First Things First Navajo/Apache Regional Partnership Council allocated $750,000 to serve children 0-5
Board allocated funds at meeting on Tuesday, August 6, 2008
SHOW LOW, Ariz. (August 27, 2008) First Things First – the Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board - approved $750,000 in First Things First funds for the Navajo/Apache Regional Partnership Council to create positive change for young children and their families in their community. There are 31 Regional Partnership Councils - voluntary governance bodies responsible for improving early childhood development and health outcomes for children zero through age five in neighborhoods and tribal lands in every county across the state. Regional Partnership Councils are determining local priorities for community needs or identified service gaps.
“Without a strong foundation, the chances of success are greatly diminished,” said Melissa Webb, Chair Navajo/Apache Regional Partnership Council, “through First Things First, we have the opportunity to help improve the health and welfare of our children 0 – 5 years of age. The delivery model is centered on local communities deciding how and where dollars should be spent improving the lives of our local children.”
- First Things First funds are generated by a statewide 80 cent tax on tobacco products.
- Regional Partnership Councils receive 81 percent of the total funds, while 10 percent of the funds are used for agency administrative costs and nine percent for statewide initiatives.
- Allocation for each region is based on census population numbers of children birth through 5 years old, with extra weight given to children in poverty.
- Funding will be distributed through a grant application process beginning in January of 2009 with grant awards beginning on July 1, 2009.
First Things First is creating an early childhood system that affords Arizona children an equal chance to reach their fullest potential, provide families with real choices about their children’s educational and developmental experiences, and engage every community in sharing the responsibility as well as enjoy the benefits of safe, healthy and productive residents.
“Focusing on children – particularly young children zero to 5 – has tremendous benefits for our community and society as a whole,” explained Webb, “beyond the esoteric, like helping create better citizens, the work of FTF can and should improve school performance, reduce dropout rates, create a higher qualified and more productive labor pool, and so on. We now recognize that tremendous benefits exist and actually yield higher returns if you start investing from birth.”
The Navajo/Apache Regional Partnership Council is comprised of 10 individuals who represent parents, early care and education, health, education, the faith-based community, business, philanthropy, and tribal communities, each member will serve an initial 2 or 4 year term: Melissa Webb, Chair; Mary Hammond, Margie Tapia, Becky Towle, Mary Tyler, Cathy Taylor, Tom Barela, Micheal Zimmerman, P. Rance Pullin, Claude Endfield. This Council is currently accepting applications to fill the Philanthropic position on this Council. Please go to www.azftf.gov for more information.
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