SomerPromise

SomerPromise is a community-wide effort that focuses on aligning and mobilizing resources to address the academic, social, and environmental factors that affect student success. We are committed to equity and excellence in children’s lives during and out of school, from cradle to career.

GOAL 1: Support the overall well-being of children and youth by connecting, aligning, and mobilizing community partners and resources to ensure every child in Somerville has the opportunity to thrive, from cradle to career.

• Re-structure and institutionalize Somerville Children’s Cabinet
• Develop Children’s Cabinet web presence and data dashboard
• Develop collaborative work plan to establish a Children’s Budget for the City of Somerville
• Establish a service map that streamlines the referral process and integrates the offerings of the City’s Health and Human Services Department and the Somerville Public Schools. Support the cross-sector work of the Immigrant Services Unit and SOIA as it relates to children and families

GOAL 2: Increase access to high-quality affordable childcare for Somerville families from infancy through grade 6.

• Support the incorporation of community providers into the Somerville Public Schools for increased access to high quality childcare programming by developing shared program handbooks and space usage agreements between community partners and SPS.
• Measure access to programming through Somerville Hub Single-Point-of-Entry expansion and establish baseline data for future year tracking.
• Raise awareness of Single-Point-Of-Entry Work by facilitating 3 presentations of the new Somerville Hub system to internal staff and community providers
• Establish a braided funding systems that includes public and private funding sources to enable the creation of a childcare affordability fund.

GOAL 3: Continue to support the Birth-to-School-Entry pipe line through coordinated efforts to increase access and support families.

• Increase the number of families reached through SomerBaby by building new early identification systems.
• Align Birth – 3 work with preschool work by facilitating quarterly Early Childhood Advisory Committee meetings as part of the newly formed First Five Somerville Steering Committee.
• Establish partnership with Riverside Behavioral Health to provide formal and informal childcare providers with the behavioral health support necessary to best serve BIPOC/immigrant/low-income families.

GOAL 4: Increase the quality of Out of School Time (OST) programs by implementing the Assessment of Program Practices Tool (APPT) developed by the National Institute of Out of School Time.

• Offer in-person observations using the APPT tool and provide feedback to 5 OST Task Force program providers.
• Provide training and funding opportunities for program staff based on the 5 observations.
• Develop and implement an afterschool workforce development program that will create jobs within after school programs that allow students seeking teaching licensure to accrue pre-practicum hours.