Last week, the SC Early Childhood Advisory Council launched First Five SC, a brand new online portal to search for information about publicly funded services for families, especially those with children age 5 and under.
Sixty publicly-funded programs and services are included in the initial launch, and 44 of those programs are also included on the common eligibility screener. The common eligibility screener is easy for families to enter a few pieces of information about their child, household and circumstances, and find out which programs they may be eligible for so they can begin the next steps of enrollment.
Services are grouped by category:
- Child Care & Early Education
- Health & Safety
- Special Needs & Early Intervention
- Food & Nutrition
- Parenting & Family Support
Plans for 2022 include expanding beyond a common eligibility screening tool to create a common application for services, which will tremendously help streamline the process of accessing services for families.
