DATE: Tuesday, November 25, 1997            TAG: 9711250601

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY LANE DeGREGORY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS                  LENGTH:   76 lines

SMART START WILL COME TO OUTER BANKS FROM SHOTS TO SOCIAL SKILLS, IT HELPS YOUTHS ON ROAD TOWARD KINDERGARTEN

Child care providers could take classes at the College of the Albemarle to help them find more creative and constructive ways to teach pre-schoolers.

Infants could get better access to immunizations that help prevent deadly diseases.

And parents could go to a single source for information about day-care centers, play groups, health services, educational activities and even how to interact with their children in the most meaningful ways.

After almost two years of planning, Smart Start is coming to the Outer Banks.

The state-sponsored program, aimed at preparing pre-schoolers for kindergarten, gave Dare County $150,000 for the first six months of 1998. Programs are scheduled to begin in January. On Monday, the head of North Carolina's Smart Start initiative visited the Outer Banks to talk with local leaders about how the money will be spent.

``North Carolina has the highest percentage of working women with children under age 6 in the country,'' said Ashley Thrift, chair of the North Carolina Partnership for Children in 55 counties. ``More than 67 percent of mothers in this state work. We need to make sure their children are getting the best care they can.

``About 20 percent of kids entering kindergarten in North Carolina aren't ready for school. There is no quick fix for the problems identified with pre-school-age children,'' Thrift said. ``We're looking for a long-range plan.''

Set up by Gov. Jim Hunt in 1993, Smart Start is a $96.2 million program primarily funded with state money. Private businesses and foundations have given $4.2 million to the initiatives. And all of the money is administered locally - through counties that oversee the state allocations.

Pasquotank County began its Smart Start efforts in 1995. Washington started the next year. And Dare and Bertie county officials will get their first funds in January.

On the Outer Banks, Smart Start will be administered through the Children and Youth Partnership - a nonprofit group run by Dare County School Board member Loretta Michael.

``The first thing we want to do is hire someone to start a child care resource and referral program,'' Michael said Monday. ``There's not much of an infrastructure for young children in this county. We want to become a clearinghouse for information on pre-schoolers' health, developmental and educational needs.''

For the first half of 1998, Michael said, Smart Start funds will be used primarily to figure out what the area needs. She plans to spend about $6,000 on a survey to assess what sorts of child care are available - and what are not. Another $25,600 will be used to establish the child-care resource and referral center.

Other goals include:

Setting up early childhood development classes and a degree program at the College of the Albemarle's Dare County campus;

Providing transportation to health clinics so parents will have easier access to immunizations for infants and toddlers;

Paying cash incentives to child-care workers so that they'll be more inclined to keep watching children over the summer when tourism industry-related jobs often pay better - ultimately reducing the turnover at local day care centers;

Increasing subsidies for child care expenses through the local Social Services department - about 30 percent of Dare County's Smart Start funds will help parents with low- to moderate-level incomes pay for baby sitting services so they can work;

Establishing a child services coordinator position in the health department that would help 65 families access benefits through federal, state and local programs, including Social Services, Medicaid, food stamps and others. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

MORE INFO

For more information about Dare County's Smart Start programs, call

Loretta Michael, 441-0614.

For more information about statewide Smart Start initiatives, call

Monica Harris, (919) 821-7999.

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