Smart Start

Smart Start was created in 1993 as an innovative solution to a problem: Children were coming to school unprepared to learn. Policymakers recognized that progress would require tapping into the same innovative spirit that inspired private sector advances, and therefore, established Smart Start as a public/private partnership. Independent, private organizations work in all 100 North Carolina counties through The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc., and 77 Local Partnerships. The power of Smart Start is that it delivers outcomes by giving communities local control to determine the best approach to achieving them.

Smart Start measurably increases the health and well-being of young children, building the foundation for all future learning, by:
• Improving children’s early care and education programs so that they are safe, healthy and provide opportunities for children to learn skills they need for success in school.
• Ensuring that children are screened for developmental delays.
• Providing parents with tools that support them in raising healthy, happy, successful children.