First 8 Memphis Investing $1 Million in NEXT Memphis to Strengthen Support for Early Childhood Care & Education in Shelby County
Three-Year Grant Enables First 8 Memphis & NEXT Memphis to Improve the Quality of 4,000 Child Care Seats by 2023
(Memphis, TN) – First 8 Memphis (F8M) is bolstering its support for early childhood care and learning in Shelby County by investing $1 million in NEXT Memphis. The three-year grant will improve the quality of 4,000 child care seats by 2023 through NEXT Memphis’ proven shared services model that directly supports local early care and education providers.
“Our community and county are facing a child care crisis. This investment in NEXT Memphis will help support Shelby County’s important child care providers who work with young children and families every day to make sure children have quality care starting at birth,” said Dr. Kandace Thomas, F8M Executive Director. “This investment aligns with our community’s Early Childhood Education Plan by ensuring strong systems and supports for early care and education providers. Together, we will help improve the quality of child care for families in Shelby County.”
Memphis-based Seeding Success was able to secure the grant funds for F8M from a national foundation in support of Shelby County’s Early Childhood Plan. This investment aligns with F8M’s four pillars–Home Visitation, Childcare, Pre-K, and K – Third Grade–which helped launch the NEXT Memphis shared services initiative at Porter-Leath. NEXT Memphis’ unique approach provides a variety of services for child care partners, enhancing support of their early childhood educators, local families, and business operations. These services include:
Advising from early childhood experts;
Ongoing training, support, and curricular resources for teachers from a team of instructional coaches and education specialists;
Business development, back office support, food supply, procurement, and information technology; and
Partnerships with family service providers who provide access to resources to help meet the needs of every family.
As the central hub and systems-builder of early care and education in Memphis and Shelby County, F8M’s role over the span of this three-year grant is to track data and progress across the many childcare and education providers in the NEXT Memphis network in order to:
Provide targeted support to students;
Develop and improve interventions aimed at moving community-level outcomes;
Develop and improve individualized instruction, service plans, and assessments for students; and
Identify students for various academic programs to support their learning and growth.
“This incredible investment from First 8 Memphis will have a tremendous impact on our early care and education system in Memphis and Shelby County,” said Chloe Moore, Director of NEXT Memphis. “These dollars mean more teachers, family service workers, and caregivers will get the critical resources they need to help more families and children.”
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About NEXT Memphis: NEXT Memphis is a shared services child care initiative housed at Porter-Leath that provides high-quality education and health services for children. Our goal is to serve child care professionals so they feel equipped to thrive in their businesses and help children excel in the classroom. By sustaining operators who provide such critical services in the community, NEXT Memphis lowers operator stress and provides generations of opportunity. This focus will improve the sustainability of child care as an industry and give families more choice in quality care. Learn more at nextmemphis.org.
