What We Do

Since its inception in 1999, First Steps has helped nearly 340,000 of South Carolina’s youngest children and their families get ready for school.  As the state’s only entity focused exclusively on increasing school readiness outcomes for all children, First Steps focuses on five broad strategy areas.

Early Education
First Steps leverages state, local and private resources to increase the quality of, and number of children participating in, developmentally appropriate pre-kindergarten programs in both the public and private sectors. Particular emphasis is placed on fidelity to research-based instructional models and targeting of students at-risk of early school failure. Through early education programs, First Steps seeks to:

• Increase first grade readiness and pre-literacy skills of children through quality early education intervention
• Increase ongoing 4K documentation, reporting and evaluation of results;
• Increase the number of at-risk children served in quality 4K environments, public and private;
• Increase the qualifications, professional development and access to training for personnel teaching public and private 4K programs;
• Reduce the number of at-risk 4-year-olds on waiting lists for the public school Child Development program;
• Increase the evaluation and impact analysis of federal early education spending (head Start, Early Head Start, Title I monies) in quality early education strategies at district levels;
• Increase parent involvement strategies in 4K and 5K to impact involvement in K-12; and
• Increase documentation and analysis of the state’s school readiness progress.

Since inception, First Steps has served over 22,500 children through early education strategies in South Carolina such as expanded public and private 4-year-old kindergarten.

• Increase family literacy and parent education levels;
• Improve parental employability and employment;
• Increase effectiveness of parenting related to child nurturance, learning and interaction, language, health and safety;
• Increase successful parenting/family literacy program targeting, service integration, and results documentation; and
• Increase early parent involvement in 4K-12 education settings.

Since inception, First Steps has served over 32,100 families and nearly 96,800 children through family strengthening strategies such as Parents as Teachers and early and family literacy programs.

• Increase availability of quality child care choices for parents, as measured by increasing numbers of child care providers operating at higher levels of quality;
• Increase the number of child care vouchers available to S.C. families for quality child care;
• Increase school readiness focus in child care settings;
• Increase the leverage of federal and private resources to serve the state’s most at-risk children;
• Increase the number of child care workers achieving progress toward early education certification and continued professional development;
• Improve the quality of the physical and learning environments in child care settings of all types; and
  Expand public and private partnerships in 4K.

Since inception, First Steps has served over 3,000 facilities and nearly 180,000 children through child care quality programs like child care scholarships, facility quality enhancement, and child care staff training and consultation.

Healthy Start
First Steps recognizes the importance of a healthy start in maximizing both school readiness and the long-term well being of the state’s children. The initiative partners with families, the medical community and other stakeholders to leverage resources for - and increase awareness of - the healthcare, nutrition and early developmental needs of the state’s young children. Through healthy start programs, First Steps seeks to:

• Improve the health, growth, and development of young children so they enter school physically and mentally prepared to succeed;
• Integrate medical provider, school readiness and early literacy services
• Leverage federal resources for targeted families with young children at greatest risk for school failure, expanding medical anticipatory guidance to parents with special needs and other at-risk children.

Since inception, First Steps has served over 9,500 families and over 19,300 children through healthy start programs such as early vision and dental screenings, referrals to medical homes, child care nutrition, asthma prevention and prevention of maltreatment and abuse.

School Transition
First Steps recognizes school entry as a pivotal transition point in each child’s educational career. In an effort to ensure strong collaborative relationships between the state’s families and schools, the initiative develops strategies to maximize parents’ understandings of state and local expectations and ensure a smooth and beneficial school transition for each child. Through school transition programs, First Steps seeks to:

• Maximize parents’ understandings of state and local expectations and ensure a smooth and beneficial school transition for each child;
• Introduce children and families to materials and standards to be found in kindergarten or first grade classrooms;
• Increase parents’ positive relationship with the school and faculty.

Since 2004, First Steps has served approximately 3,100 children through school transition strategies like Countdown to Kindergarten.

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