OSWEGO COUNTY – Advocates in early childhood development recently held a forum to engage in a community conversation among colleagues and advocates about improving the opportunities and support systems for children ages birth to five.
The Oswego County Early Childhood Alliance (OCECA) hosted the forum in the Stern Board Room at the Center for Instruction, Technology & Innovation, and dozens of community stakeholders participated in activities, data review, networking, and discussions during the day-long event.
The featured presenter was Bethany Creaser, the executive director of the Early Childhood Alliance for Onondaga County, along with several members from its Help Me Grow team who facilitated a Brain Architecture activity. The activity had groups work together to simulate the development of a child’s life from birth to five and how positive and negative events can impact one’s development and quality of life.
Amy Leotta of the Fulton YMCA attended the forum and noted she took away an understanding of how important and critical it is to connect families with agencies at a younger age level to make a sustaining impact. Donna Fuller of Oswego County Opportunities echoed those sentiments.
“It really gave a knowledge of who and what others are doing in our county to help meet the needs of children and families,” said Fuller, who added that she also learned of some programs she previously wasn’t aware of during the sessions.
The OCECA includes Oswego County Opportunities, Integrated Community Planning, CiTi BOCES, and the Shineman Foundation. Shineman Foundation Director Chena Tucker said the group has been in the works for a couple of years, and the county aims to launch its Help Me Grow initiative as one of its first official programs.
“The group was formed in 2020 to support a comprehensive care infrastructure for Oswego County children from birth to five,” said Tucker of the OCECA’s formation. “Many programs in Oswego County already provide valuable services for children but would benefit from an additional infrastructure that helps coordinate the developmental care milestones for children ages birth to five. The first phase of the alliance has been launched and included a series of focus groups, listening forums, and community outreach.”
The Richard S. Shineman Foundation sponsored the forum. The Health Foundation for Western and Central New York supported the local Building Expertise in Model Implementation training. Tucker added that the executive committee and several community partners have begun training to learn an evidence-based framework to guide the alliance’s growth as the group looks to implement the Help Me Grow model in Oswego County.
To learn more about OCECA and support early childhood efforts, contact [email protected].
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A group works together during the recent early childhood development forum on the Brain Architecture activity. The event was hosted at CiTi BOCES by the Oswego County Early Childhood Alliance and sponsored by the Richard S. Shineman Foundation.
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