Children’s Policy Council reviews assessment, hears from agency members
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By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
During its September meeting, the Coosa County Children’s Policy Council, or CPC, provided an update on its Needs Assessment report and heard from some of its agency members.
The county’s 2024 Needs Assessment indicated the county’s three most urgent needs are school success, mental health and early care and education.
Mental health was rated as the top priority need in the county, with their being no inpatient beds for children or adults available in the county. The CPC’s report also indicated that the county’s population with the greatest mental health need is 9 to 17 years old.
The second most urgent need was school success, with the report indicating the county has a 98% graduation rate and 21% chronic absenteeism, reflecting the percent of students who are chronically absent, defined as missing 10-17 days of school.
Further, the report reflected that the percent of Coosa County children who meet or exceed benchmarks for reading in fourth grade is 47.4%, while the math proficiency in fourth grade is just 23.7%.
Ranked third in the list of the county’s most urgent needs was early care and education. The assessment report reflected that the county had 18 children who participated in First Class Pre-K in 2023-2024.
Further, the report indicated that there are four licensed childcare facilities located in the county and that there are no center-based license-exempt childcare centers in the county.
Regarding the availability of home visiting programs in the county; such as HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters), PAT (Parents as Teachers), NFP (Nurse Family Partnership), or other such programs; the CPC reported that Coosa County “has some access to such programs, but not enough.”
It was noted that the Needs Assessment did not ask what the school dropout rate is.
The 2024 Needs Assessment also highlighted the Coosa CPC’s accomplishments over the year, which included such things as the Back to School Drive/Bash, the 2023 United Way Day of Action, the 4-year literacy grant, Stepping up for Mental Health event, Child Abuse Prevention event, and work done with the Parents as Teachers and SAFE program, as well as the AltaPointe Health juvenile court liaison.
While the county’s CPC group selected Coosa County’s three most urgent needs, the top three needs across the state were identified as substance abuse, parental involvement and family engagement and mental health.
For more information on the Needs Assessment reports or the Children’s Policy Council in general, visit the state CPC website at www.alcpc.org.
Regarding other CPC updates at the meeting, it was reported that the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education will soon release a grant for the Born Ready University program. Those interested in being a host site will be able to apply for a $15,000 grant to put on this program.
Born Ready University is a four-session parenting program that offers courses in child development, social/emotional development, school readiness, and healthy and safety environments. The program is for parents, expecting parents and other caregivers of children from birth to 5 years old.
During the meeting, Coosa CPC Coordinator Marty Rittmann also opened the floor to various agencies to present information and report on upcoming events that may be of interest to other agencies.
With 23 people in attendance for the meeting, elected officials in attendance were District Judge Carlton Teel, District Attorney Joe Ficquette and Superintendent of Education David Stover Jr.
Ficquette, who also provided lunch for the meeting, provided information about the juvenile court, which he said has become a difficult court. He said they are trying to help with the root cause of the problem, adding that “more than ever, we need y’all,” referring to the CPC agencies.
Assistant District Attorney Mallory Whitley said that they have seen an uptick in juvenile cases. She contributed the increase in delinquency largely to social media, as well as family issues and a lack of parenting or absent parents, stating that they need in-home services for families.
In reviewing upcoming events, the Coosa County Extension Office shared that it will host a Fall Open House on Thursday, October 3, from 4-6 p.m., with the event open to the public. The Open House will feature local art, crafts, food tastings, and more.
The Extension Office is located on the school campus in Hanover, at 243 Coosa County Road 75, Rockford, 35136. For more information call 256-377-4713.
Additionally, SAFE House and the Coosa Extension Office are presenting domestic violence awareness classes throughout the month of October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
The class schedule includes the Goodwater Youth Development Center from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. October 9, the Rockford Senior Center from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on October 16, the Weogufka Community Center from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on October 17, and Central High School Coosa County from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. October 29.
SAFE and Extension have open dates on October 15 and October 23 if anyone is interested in hosting a class. For more information, contact Extension Coordinator Shannon Davis at 256-377-4713.
Also at the meeting, attendees heard a presentation from Meg Masters, project director for Literacy Everywhere!, regarding information on the grant the county received and how the program has helped with literacy and community engagement.
She added that they are working together with Empowered to Conquer for family involvement and shared a video presentation from Brittany Hogan with Empowered to Conquer, who was unable to attend the meeting because of illness.
In her video presentation, Hogan explained the differences between parental involvement and engagement, stating that they do not want parents to just be involved, but that they want the parents to be engaged.
Masters also spoke on equity in education and said that they want a partner mindset with the parents. She added that education is not “one size fits all” and said that parents are a valuable resource and that they know what works best for their child.
The next Children’s Policy Council meeting will be held at 11:30 a.m October 8 at the Department of Human Resources. Meetings are open to the public.
