THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 9, 1995 TAG: 9501090069
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.'s Smart Start program may hit a hurdle in the General Assembly this year, but officials developing the project in Pasquotank County say they are unconcerned.
Despite many legislators' reported reluctance to expand Hunt's effort to bolster health and child-care services for children through age 5, local leaders believe the 24 programs already under way will remain intact.
``The longer Smart Start goes on, the more the people are going to be impressed by the kind of results they see,'' said Cynthia Grafton, head of a local child advocacy center and a leader in the Pasquotank County Partnership for Children, which oversees the county's Smart Start Program.
Pasquotank was chosen last fall in the second round of Smart Start selections, a process that has come under political fire from some legislators who felt their areas were overlooked.
After receiving about $700,000 in start-up funds to run through June, the nonprofit Pasquotank partnership will get $1.2 million a year for the program as long as it survives, Grafton said.
``You receive continuous funding until legislators change their minds, which hopefully will not happen,'' Grafton said. ``I am very confident that the legislature will be convinced that this is a worthy project.''
Pasquotank's Partnership for Children, whose 40-member board includes public officials, private citizens and agents from virtually every child-serving agency, has hired an executive director and is moving ahead with short- and long-term plans.
The initial pool of money is being used to give about 100 more children access to daycare through subsidies, said Executive Director Donna James-Whidbee. A variety of community outreach and information programs is also under way.
James-Whidbee, who has been working out of Grafton's Kids First Inc. office since early December, will move into a new office at the Edgewood Center in Elizabeth City next week. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. on Jan. 29.
While legislators may hold off on expanding the Smart Start program, James-Whidbee said she did not foresee a threat to Pasquotank's funding ``as long as we demonstrate some numbers of children we are affecting.''
``Part of the issue is more they're not understanding what Smart Start is all about,'' James-Whidbee speculated. ``Once they get an opportunity to see what the various counties are doing . . . that may make them recognize that it is a worthwhile program.''
Pasquotank County Commissioner and state Rep.-elect Bill Owens said he did not know whether the 24 Smart Start programs already in progress could be in danger. Owens said he will approach the issue with a wait-and-see attitude after learning what the governor proposes in his budget.
``It's certainly one of his more important programs,'' Owens said. ``We definitely ought to let the 24 that have started at least have a time to see if they're effective or not effective.
``It would certainly be more difficult, I would think, to continue the expansion at the current rate.''
It's OK if legislators want to take their time learning about the program before diving into expansion, said Walter Shepherd, president and executive director of the N.C. Partnership for Children.
``I think that's certainly an option,'' Shepherd said. But as far as dropping existing programs, ``I don't think that's a real possibility. . . . We've got enough success stories.''
Shepherd said he expects the governor to pare down his original plans for adding 20 new counties when he brings his budget proposal to the legislature. Shepherd said the request may be cut in half or simply seek some funds for counties starting projects on their own.
Dare County Democrat Marc Basnight, president pro tem of the state Senate, said he does not know Hunt's plans or what the future may hold for current and aspiring Smart Start counties.
``It would be premature and wrongful for me to take a position on something that hasn't been reviewed,'' Basnight said.
``The future of Pasquotank's Smart Start allocation is predicated on their ability to perform,'' he added. ``It lays in the hands of the local community to succeed or fail.''
Owens said he finds the Smart Start concept compelling. Early elementary educators keep telling him stories of how their classes are impeded by the need to bring unprepared children up to speed.
``It's a real drawback, and it's in their opinion hurting the entire education process tremendously,'' Owens said. ``That really got my attention.'' by CNB