Intended Public Benefits of Agency's Strategic Plan
Below are links, by year, to Excel documents that include the agency's strategic plan and intended public benefit of the goals and objectives in the plan. Also included are the intended public benefits for the agency's current strategic plan. This information was provided by the agency in its Annual Restructuring Report, Program Evaluation, Request for Information, or Accountability Report.
In the Annual Restructuring Report, the agency was asked to provide information about the outcome or intended public benefit of each agency goal and objective. This is the public benefit provided, or harm prevented, by accomplishment of the objective and goal.
Current Intended Public Benefits (2015-16)
Children, families and programs will demonstrate measurable growth as a result of participation in high-quality early childhood interventions. These specific outcomes vary by program area. For example, children participating in First Steps 4K program will demonstrate measurable improvements in their language and literacy competencies; adults participating in parent education programs will demonstrate measurable improvements in their parenting and interactive literacy behaviors. (Goal 1)
More low-income children will be enrolled in high quality private 4K settings, improving their chances of school success. (Objective 1.1.1)
Providers will be monitored, ensuring compliance with both state law and the First Steps 4K Guidelines. As a result of ensuring high-quality programming, enrolled students will be prepared for success. (Objective 1.1.2)
Student assessments will be completed by law, providing teachers and families the instructional tools necessary to measure and improve students' early literacy competencies. (Objective 1.1.3)
By receiving services within model best practice guidelines, families will receive maximum benefit from services as defined by published research. (Objective 1.2.1)
By targeting students most at risk of early school failure, First Steps effectively targets resources and enables high-risk children to achieve at higher levels. (Objective 1.2.2)
The growth of participating parents and children will be tracked in a measurable form. (Objective 1.2.3)
By providing quality enhancement services within best practice guidelines, the quality of child care will be improved. (Objective 1.3.1)
By assessing quality using the Environment Rating Scales, First Steps will be able to document the improvements of participating centers. (Objective 1.3.2)
By expanding front line staffing capacity, First Steps will speed the delivery of Part C services to eligible families, improving federal compliance. (Objective 1.4.1)
By improving the BRIDGES data system in collaboration with partners, First Steps will ensure the collection of data required by the US Department of Education. (Objective 1.4.2)
By enhancing leadership capacity throughout South Carolina's early childhood infrastructure, providers - including the local First Steps Partnerships will be better equipped to support the needs of high-risk children and families, leading to early school success. (Goal 2)
By completing on-site technical assistance visits to each local partnership, the state office and Board will identify the needs and concerns of local boards, improving their ability to address these concerns and improve child outcomes. (Objective 2.1.1)
Through the creation of an interagency readiness description, First Steps and its partners will ensure a common interagency message about school readiness, improving the ability of parents to help their children begin school ready to succeed. (Objective 2.2.1)
Through the creation of a public awareness campaign, SC First Steps will support the new school readiness description through a high-visibility effort to reach all SC parents, thus ensuring use of the description by SC families. (Objective 2.2.2)
By strengthening interagency accountability and public-private collaboration, First Steps will support South Carolina in maximizing its public and private investments in young children and their families, leading to greater efficiencies and improved client outcomes. (Goal 3)
By convening this interagency group, First Steps and DSS will achieve greater collaboration and efficiency through improved communication and the coordination of related - but distinct - program investments. (Objective 3.1.1)
By convening this interagency summit, the First Steps Board of Trustees sought to engage all Trustee stakeholders in an increasingly well-coordinated and collaborative effort to support the needs of the state's young children and families. (Objective 3.1.2)
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