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Improving the well-being of children in Kearns is the goal of a community-based initiative — the second in the country — that was launched earlier this week with help from a $150,000 grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The grant, which will be matched by Salt Lake County, will launch "Evidence2Success" to help local governments, schools and residents collectively gather data "on the needs and strengths of local youth," said County Mayor Ben McAdams at a news conference at Utah Olympic Oval, projected to be at the hub of a new Kearns town center.
Data will determine where time, money and effort are needed, he said, and public agencies pledge to direct resources to those endeavors.
"With this funding, we will be able to determine how children in Kearns are doing today, choose programs that are proven to work in areas where kids aren't thriving and develop financing and action plans to ensure the effort continues and succeeds," McAdams said.
Another Evidence2Success program is in Providence, R.I.
Part of the reason the Annie E. Casey Foundation selected Salt Lake County was because of its track record in leading collaborative efforts to solve problems, such as its work with Granite School District on a "Pay for Success" program that extended preschool education to 600 children in lower-income areas, said Suzanne Barnard, director of the Foundation's Evidence-Based Practice Group.
"Salt Lake County impressed us with a strong coalition that includes leaders from the major systems that serve children along with residents and young people who are ready to roll up their sleeves to invest in kids in a different way," she said.
Granite School District will be a big player in this effort, McAdams said, since schools are integral parts of the community. District Superintendent Martin Bates called the initiative an opportunity to bring "all of our resources to bear to improve our students' educational outcomes."
Kearns was selected as a launching pad for this program because it is the county's most diverse township, McAdams said, and one-third of its residents are under age 18.
"Kearns kids are accepting, loving and are really good kids," said Bryce Seipert, a Kearns resident who is one of nearly two dozen members of a steering committee assembled by the county to oversee the effort. "They don't always have the opportunities that other kids around the valley have. This grant is one major stepping stone in the right direction. It will allow kids to better themselves, understand success, and for us to provide programs that will help kids find success."
The effort will begin with data collection through the state's Student Health and Risk Prevention surveys of sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th graders. What that data shows will determine what programs are undertaken, McAdams said, with "Kearns parents and community leaders in the driver's seat."