Introduction
In the recent past, many organizations have come up with policies that foster the welfare and the general well-being of children and the underprivileged in the society. These groups are well established and have a good network that reaches as many people as possible. The groups are funded by the government or they may sometimes have their private means to meet their financial demands. The following is a brief insight into some of these groups, mainly based in America.
Department of Public Welfare (DPW)
The mission of DPW is to raise the quality of life, healthier, happier lives reduce dependency ratio; create a conducive environment for employees; protect and serve Pennsylvania’s citizens; and manage the available resources effectively (Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, 2011). The organization structure of DPW is very similar to its governance. It is made up of offices which are held by respective office holders. These offices include:
- Office of Administration.
- Office of the Budget.
- Office of General Counsel.
- Office of Legislative Affairs.
- Office of Policy Development.
- Office of Press and Communications.
Services
The services offered by DPW include:
- Promotion of Child welfare and justice of the minors;
- Creating opportunities for the children to develop and learn to their fullest potential;
- Provide customer service that is accessible and responsive to customer needs;
- Encourage an environment that supports open communication throughout the organization and with all customers;
- Promote an employee-friendly environment that encourages respectful treatment, empowerment and value of all employees;
- Transform the children’s behavioral health system to a system that is family driven and youth guided;
- Implement services and policies to support recovery and resiliency in the adult behavioral health system.
Responsibilities
- To implement mandatory managed care all over the state.
- To expand home and community based services.
- To improve the quality of services to consumers and providers in all the health care delivery systems.
- Facilitate recovery for adults and resiliency for children.
- Ensure that health service providers recognize and accommodate the unique needs of older members of the society.
The Build Initiative
The mission of Build Initiative is to help each participating state coordinate and integrate its programs, policies and services that promote the welfare of children under the age of five (Build Initiative, 2009). This is achieved by mainly emphasizing on their general quality care and promoting early education.
Services
The Build Initiative helps states create comprehensive and effective early childhood systems. They have put in place policies that address children’s health, mental health and nutrition, early care and education, family support and early intervention in the general development of the young generation. The Build Initiative has established a partnership or collaboration with a majority of the states in a bid to provide early childhood education to children and to promote the general well-being and sustainability of families (Schulman and Blank, 2007). They also hold conferences and workshops to educate the community on the benefits of educating children, the importance of giving care to the young and emphasizing on the need for a unified community where everybody is concerned with the welfare of the minors and the under-privileged in the society.
Responsibilities
The Build Initiative is charged with a number of responsibilities which include;
- working with those who set policies.
- Provide services and advocate for the young children to ensure their safety, health, education and success in school.
- Responding to the needs of families.
- Appropriate use of public and private resources.
- Effective preparation of the young people for future responsibilities.
PA Keys
The mission of Pennsylvania key is to work with the Office of Child Development & Early Learning (OCDEL) to provide state-wide leadership in the development of an integrated and coordinated system of quality improvements and professional development support for early childhood education (Pennsylvania Early Learning, 2009).
Responsibilities
Pennsylvania key is charged with several responsibilities that focus on providing an enabling environment to the youth and the minority groups. These include (Pennsylvania Early Learning, 2009):
- To be the linkage between the under-privileged and help providers.
- To develop a strategy with the community to educate and foster relationships with parents and other responsible community members about issues in early learning.
- To bridge the gap between school districts, educators and the general society to enable the success of early learning institutions.
- To ensure equitable distribution of resources in the community.
Services
Quality education is among the most valued services provided by the Pennsylvania key. They ensure that families and children benefit from quality learning opportunities and thus enable parents to work and build a stable family structure for their children (Schulman & Blank, 2007).
Community outreach involves creating awareness to the local communities about the importance of early education. After sensitizing the community on the need for education, the authorities recognize quality early education as a priority for public investment. It therefore receives appropriate funding which helps improve the quality of education.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children
The mission of NAEYC is to improve the well-being of all children, and mostly emphasize on the quality of the education offered to all children aged eight years and below (National Association for the Education of Young Children, n. d.). The organization structure of NAEYC consists of the administrative seniors and members of the general public. Membership is open to all individuals who can spare some time and resources on behalf of meeting the needs of children.
Services
NAEYC holds conferences and seminars to educate early childhood developers on the latest trends in imparting knowledge on the children right from an early age. The conferences also act as a ground for exchange programmes for the educators from different places (Chase and Shardlow, 2006). NAEYC sets the national standards for higher education programs for early childhood teacher preparation, which play an essential role in raising the quality of programs serving young children.
The NAEYC professional preparation standards are based on recent research in early childhood development and describe what well-prepared graduates should know. They provide a common vision for quality early childhood teachers in various educational levels.
Responsibilities
- support a high-quality and well-compensated early childhood workforce,
- create developmentally appropriate continuums of learning and development for children and the young adults,
- promote collaboration of systems, and
- Expand access for children to high quality programs in all settings.
Child Development Agency
The mission of The Child Development Agency is to promote improved performance and recognition of professionals in the early childhood education of children under five years of age. The Council works to ensure that all professional early childhood educators and caregivers meet the developmental, emotional, and educational needs of the nation’s youngest children (Chase & Shardlow, 2006).
Services
The council trains the early educators to update their professionalism in their field of work. They sometimes add compensation to their wages depending on the level of training reached by the individuals, as a form of motivation for additional training. They also fund the educators and offer them materials required for classroom training.
Responsibilities
The key responsibilities of CDA include:
- Assessment of early childhood education professionals.
- Recognition of professionals who work in all types of early care and education programs (CDA Council, n. d.).
Conclusion
It is clear that many organizations are keen to ensure that early education is properly administered in PA. This is a positive move that should be embraced by all the citizens in cooperation with these organizations. More community education should be applied to enable the communities to absorb the intended message out of free will, and not out of pressure from the organizations. However, many more organizations should be encouraged to join hands through government support.
Reference List
Build Initiative. (2009). Building early learning systems in the states. Web.
CDA Council. (n. d.). Council for professional recognition. Web.
Chase, R. & Shardlow, B. (2006). Family, friend and neighbour caregivers: Results of the 2004 Minnesota household child care survey. St. Paul, MN: Wilder Research.
National Association for the Education of Young Children (n. d.). Promoting excellence in early childhood education. Web.
Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (2011). Department of Public Welfare. Web.
Pennsylvania Early Learning. (2009). Unlocking Excellence in education. Web.
Schulman, K. & Blank, H. (2007). Close to home: state strategies to strengthen and support family, friend and neighbour care. Washington, DC: National Women’s Law Centre.