Partnership honored a fourth consecutive time with the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility
The Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce's Talent and Workforce Development Initiative in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation honored Durham's Partnership for Children for a fourth consecutive year with the 2009 Alrfed P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace.
Selection of award recipients is based on a national survey that more than 35 participating local chambers of commerce send out to prospective small, mid-size and large businesses.
In addition to the Partnership being recognized for supporting flexible schedules, job sharing and part-time work arrangements, the Partnership also cultivates employees from multiple generations. For instance, the Partnership enables retirees to return to work and lend their longstanding expertise while setting their own schedules. The partnership also supports work schedules for parents of young children and employees who are returing to school.
“We are honored to be receiving the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility for a fourth consecutive year,” said Marsha R. Basloe, Executive Director of Durham’s Partnership for Children, a Smart Start Initiative. “It is gratifying to be recognized for our commitment in making our workplace work for our employees. Durham’s Partnership for Children strives to model family-friendly practices within the non-profit and early childhood sectors. By supporting policies, such as job sharing arrangements, flexible hours and work-at-home options, we are not only working within the context of our organization’s mission to support young children and their families, but our team, in turn, is more productive and accountable in supporting the needs of the organization.”
For more information about When Work Works, visit www.whenworkworks.org.
Funding secured to support Durham's Early Childood Faith Initiative
Francis Dyer, Contract Early Childhood Faith Coordinator, joins the Partnership to educate the faith community on policies, practices, and community priorities to benefit children ages birth to 5.
End Poverty Durham led by Pastor Mel Williams of Watts Baptist Church, along with Ann Stock, a community volunteer, and Durham’s Partnership for Children raised more than $15,000 in response to A.J. Fletcher Foundation’s Challenge Grant to support an early childhood faith coordinator.
The Partnership welcomes Frances Dyer as the Contract Early Childhood Faith Coordinator. Dyer is a longtime Durham resident and retired attorney, who is a member of White Rock Baptist Church and helped develop the White Rock Child Development Center, a 5-star child care facility.
Central to Durham’s Partnership for Children’s Early Childhood Faith Initiative, Dyer will be educating the faith community on policies, practices, and community priorities to benefit children ages birth to 5. She will also work to engage congregations in placing the needs of families with young children on the top of their agendas.
The need for Dyer’s position grew out of the Early Childhood Faith Initiative, a volunteer project supported by End Poverty Durham’s birth to 5 workgroup. Over the past two years, End Poverty Durham volunteers in collaboration with the Partnership and Duke University’s Center for Child and Family Policy’s Durham Family Initiative (DFI), surveyed 49 congregations across different faiths in Durham County on how they support families with young children and what kinds of resources they would require to increase support for families with young children.
Mary Duke Biddle Foundation also supported this initiative with a $2,500 grant. A portion of the grant supported the printing of The Early Childhood Faith Initiative Report, a collaborative report through the Partnership, DFI and End Poverty Durham that surveyed 49 congregations about their programming for families with young children. To access The Early Childhood Faith Initiative Report, visit http://www.dpfc.net/News&Events/Reports.aspx
Durham’s Partnership for Children Board of Directors Announces Approval of Direct Service Providers for FY 2009-2010
In keeping with our mission to support innovative and successful collaborative approaches to serve the needs of children birth to age 5 and their families, the Partnership's Board of Directors approved an allocations plan to fund 18 programs for the upcoming fiscal year.
Funded activities address early care and education, family support and health services delivered by local agencies and nonprofits to young children across Durham County.
On Thursday, May 21, the Board of Directors affirmed the recommendations of its Allocations Committee, which is comprised of board members and volunteers with no ties to prospective Smart Start funded organizations.
The six-month committee process included proposal reviews, interviews with potential bidders, a priority-based rating system, an assessment of community needs and other measures to best optimize the organization’s limited funds. Based on the state’s projections and the current state funding deficit, the Allocations Committee made their recommendations using a base allocation that is $1.2 million or 15 percent less than fiscal year 2008-2009 Smart Start allocation.
While actual Smart Start funding levels will depend on the state’s adopted budget, Durham’s Partnership for Children projects that local agencies will receive financial support for 18 recommended community activities beginning July 1, 2009.
“This year’s allocation planning process was the most difficult I have experienced during my 13 years on this board,” said Michael Palmer, the Partnership's Board Chair. “We are clearly challenged to stretch our resources to serve more with less. Given the uncertain and pessimistic state revenue projections, this plan represents our best effort to sustain our more effective programs based on prescribed Smart Start performance standards â?. criterion for Durham County’s Smart Start funding.”
The 18 funded activities and their agencies are:
Child Care Services Association
Choosing and Using Quality Child Care
Quality Enhancement
Quality Maintenance
Grow a Teacher
TEACH Early Childhood® AmeriCorps
Child and Parent Support Services
Healthy Families Durham
Community Partnerships Inc.
Durham Inclusion Support Services
Durham Council for Children with Special Needs
Hispanic/Latino Consultation Services
Durham County Health Department
Nutrition Consultation Program
Durham County Cooperative Extension
Welcome Baby Family Resource Center
Durham’s Partnership for Children
Community Awareness and Education
More at Four Coordination
Program Coordination and Evaluation
El Centro Hispano
Family Support Program (formerly FAMOSA)
Exchange Clubs’ Family Center
Early Childhood Outreach (EChO)
Statewide Contracts
DACCA Subsidy Administration Support
Smart Start Scholarship Program
WAGE$®