University of
Missouri-Columbia
MU Human
Development and
Family Studies
Center for Family
Policy and Research
DSS Children's
Division
DSS Educare

Project REACH Links  

A Project REACH goal is to improve the quality of care and education of young children by building community relationships that blend strengths and resources. Our code of ethics was established to be our guiding principle so when we work with people in other agencies and organizations we always exhibit respect, trust, and honesty.

Caring Communities
A collaboration between DESE, the Department of Health and Senior Services, the Department of Mental Health, and the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Local school districts partner with community stakeholders to design a school-linked or school-based education and services delivery system.

Children’s Trust Fund, www.ctf4kids.org
The Children’s Trust Fund distributes funds to local community-based programs designed to support families and prevent child abuse and neglect and provides information to impact state policy regarding child abuse, neglect, and family support issues.

Citizens for Missouri’s Children (CMC), www.mokids.org
CMC’s mission is to advocate the rights and well-being of all Missouri’s children, especially those with the greatest need. They develop and implement policy through research, analysis, and public education; collaborate with public and private sectors; and maintain policy dialog with administrative and legislative branches of the government.

Community Action Agency (CAA), http://communityaction.org/index.htm
Community partners work together to raise people out of poverty.

Community Connection, http://communityconnection.org   
Community Connection is a free, statewide directory of more than 17,000 community resources, nearly 5,000 of which are health-related, dynamically linked to the World Wide Web. Community Connection's powerful search engine permits users to search by topics, organization, geographic regions, networks and more.

Early Head Start, www.ehsnrc.org
Early Head Start is a comprehensive development program which serves children from birth to age three, pregnant women, and their families. It is a child-focused program, and has the overall goal of increasing the social competence of young children in low-income families through comprehensive services and integrated parent involvement.

Head Start, www.moheadstart.org
Head Start is a comprehensive development program which serves children from age three to age five and their families. It is a child-focused program, and has the overall goal of increasing the social competence of young children in low-income families through comprehensive services and integrated parent involvement.

Ministerial Alliance
Community religious leaders collaborate to provide support, share resources, and assess the needs of their communities. Check with the religious leaders in your area to determine if there is an alliance in your community.

Missouri Accreditation (MOA), www.moaccreditation.org
Missouri Accreditation (MOA) provides quality standards for child care programs serving children from birth to 12 years of age within the state of Missouri. MOA functions beyond the scope of state licensing requirements by focusing on physical, social, emotional, and intellectual growth opportunities for children enrolled in the state’s center-based and home-based childhood care and education programs.

Missouri Department of Conservation, www.mdc.mo.gov
Missouri’s link to the outdoors.

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), www.dese.mo.gov
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is the administrative arm of the State Board of Education. DESE works with educators, legislators, government agencies, and citizens to maintain a strong public education system. School-improvement initiatives and regulatory functions assure that all citizens have access to high-quality public education. DESE’s duties range from early childhood to adult education services.

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), www.dhss.mo.gov
DHSS provides licenses to childcare facilities and technical assistance to those who want to start child care facilities.

Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS), www.dss.mo.gov
The Department of Social Services is responsible for coordinating programs to provide public assistance to children and their parents, access to health care, child support enforcement assistance and to provide specialized assistance to troubled youth.

Missouri House of Representatives, www.house.state.mo.us

Missouri Senate, www.senate.mo.gov

National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), www.nafcc.org
NAFCC supports the profession of family child care and encourages high-quality care for children.  The focus of NAFCC is to provide technical assistance to family child care associations through leadership, addressing issues of diversity, and promoting quality and professionalism through NAFCC’s Family Child Care Accreditation.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), www.naeyc.org
“NAEYC is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with particular focus on the quality of educational and developmental services for all children from birth through age 8.”  In 1985, NAEYC established a national, voluntary accreditation system to set professional standards for early childhood education programs, and to help families identify high-quality programs.

Opportunities in a Professional Education Network (OPEN), www.openinitiative.org
“OPEN's primary focus is the development and implementation of a career development system
for early childhood and school-age/after-school professionals.”

Ozarks Area Community Action Corporation (OACAC), http://www.oacac-caa.org/
"OACAC enriches the lives of families and individuals within our community by providing opportunities, offering assistance and empowering people to make a positive change."

Quality Rating System (QRS), http://mucenter.missouri.edu/qrs.htm
The goals of Missouri’s QRS are to identify the levels of program quality throughout the state, target resources to support program improvement, and allow subsidy-receiving children access to high quality programs by tying state child care subsidies to the various QRS levels.

Red Cross, www.redcross.org
The American Red Cross, a humanitarian organization led by volunteers, provides relief to victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies, guided by its Congressional Charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement.

Strengthening Families Initiative, http://www.strengtheningfamilies.net
Strengthening Families uses early childhood programs to build evidence-based protective factors for children and their families.

United Way, http://www.liveunited.org/
Common focuses are: helping children and youth succeed, strengthening and supporting families, promoting self-sufficiency, building vital and safe neighborhoods and supporting vulnerable and aging populations.

University Extension, www.muextension.missouri.edu
“Using science-based knowledge, University of Missouri Extension engages people to understand change, solve problems, and make informed decisions. MU Extension makes University education and information accessible for: economic viability, empowered individuals, strong families and communities, healthy environments. Extension programs include: 4-H Youth Development, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Business and Workforce Development, Community Development, Continuing Education, and Human Environmental Sciences.”

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