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About Albemarle Smart Start Partnership
Smart Start works to improve the quality of life for young children in northeastern North Carolina
Albemarle Smart Start Partnership had its beginnings in 1994, when Pasquotank County Smart Start Partnership for Children was established as part of Gov. Jim Hunt’s award-winning early childhood initiative.
A few years later, the Partnership expanded to include Camden and Currituck counties, which joined Pasquotank County under a new name: Albemarle Smart Start Partnership. The Partnership has continued to grow, and now serves Pasquotank, Camden, Currituck, Gates and Bertie counties.
The mission of North Carolina's Smart Start program is to make sure every child in North Carolina enters school healthy and ready to learn. To accomplish that goal in northeastern North Carolina, Albemarle Smart Start Partnership offers services for children, their families and child care providers. The Partnership also works to educate the community on the importance of a child's early years, which play a crucial role in determining a child's future success in school and in life.
Smart Start programs are available in all of N.C.'s 100 counties
Smart Start is a public-private initiative that provides early education funding to all of the state's 100 counties. Smart Start funds are administered at the local level through local nonprofit organizations, called local partnerships, such as Albemarle Smart Start Partnership.
The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc. (NCPC) is the statewide nonprofit organization that provides oversight and technical assistance for the state's local partnerships. Services at the local level vary depending on local needs. Funding for Smart Start is currently $203.6 million in state funds. Smart Start has raised more than $257 million in donations since it began.
Currently, 78 local partnerships are established throughout the state to administer funding and programs. Smart Start funds are used to improve the quality of child care, make child care more affordable and accessible, provide access to health services and offer family support. Smart Start has achieved tremendous results in these areas and continues to strive to reach all children in North Carolina.
Smart Start has garnered much national recognition and is considered a model for comprehensive early childhood education initiatives. In 2001, the NCPC established a National Technical Assistance Center to assist other states with the development of an early education initiative.
