Funded Projects

Navigating Preschool Enrollment in Primary Care

Project Year

2023

City & State

Louisville, Kentucky

Program Name

CATCH Resident

Topic

School Readiness/Head Start

Program Description

The problem: For the 2019-2020 school year, only 51% of children in Louisville’s Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) District entered school ready for kindergarten. Kindergarten readiness can be enhanced with preschool attendance, however many children who qualify are not enrolled in preschool. Seeing underserved families in our academic clinic who struggle with the process of applying to kindergarten and simultaneously did not realize their child qualified for preschool the prior year, has placed a personal stake in advocating for these children and families. In 2019, Louisville ranked 14th among peer cities in rates of preschool enrollment with only 38% of three- to five-year-old children enrolled in preschool. Even more concerning is that the primarily Black/African American families we serve living west of interstate 65 have significantly poorer rates of kindergarten readiness. Preschool enrollment rates are 25-30% in West Louisville compared to 60% in East Louisville neighborhoods. Evidence has shown this disparity is related to poverty, racism, and discrimination and the downstream effects are detrimental to children’s education and health. Project goal and proposed intervention: In recent years there were projects created to ready children for kindergarten and increase the number of children who qualify for preschool based on family income. Community partners are working toward improving the readiness of children before they get enrolled into elementary school to prepare them for success as they grow. We would like to create a new project that starts one step earlier. Currently, children are eligible for free preschool if their household is at or below 160% of the federal poverty line (FPL). Many families in Louisville do not have a clear understanding of the application process or qualifications for free preschool and parents may not realize the developmental benefits for their children attending preschool. Research done by the Greater Louisville Project shows that Louisville children who were home with a caregiver prior to kindergarten were less likely to be ready for kindergarten than children enrolled in childcare or preschool. Preschool can help children with social skills, following rules, establishing routine, writing, language development, and infinitely more. This project will allow us to connect with community partners who recognize that school readiness is a priority. The goal of this project is to create the Navigating Preschool Enrollment Program, increasing the number of children three to five years old in Louisville enrolled in preschool, as well as partner with their primary care physicians to encourage advocacy and education related to enrollment. A similar program does not currently exist at our clinics and will provide change in kindergarten readiness. Children affected: Norton Children’s Medical Group Novak Pediatrics Clinic, located in central Downtown Louisville, provides medical care for an underserved community. This resident-run primary care clinic serves more than 6300 children who primarily live in West Louisville and more than 85% of patients have Medicaid insurance. Of these children, 70% of patients identify as Black/African American, 6% as Hispanic/Latino, 2% as Asian/Asian American, and 17% as White/Caucasian. This project would assist this population in preschool enrollment. Anticipated outcomes: This project will train and educate community health workers, clinical social workers, pediatric residents, and primary care attendings on the optimal way to connect children and families to preschool through a partnership with Metro United Way and JCPS. Then, we will collaborate with JCPS to ensure children are properly and successfully enrolled to preschool. After this pilot program launches at Novak, it will be replicable for other areas in Louisville.

Project Goal

Create and implement the Navigating Preschool Enrollment Program at NCMG-Novak Clinic through working with broad-based community partners and parent advocate to increase the number of underserved children age 3-5 years old in Louisville enrolled in preschool and increase engagement with primary care physicians.

Project Objective 1

Form a new task force to create the Navigating Preschool Enrollment Program with community partners with the goal of building 4 new community partnerships by August 2023.

Project Objective 2

Train one Community Health Worker and one Clinical Social Worker by June 2023 on the Navigating Preschool Enrollment Program as well as integrate ten residents and four attendings to clinic workflow at Novak prior to program launch.

Project Objective 3

Increase the number of underserved children age 3-5 years old enrolled in preschool by 40% at NCMG Novak-Clinic, our pilot site, by April 2024.

AAP District

District IV

Institutional Name

University of Louisville

Contact 1

Alexandra Howard