Pledge to Idaho’s Children
Beginning at birth young children in Idaho will have a happy, healthy, safe and nurturing early learning foundation to succeed in school and in life. The following five components provide the framework for this pledge: 1) parent and family supports, 2) social and emotional development, 3) early learning and care, 4) health and safety, and 5) coordination of systems. In recognition of the above, when planning for young children and their families: relationships matter, quality matters, resources matter and results matter.
Whereas I believe:
Parents need to be active partners in their child’s health, education and welfare;
Parents need access to information and resources to meet the needs of their children;
A variety of high quality early learning experiences must be available, accessible and affordable;
Professional standards are required to assure high quality service delivery;
Medical and dental homes must be available and accessible, with a continuum of care coordinated by a primary care provider;
Newborn hearing screening, vision screening and developmental screening are performed on all children;
Early intervention and early childhood education services are delivered in homes, child care, preschools and other settings with typical peers;
Early care and education settings will be of quality, based on nationally accepted standards and include timely screening for developmental delays;
All children will be ready for schools and all schools will be ready for children.
I therefore pledge my commitment to policies ensuring the beliefs above, as well as that:
Parents have information and resources to meet the needs of their children;
Children’s advocates will collaborate and coordinate;
Coordination of public and private stakeholder efforts on behalf of Idaho children will be fostered;
Private and public funding will be available and coordinated to support services and systems;
Qualitative and quantitative data will drive policies and program decision-making;
All children will know the joy of play, the importance of eating healthy and the love of nature and the outdoors;
All children will have respect for our differences and understand our commonalities as human beings;
Idahoans will take responsibility for the safety of all children.
Please add your signature:
(1555 total signatures to date)