The Building Bright Futures Council of Caledonia/ Southern Essex seeks to assure that children birth to age six are healthy and successful by improving the quality, affordability and accessibility of early childhood services in the areas of early care, health and education.  There is a full-time regional director who acts as staff to the council to carry out the work of the regional and state councils.

Council Meetings:  The Building Bright Futures (BBF) Regional Council of Caledonia / Southern Essex meets the third Wednesday of each month from 5-7 PM at the Lincoln Center in St. Johnsbury. 

Council Membership:  The regional council has a diverse membership with representation from the Vermont Department of Health (VDH), Economic Services Division (ESD), Kingdom Child Care Connection (KCCC) at Umbrella, the AHS Field Services Director, NEKCA Head Start, NEKCA Parent Child Center, Community Coordinating Council, Springfield College School of Human Services, Cobleigh Public Library, Northeast Kingdom Human Services, Children’s UPstream Services, St Johnsbury and Lyndonville Child Care Network, Registered Child Care Providers, Licensed Child Care Centers, parents and reps from each of the  five school supervisory unions [Essex Caledonia Supervisory Union (ECSU), St Johnsbury School District (SJSD), Caledonia Central Supervisory Union (CCSU), Caledonia North Supervisory Union (CNSU), and Blue Mountain Union (BMU)].

We continue to seek representation from the business community, faith organizations and from the medical community.

Regional Plan:  Our region just completed a five-year strategic plan to address early childhood issues specific to Caledonia and Southern Essex Counties.  The four indicators chosen to focus on in the regional plan are:

• Percentage of women smoking during pregnancy
• Percentage of children ready for school in all five domains of the kindergarten questionnaire
• Percent of children in out-of-home care, who are in a quality environment
• Rate of substantiated victims of child abuse and neglect (<6 years)

Regional Initiatives:  There are many local initiatives that are being implemented to address the indicators above.  Some of these include Smoke Free Babies- a smoking cessation program specific to pregnant women; a region wide awareness project to prevent child abuse, activities to help children be ready for kindergarten including “Welcome Preschool”, “ Welcome Kindergarten” bags for children entering Pre-K and Kindergarten, and an effort to improve the quality of child care in our region through early childhood professional development opportunities and an increase in programs seeking accreditation. Another effort is Children’s Integrated Services (CIS) - the integration of the following three programs: Family Infant Toddler Program (FITP), Children’s UPstream Services, and Healthy Babies, Kids and Families.  In Caledonia/ Southern Essex, the CIS Administrative team is co-facilitated by Darlene Ahrens, (VDH) and Dawn Powers, (BBF).