New $5.8 million grant extends service area into 10 Georgia counties
ECS4Kids, the Southeast’s leading early childhood education provider, today announced its expansion into Georgia, marking the first time the organization will be delivering quality services outside the Sunshine State. The expansion represents another significant milestone in ECS4Kids’ nearly 60-year history of serving vulnerable children and their families.
The five-year federal grant of $5,828,625 will allow ECS4Kids to provide Head Start services to 340 students and their families across 10 Georgia counties including Bulloch, Burke, Columbia, Emanuel, Jefferson, Jenkins, Lincoln, McDuffie, Screven and Warren.
“This expansion into Georgia reflects our unwavering commitment to ensuring every child, regardless of ZIP code, has access to high quality early learning experiences,” said Dr. Natalya Roby, President and CEO of ECS4Kids. “After nearly six decades of building expertise in Florida, we’re excited to bring our proven approach to Georgia’s children and families.”
ECS4Kids’ track record of excellence has earned continued federal recognition, with the organization now serving nearly 30,000 of the most vulnerable children and families across 24 counties across the southeast. Today’s announcement follows on the heels of ECS4Kids’ recent expansion into Duval County.
“Early childhood education doesn’t recognize state boundaries, and neither should our commitment to serving our youngest citizens,” Jeanne Dillard, Chief Operating Officer for ECS4Kids. “Our expansion into Georgia allows us to address regional needs with the same evidence-based practices that have proven successful in northern and central Florida.”
About ECS4Kids
ECS4Kids is a nationally recognized leader in early childhood education, utilizing data-driven practices with demonstrable outcomes to provide strong learning for children, support and education for parents and professional development for teachers. With one in every five children living below the poverty line, our interventions create a lifetime of outcomes for long-term health and success in life, with programs including Head Start/Early Head Start providing comprehensive education, health and nutrition services to 3,446 of our most vulnerable infants, toddlers and preschoolers and their families; Early Learning Services providing more than 9,000 families with needed financial assistance, so their children can learn in quality care in partnership with the Early Learning Coalition of North Florida. In collaboration with the Early Learning Coalition of Duval, ECS4Kids leverages our expertise in early learning by providing more than 100 childcare centers with coaching to improve the outcomes for the 2,500 children they serve.
