PlusTime New Hampshire

Description

When a person thinks of child care, the care of babies may come to mind. But even after children start school, they still need care. PlusTime New Hampshire, a non-profit group formed in 1990, focuses on meeting the needs of school-age children in the state of New Hampshire. PlusTime does not provide direct services to children. Instead, it works throughout the state by helping communities start up and improve programs for children.

PlusTime New Hampshire is a private, non-profit agency that receives the majority of its funding from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. The Board of Directors of the partnership includes representatives from:

• child care agencies and city child care coordinators;
• the Departments of Education, and Parks and Recreation;
• Boys & Girls Clubs, YWCA, and YMCA;
• the University of New Hampshire's Cooperative Extension Program;
• the National Guard;
• health maintenance organizations (HMOs);
• schools; and
• the criminal justice, faith, advocacy, volunteer, and business communities.

There were plenty of groups concerned about child care in the state of New Hampshire, but there was no group working to help develop programs for school-age children. The Department of Health and Human Services was worried about the lack of programming for school-age children. In 1990, the Department issued a request for proposals to establish a group devoted to improving programs for school-age children, and PlusTime New Hampshire was born.

The Board of Directors of PlusTime developed a strategic plan with six goals:

• helping communities to build constituencies in support of school-age care and to build support at the state level;
• cooperating with other organizations, such as the Department of Parks and Recreation;
• advocating for school-age programming in the state legislature;
• assisting programs with quality improvement, training, and developing supportive networks of programs;
• expanding the number of programs and helping programs to build capacity; and
• helping communities to find and secure needed funding.

The initiative is currently working with 80 communities throughout New Hampshire. Several core values guide the initiative. They are:

• families need to understand what quality means and to have choices to meet their needs;
• school-age children must be supervised by caring adults and must be involved in programs that encourage their growth and development;
• staff need appropriate training and resources;
• communities need technical assistance to help provide quality programs;
• organizations need to collaborate, encourage, and support the development of quality programs; and
• the New Hampshire state government, communities, families, providers, and youth must work together to meet the needs of children when they are not in school.

Through a partnership with the Corporation for National Service, PlusTime New Hampshire has expanded their staff to include AmeriCorps VISTA members serving communities across the state. They are able to offer free start-up support and technical assistance for communities that are developing and improving school-age programming in their area. PlusTime New Hampshire has 5 offices across the state, 3 of which are in armories and supported through a partnership with the New Hampshire National Guard Center Drug Taskforce. PlusTime does not initiate activities in a community. A community member or organization asks the group for assistance. PlusTime provides assistance at every step, from building a local coalition and doing a needs assessment for the area, to writing grants and helping to find funds for the local initiative. PlusTime helps the communities write grant proposals and also provides small grants for start-up and quality improvement.

In addition, the staff of PlusTime New Hampshire hold monthly district network meetings to provide regular training for providers. These meetings provide a natural opportunity for child care providers to learn from one another. The feedback on these meetings has been quite positive.

The annual budget for Plus Time New Hampshire was $300,000 between June 1997 and June 1998. Funds come from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services through the:

• Child Care and Development Block Grant ($120,000);
• state health care transition grant. ($100,000); and
• Bureau of Substance Abuse Services ($29,203).

The Corporation for National Service and other private funding supports PlusTime New Hampshire.

In addition, through the summer of 1998, Providian Financial Bank made a 4-year $250,000 pledge. These funds will double the amount of the mini-grants Plus Time gives to local programs, educate communities on school-age care, and leverage contributions from other corporations.

The local initiatives receive their funding from a county incentive program, Safe and Drug Free Schools funds, state and local health care organizations, and local foundations. PlusTime assists local initiatives in applying for these funds.

The partnership has seen significant results since its inception. Between June 1997 and May 1998, the program has:

• reached more than 5,000 private individuals through workshops, conferences, and information distribution;
• introduced legislation to support school-age programming;
• established 21 new partnerships with businesses; and
• increased available child care slots by 1,400.

The partnership has been in existence since 1990, and it continues to grow through increased funding and by supporting additional communities. The partnership was not modeled on any other partnership. PlusTime New Hampshire and these unique collaborations have been cited as a national model by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, the Corporation for National Service, and the National Institute of Out-of-School Time.

Involve a variety of partners. The Board of Directors, which involved individuals from all sectors, was very important to the success of the initiative. They brought together a variety of views from the beginning, which put the partnership on the right track.

Make sure that the partners share a common mission. Look for places where the mission of the initiative meshes with the mission of potential partners. Ideally, one should identify where the missions complement each other, and then build from there.

Businesses have more to offer than just funding. Corporations and businesses can make great contributions to initiatives, besides the monetary funding they provide. Business leadership and clout can keep a partnership moving towards its goals.

Cynthia Billings
PlusTime New Hampshire
160 Dover Road, Suite 1
Chichester, NH 03234
Phone: (603) 798-5850
Fax: (603) 798-5861
E-mail: plustime@nh.ultranet.com