Jamaica Early Childhood Development Project

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The objectives of the Early Childhood Development Project for Jamaica are to: (i) improve the monitoring of children's development, the screening of household-level risks affecting such development, and early intervention systems of the borrower to promote such development; (ii) enhance the quality of early childhood schools and care facilities; and (iii) strengthen early childhood organizations and institutions. There are two components to the project. The first component is the co-financing the implementation of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) under Sector-Wide Approach (SWAP) modalities. This component area foresees the strengthening of the Early Childhood Commissions (ECC's) parenting Sub-Committee, the development and implementation of a national Early Childhood Development (ECD) parenting education and support sub-strategy, and a public awareness campaign. It includes the creation of an accreditation system for early childhood parenting education and support programs and a grant facility to support service providers in meeting accreditation standards. This component area includes the development of a national policy for screening, referral and early intervention. It also provides for the development of a screening system for household-level risks and its application to all households enrolled in the Government of Jamaica's (GoJ's) income support program. The second component will finance selected consultant services critical to achieve the project development objective. This component will support the development of a national policy on screening, referral and early intervention, including the design of a screening system for risks at the household level, and the development of a public education strategy about risks for children. It will finance development of sub-strategies for parenting of children aged of 0-3 and 4-6 years, including the mapping of existing parenting education and support programs, the development of an accreditation system for parenting programs, and awareness and advocacy strategies for parenting support programs. It will finance the development of service delivery models for nutritional programs targeted at different age groups and a strategy for the reorganization and strengthening of well-child clinics.