
Smart Start North Carolina
Program basics
- Comprehensive, statewide early childhood initiative providing communities with funding for educational childcare, health care, and family support services
- Communities have flexibility to design programming to meet specific needs
- Series of public-private partnerships between the state, counties, and private, independent organizations prioritizing localized control to provide and fund critical services to families
Strength of evidence
Evidence level: Strong (second-highest tier)
?
Strong (second-highest tier)
Ranked as having the second-highest level of evidence by County Health Rankings and Roadmaps
Target population
Preschool-aged children
Program cost
Not available
Implementation locations
- North Carolina
Dates active
1993–present
Outcomes and impact
- Some evidence for improvement of school readiness, particularly for disadvantaged children
- Children from low-income families experience greater improvements in school readiness than peers who attend other day care centers
- Children from higher income families do not receive additional benefit compared to other childcare programs
- Participation linked to higher third-grade test scores in reading and math and decreased likelihood of special education placement
- Participating children more likely to receive vaccines and have access to regular health care
- Promotes early literacy and literacy-related outcomes
- Improved child health through improvements in nutrition, physical activity, and health and safety practices
Keys to successful implementation
- Note: This content is under review
- Fostering trust and collaboration with families is essential to program success. Transparency and clear communication between providers and families strengthens these relationships.
- Training and oversight helps local organizations and program facilitators meet benchmarks and operate the program more effectively.
- As communities may have different service needs, flexibility in offerings can increase positive outcomes and strengthen trust