Grant Info

The Early Learning Opportunities Act grant is awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children, Youth and Families and serves the 12-county Costal Bend region of South Texas. Counties included in the grant are Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Live Oak, McMullan, Nueces, Refugio and San Patricio. The 17-month grant totals $689,787.

The Coastal Bend Early Learning Opportunities Project includes the following early learning activities:

	Enhancing early childhood literacy.
	Promoting effective parenting.
	Developing linkages among early learning programs within a community and between early leaning programs and health services for young children.
	Increasing access to early leaning opportunities for young children with special needs including developmental delays, by facilitating coordination with other programs serving such young children.
	Improving the quality of early learning programs though professional development and training activities for early learning providers.

The Coastal Bend Early Learning Opportunities Project will address priorities that have been established by the Success By 6 Local Council based on community needs assessments of the child care system in the Coastal Bend region. The project will address priorities that have been established to improve the child care system in the Coastal Bend region utilizing research-based frameworks to promote the development of cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional skills for young children ages 0-6 that will promote the learning readiness of young children so that they enter school ready to learn.

The project is a collaborative effort between the following organizations:

	Education Service Center, Region 2
	Del Mar College
	Work-Force 1
	KEDT, South Texas Public Broadcasting System, Inc
	United Way of the Coastal Bend (Success By 6)