Whole Child Leon is a community-wide effort to ensure all young children have the best start in life by ensuring they have everything they need to thrive and arrive at school ready to learn. The first 5 years of life are the most important years for the development of the child. This period is critical to acquiring social, emotional and cognitive skills and building the foundation for physical, me
ntal and emotional health and well-being. From birth to age 5, the brain develops faster than at any other stage in life, with ninety percent of brain’s physical development by age 3. This development is particularly affected by the quality of adult/child interaction. Early childhood development lays the foundation and sets the course for what will happen when the child enters kindergarten and beyond. Communities that commit to ensuring all children are born healthy and are given an equal opportunity to develop to their full potential during these first 5 years are communities that thrive. These communities understand their long term vitality is dependent upon healthy birth outcomes, economic stability for all families, safe and nurturing environments, and young children arriving at kindergarten with the necessary social and emotional skills to be ready to learn. Unfortunately, we also have serious deficits with respect to child well-being that erode our community’s potential for greatness. This idea of nurturing the Whole Child requires the entire community working together. To ensure that all Leon County children get the best start in life, we need to understand the issues that foster or inhibit positive developmental outcomes, to identify what can be done to strengthen and support children and their families, and then do it. No single agency can achieve this aim. It takes the entire community. That is why Whole Child Leon exists. Whole Child Leon is not a direct service provider. Rather, it is a catalyst for change, a convener of partners, and a connector between families and services. Social Media Policy
Whole Child Leon encourages comments and conversations via its social network channels. However, inappropriate content or comments may be removed. Please keep the following in mind when commenting on this site:
*Comments should not be obscene in nature or serve as an attach against any person or group.
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*All comments should relate directly to the topic of the site.
*WCL does not guarantee content on any externally linked site. Links and mentions are not endorsements.
*This policy may be amended or modified at any time.
