County Partnership Programs »
Parents as Teachers
First Steps’ parent home visitation strategies are designed to equip adult clients with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote the school readiness, healthy development and long-term success of their preschool-aged children. Beaufort County First Steps works to increase parents’ ability to stimulate their child’s intellectual, social and physical development through an evidence-based home visitation program called Parents as Teachers. Learn more …
Childcare Quality Enhancement
First Steps’ Child Care Quality Enhancement (QE) strategies are intended to produce measurable improvements in the quality of care provided young children, as measured by a program’s advancement within South Carolina’s existing quality infrastructure (the ABC Quality Rating and Improvement System) and/or its improvement on an approved program quality measure. Learn more …
Early Identification & Referral
First Steps Early Identification and Referral (EI&R) strategies serve families with young children with suspected delays in development as a local portal connecting them to community-based services they may need or desire to ensure the school readiness of their children.
Use of validated screening tools improves detection rates, as compared to informal judgment alone. The “Early Identification and Referral” program is designed to produce measurable improvements in the number of infants and toddlers screened for delays in development. Learn more …
Childcare Training
Beaufort County First Steps provides staff development and mentoring to assist providers in meeting DSS training requirements, increasing the knowledge of child care workers, and improving the quality of programs offered in participating child care facilities.
We collaborate with neighboring First Steps local partnerships and statewide partners to provide a variety of training options for child care workers.
See the Training Page for more about trainings offered in our area.
State Programs »
First Steps 4K
Permanently established by the SC Read to Succeed Act in 2014, the SC Child Early Reading Development and Education Program (CERDEP) provides full-day four-year-old-kindergarten programs in 64 South Carolina school districts. Enrollment is offered at no cost to eligible children.
In addition to the offerings of the state’s public school districts, SC First Steps offers parents the opportunity to enroll their eligible children with more than 200 private, faith- and community-based preschool providers statewide. Learn more …
PASOs
PASOs provides culturally responsive education on family health, early childhood, and positive parenting skills; individual guidance for participants in need of resources; and partnership with health care and social service providers to help them provide more effective services.
Founded in 2005, PASOs helps the Latino community and service providers work together for strong and healthy families.
Vision Statement:
Healthy Latino communities contributing to a stronger South Carolina
Mission Statement:
PASOs helps build a stronger South Carolina by supporting Latino communities with education, advocacy, and leadership development.
Values:
PASOs is committed to equity, education, family, community involvement, trust, and, in all areas, excellence. These values are present in all we do, whether it be a workshop on positive parenting, a discussion about breastfeeding, or a presentation to one of our community partners on working with Latino families.
- Equity – We create awareness about discrimination and disparity
- Trust – They are not our clients, rather they are participants in our mission, which is crucial.
- Commitment
- Family
- Education
- Community participation