Child Well Being

Each year, our Council members craft our Shared Plan, also called a Child Well Being Plan, for the state. In the plan, we highlight our priorities for meeting needs, and making life better for children and families.

By law, FCFCs focus on specific priorities:

• expectant parents and newborns thriving
• infants and toddlers thriving
• children being ready for school
• children and youth succeeding in school
• youth choosing health behaviors
• youth successfully transitioning into adulthood, and
• a detailed procedure for how to coordinate services.

In August 2006, House Bill (HB) 289 was signed into law by then Governor Robert Taft. HB 289 was a budget bill that provided an update to the FCFC statute §121.37. Under the bill, local Councils must develop an annual report by measuring Child Well Being (CWB) indicators.

FCFCs develop and implement a process that annually evaluates and prioritizes services, fill service gaps where possible, and invent new approaches to achieve better results for families and children.

Our early childhood goals, for families with children prenatal to 5 years old, are met through the Office of Early Childhood/Invest in Children. Our youth development goals, for school-age and adolescent children from age 5 to high-school graduation, are met through our office, the Family & Children First Council.

Early Childhood

The Office of Early Childhood/Invest in Children’s goals are pursued through a number of service strategies for children, from prenatal to the start of kindergarten. These strategies focus on better preparing our children to enter school ready to learn, and in good mental and physical health. Each of the programs is administered by lead agencies and implemented through partnerships with community-based organizations.

School-Age & Adolescent Youth Development

The Family & Children First Council’s youth development efforts are collaborations among schools, families, and community partners to develop healthy communities that lead to the academic success, safety, and well being of youth to enable them to transition into productive and responsible citizens.