History
of the
Child Development Council of Franklin County, Inc.
The year was 1984. A group of pioneers saw a need for additional Head Start services in Franklin County to address the unmet child care needs of low-income families. In the summer of that year, those dedicated pioneers, under the aegis of Mattie B. James, took their vision and successfully garnered an expansion grant from the federal Administration for Children, Youth and Families. Their dream saw a comprehensive program, addressing both early education and child care needs for children ages 3 to 5, primarily from low income families. They saw a nurturing environment, one that was developmentally appropriate so that each child would be taught and cared for at his/her individual level and ability. They saw centers that were available to diverse population and safe havens for children.
In February 1985, the Child Development Council of Franklin County, Inc. (CDCFC) was founded, and our administrative office opened that December at 398 South Grant Street. By February 1986, Head Start opened at Barnett and Linden Recreation Centers serving seventy-seven and seventy-six children respectively. The agency maintained modest growth until the early 1990's, when it began a dramatic transformation that has resulted in our current enrollment of 2,457 children. The initial staff of 19 has grown to over 370 employees and our centers have increased to 29 with 70 classrooms. We are receiving Head Start funding from the State of Ohio as well as the federal government.
Over the past 14 years, our Head Start services and programs have expanded to include a family Service Center, a Staff and Parent Training/Career Development Center, and partnerships with 16 privately owned day care operations through the greater Columbus area. Our classrooms are now located in Columbus, Whitehall and Gahanna public school buildings. We have established unique collaborations with Franklin County Department of Human Services and Franklin County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MR/DD), providing child care and family services in their facilities. In 1992 CDCFC, in concert with Columbus City Schools, MR/DD and two for profit child care centers, Creative Horizons and Kare-A-Lot was selected by Action for Children, the local resource and referral agency, as exemplifying best child care practices via their "Right from the Start" initiative. The Franklin County Commissioners selected CDCFC to operate Head Start services in their JOBS sites at Firehouse and Southside Opportunity Center.
In 1966, we acquired four facilities from Columbus City Schools, two of which have been remodeled extensively. By late August, 1997 we moved our administrative offices to 300 E. Spring Street. The adjacent building is used for bus storage. We also acquired an old school building (Lexington Avenue) and remodeled this facility to accommodate 156 children. The building has subsequently been named for one of our founders, Mrs. Gertrude Tyree. The center serves as one of our training sites.
CDCFC's governing Board consists of thirteen diverse members from the local community, representing a wide cross section of the Columbus economic and social culture. Our Board members hail from the private, public, profit and nonprofit sectors. CDCFC has a long history of sound financial management, and there have been no financial findings associated with CDCFC's required annual audits for the past five years.
