children in the coming legislative session.
Last December following scandals at DSS, state Rep. Jenny Horne, R-Summerville, filed a bill to create a cabinet-level Department of Child and Family Services to coordinate children’s services. It remains in the House Judiciary Committee, where it saw no action in 2015.
But it is unclear whether substantial structural changes are in the offing as state lawmakers expect to grapple with major funding issues related to roads and a more equitable overall education funding system that is being required by the courts.
Susan DeVenny, director of the state First Steps program, noted, “We look forward to working with the General Assembly next session as they continue to make important early childhood decisions.”
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