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U.S. Rep. Beatty visits Early Head Start partner provider

U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty, left, sits in a chair and reads a children's book to several children eating meals on colorful plates at a small table.
U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, left, read to children during her visit to a Columbus home-based child care whose operator participates in Ohio State’s Early Head Start Partnership Program. (Photo courtesy of Action for Children)

A partnership program of the Schoenbaum Family Center that helps providers offer high-quality care and education to young children in low-income households recently received attention from an Ohio member of Congress.

A small child turns and looks at the camera as other small children sit on the floor looking toward a woman seated in a rocking chair holding an infant.
Cheryl Odom, seated top left, is a professional child care provider who participates in Ohio State’s Early Head Start Partnership Program. (Photo courtesy of Action for Children.)

U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, whose district covers much of Franklin County, visited a home-based child care run by Cheryl Odom, a provider in Ohio State’s Early Head Start Partnership Program. The visit was organized and hosted by Action for Children in partnership with Beatty’s office.

During Beatty’s visit, the representative read books to the children in Odom’s care and watched the children engage in the preparation of healthy food as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Administered statewide by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and locally by Action for Children, CACFP provides reimbursements for nutritious meals and snacks to eligible children enrolled in participating child care centers and family child care homes.

Beatty’s visit took place as part of National CACFP Week.

Beatty told Odom that she was impressed by the quality of fresh food Odom provided the children in her care, as well as how Odom used food preparation with the children as a teaching opportunity.

Read this descriptive blog by Action for Children for more details of Rep. Beatty’s visit.

The Ohio State University Early Head Start Partnership Program is one of the Schoenbaum Family Center’s community-based programs. The program works with Early Head Start child care centers and family child care homes throughout Columbus. Providers receive funding, classroom and educational materials, and playground equipment to improve the quality of education they offer. Coaches also support the educators’ classroom teaching practices and professional development in early care and education. 

In addition, the program helps families navigate the challenges of educating their children from home and guides pregnant women throughout their pregnancy to deliver a healthy baby.

For more information about Schoenbaum’s Early Head Start Partnership Program, visit go.osu.edu/ehs.