I receive this email before lunch:
Hi Rick,
I will get the answers to your questions to you tomorrow. We have our Board meeting tonight, and I do not have time to prepare a full report today.
Thanks,
Tammy
Such a report should be part of Executive Director Tammy Greer’s presentation tonight and be available for the public to review before the meeting. The data should have been gathered long before the board meeting.
My questions that she committed to answering:
*Where are you getting the statistic that “Black toddlers are five times less likely than their white counterparts?”
*What is the data for Escambia County?
*How many children in Attucks Court and Oakwood Terrace have developmental delays?
*Have you met with parents in those neighborhoods and asked them what they need? I understand you “want to hear from the parents of the children in need and the frontline providers who work directly with them,” but have you gone into their neighborhoods and schools and listened to parents?
*How are these parents currently interacting with early intervention services?
*Has any organization run an early intervention pilot program in these neighborhoods? What has worked? What hasn’t?
*If the early intervention programs in Escambia County are failing or inadequate, why?
*What concerns have the frontline providers shared with you about Help Me Grow?
The analysis was just emailed to Rick Outzen at 4:13 PM on 3/14/2023. The data was gathered as part of our needs assessment and more has been gathered recently as part of the ITB development. We have met with numerous local providers and parents in addition to compiling quantitative data. Our Board member Rex Northup, MD, retired and well-respected local pediatrician and former Regional Medical Director of the Children’s Medical Society, has helped lead the project. And yes, this will be reported to the Board tonight prior to their vote.