While interagency cooperation has been occurring in Scott County for more than a decade, Kids Place is the culmination of a cooperative initiative begun by local service providers and community residents in 1986. Recognizing the need for child care and for more comprehensive services to children and families at risk, concerned social service representatives and parents grouped together to win support for and financial backing for the Kids Place concept. Kids Place is housed in a single building in the town of Scottsburg, Indiana, which is owned by New Hope Services, Inc., a private, not-for-profit organization which provides programming for children and families. Within Kids Place are located early childhood education programs, the County Health Department, and the WIC programs. Collectively these programs work with one another and with other child and family oriented programs throughout the county to provide young children and families with extensive and integrated services to attain healthy and productive life styles. As representatives repeatedly emphasize, Kids Place is an innovative concept which is something more than just a building where diverse services share space. Rather, it is a concept which attempts to meet the needs of the whole child.
Posted on March 23, 1995
URL: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/go/93-3hope.htm