Early Care and Education Committee
Originally a sub-committee of the Education Committee of the Community Task Force, the Early Care and Education Committee has evolved. In 1999, the Early Childhood Sub-Committee merged with the Greene County Childcare Coalition. The name was changed to Early Care and Education Committee and the commitment to serving our community's children was fine tuned with a shared mission.
Our mission statement is: "The Early Care and Education committee is committed to improving the quality, affordability, and availability of early care and education." This committee unites child advocates including childcare providers, early childhood educators, employers, community organizations/agencies, families, policy makers, funders, and others. These advocates identify priorities and develop strategies that address early care and education needs in our community.
This energetic group is comprised of community agencies concerned about the welfare of children birth – school age. Members include representatives from the following:
- The Springfield-Greene County Health Department
- The Springfield-Greene County Library
- Parents as Teachers
- Child Care Resource and Referral
- Ozarks Technical Community College
- Missouri State University
- OACAC Head Start
- Educare
- Community Partnership
- Missouri-Southwest Parent Information & Resource Center (MO-PIRC)
- Burrell Behavioral Health
- Ozarks Public Television
- Springfield Mayor's Commission for Children
- and more
This group meets on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 1:30 pm at the Community Partnership. Recently the group has written a position statement entitled "The Value of Play." Anyone with an interest in young children is encouraged to attend. If you are interested in more information, please contact Dana Carroll at (417) 888-2020.