Exploring Roles in the ECE Community: Local and State Levels

The state of Florida is vast with several counties to serve.  The above picture was retrieved from the website for the Department of Children and Families for the state of Florida at: http://www.myflfamilies.com/service-programs/child-care/contacts.  This provides contact information for the appropriate circuits of DCF depending on the county in which you live.  

For this week's assignment we are to explore at least three local or state organizations that are devoted to the welfare of early childhood children and their families.  I have listed these agencies below.

1.  The Florida Department of Children and Families

Commonly referred to as DCF, this organization handles a variety of services pertaining to the children and families of Florida.  Just a few of the examples include abuse, foster care, homelessness, mental health, and community-based care.  Since we have been speaking about communities of practice in class, I chose to do some research on their community-based care services.  This program was designed to "transition child   protective services to local providers under the  direction of lead agencies and   community alliances of stakeholders working within their community to ensure   safety, well-being, and permanency for the children in their care".  These alliances are formed between local organizations and their responsibilities include "joint planning for resource utilization, needs assessments and establishment of community priorities,   determination of local outcome goals supplemental to state outcome requirements,   and community education and advocacy". 

I think it would be interesting to work as a coordinator for these services, approaching local organizations and trying to get them on board to become participating providers for these alliances.

DCF requires the following to be eligible for hire within their organization:

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, behavioral science, criminal justice, nursing or education field

More information can be found at http://www.myflfamilies.com/service-programs/community-based-care.

2.  The Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County

Commonly referred to as the ELC, our local learning coalition "oversees and funds early education and childcare programs for at-risk and income eligible children".   The two main programs they are responsible for are the Voluntary Prekindergarten Program, or VPK, which provides free prekindergarten to all children age four in the state, and the School Readiness program, which provides tuition assistance for families who have children ages birth-eight enrolled in early childhood centers or after school programs.

The ELC has a "30 member team including child care resource and referral specialists; school readiness and voluntary prekindergarten specialists; contract/data specialists; fiscal assistants; resource specialists; grants/community outreach specialist; executive assistant; Director of Eligiblity; Chief Financial Officer; Chief Operating Officer; and Chief Executive Officer".  I think it would be rewarding to work as a resource specialist.  This involves visiting all of the early childhood centers and offering education, assistance, and advice in the child care services offered at each location.  

The ELC requires applicants to hold a Bachelor's degree in social work, education, or a related field.

More information can be found at http://www.elcslc.org/.

3.  CASTLE of the Treasure Coast

The mission statement of Castle is "Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect through Education and Awareness".  The history is that CASTLE "began as a humble effort to help parents learn better parenting skills and have become the recipient of local, state and national accolades. As CASTLE moves into its third decade, the National Exchange Club Foundation, the President of the United Sates, the U. S. House of Congress and the Florida Senate have proclaimed it the “Flagship” of child abuse prevention".

They have an open position for a Director of Programs and Grants.  This person would basically be in charge of applying for and securing funding the program.  The requirements are:

• Master’s degree or above in social work, psychology or other human services related field.
• Experience in administration and management in a human services related field.