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The Pritzker Early Childhood Foundation is focused on both expanding and
increasing the effectiveness of programs and practices that have proven
successful in providing high-quality services to at-risk children from the
prenatal stage to five years of age.
Our experience suggests that initiatives are often introduced, tested, found
successful – and then fade away, forgotten by educators as well as funders who
are often on the lookout for new ideas. Our grantmaking strategy is to share
good models and effective service strategies by helping organizations sustain
them, grow them, and significantly broaden their use among adults who work with
young children.
PECF awards grants in three categories, whose collective goal is to permanently
strengthen effective programs or practices and improve the lives of
young children and their families and caregivers.
Replication – defined by the Foundation as the process of
transporting programs and practices that have proven beneficial to new
sites or new populations – is the Foundation’s original grantmaking focus.
PECF, since its inception, has assisted organizations, generally with a
national scope, that have developed an effective, evidence-based service model
and are in the process of expanding to new sites, generally in more than one
state.
Our funding experience has taught us that planning for and then implementing
replication is a difficult and complex process. Our resources help
organizations whose disciplined approach to scaling up includes careful
strategizing and goal-setting; the systematic cultivation of, communication
with and support of new sites; ongoing communication with and support to a
network of existing sites; and a commitment to address the lessons learned from
program evaluations in order to build upon successes and ensure that
disappointments will not be repeated. The Foundation supports such
organizations in:
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increasing the number of sites they train and provide technical assistance to;
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introducing new elements of their core program through training and technical
assistance;
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ensuring their sites’ adherence to the service model by implementing
credentialing, quality assurance standards and other strategies;
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establishing state or regional centers that provide accessible assistance and
networking opportunities.
Grants may also support affiliated sites that are implementing the replicated
programs or practices in the Foundation’s geographical focus areas of Chicago,
New York City and the State of Connecticut.
Professional Development is the Foundation’s newest grantmaking
focus. Like replication, the goal is to change and improve practice – both
permanently and systemically. In contrast to replication efforts, which create
new sites or add proven, fully-developed programs to existing services of
organizations, professional development efforts enhance the skills of staff in
carrying out existing programs or services.
PECF is primarily interested in projects that assist multiple (but not
necessarily affiliated) sites and are located either in one of the
Foundation’s geographical focus areas (metropolitan Chicago and NYC, and
Connecticut) or affect focus area sites. The Foundation supports efforts to
provide technical assistance and staff training in evidence-based best
practices and strategies that will change and improve the approaches of
practitioners and service providers.
Grants may be awarded to: 1) service-providing organizations to train their
staff at multiple sites to implement a new program element or approach; or 2)
agencies that conduct trainings and provide technical assistance to the staff
of other organizations.
EQUIP grants support the improvement and sustainability of
specific aspects of the programs or practices of individual child care centers
in Chicago. A partnership of PECF and other Chicago foundations with a
commitment to the early childhood field, the Early Childhood Quality
Improvement Program (EQUIP) addresses the needs of licensed, non-profit early
childhood centers by providing grants that help them move along the continuum
to higher quality.
One-year grants, which range from $3,500 to $7,000, are awarded to centers for
the purpose of planning, implementing and institutionalizing a specific
educational or service approach with the help of an outside consultant.
Applicant centers, serving primarily disadvantaged families in Chicago, must
select an approach that focuses on children from 0-4 or a particular subset
within this age range. Applicant organizations may select from one of the
following five Quality Improvement areas:
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Communication with parents/home caregivers and support of effective parenting
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Implementation of an age-appropriate early literacy, science or mathematics
curriculum
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Multicultural approaches
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Behavior management
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Arts and music to facilitate young children’s development
Grants may be used to address requirements established by public agencies or
accreditation organizations.
Second-year (renewal) grants are awarded to centers that demonstrate the clear
need to continue to test and refine the improvements and ensure the
sustainability of the project. Renewal grants, which also require the help of a
consultant, do not exceed $4,000.
LIMITATIONS
The Pritzker Early Childhood Foundation does not support:
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individuals, fraternal organizations, or private foundations;
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political activity;
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capital campaigns or conferences;
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workshops or the production and/or distribution of materials that are not part
of a comprehensive training;
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ticket purchases for benefits;
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loans.
Applicants must be tax-exempt public charities under section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Tax Code.
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