Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina First Steps has awarded Saluda County First Steps $20,155 in grants as part of its initiative with the South Carolina Department of Education to support parents as the first and most important teacher of their young child. The funding will expand high-intensity, evidence-based parenting programs in Saluda County to address potential learning loss in children due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The award is primarily funded by the American Rescue Plan’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund and will be supplemented with Preschool Development Grant Funds. The South Carolina Department of Education received $211 million in total from the fund and has allocated $14.7 million to SC First Steps.
“We are incredibly grateful for Superintendent Spearman’s vision to apply these federal resources to programs and services for South Carolina’s youngest children, an investment that will generate an exponential return,” said Georgia Mjartan, Executive Director of South Carolina First Steps. “Children and families whose lives have been upended by COVID-19 will be able to participate in proven programs. Compared to their peers, children enrolled in First Steps programs are 74% more likely to
enter kindergarten ready to succeed.”
Saluda County First Steps has a proven record of effectively addressing the high need for evidence-based parenting programs. These intensive home visiting and group parenting models have demonstrated school readiness outcomes nationally through experimental and quasi experimental studies.
Each local partnership that was selected for the Parenting Expansion Grant went through a competitive selection process overseen by senior leadership at SC First Steps. Saluda County First Steps received elevated consideration for being an area of the state that has been negatively impacted by learning loss during the pandemic.
“As Executive Director of Saluda County First Steps, I am excited to receive this grant to expand our Nurturing Parent Program over the course of 3 years. We will be able to extend sessions to parents of young children that we have not reached to this point in our programming,” said Kim Chariker, Executive Director of Saluda County First Steps.
Saluda County First Steps 