From affordable child care to financial aid, new SC website aims to help families in need
Low-income families with children 5 years old and younger have a new online helper for finding opportunities for food assistance, child care and other state social programs.
The First Five portal is a new one-stop-shop website to help people trying to search for multiple programs, rather than visiting websites of multiple agencies to see if they qualify for any of more than 40 services and programs. In the portal, families can find information about early childhood programs from 10 state agencies and other statewide entities.
The site helps people find services for child care, early education, health and safety, early interventions, parenting support and food assistance.
The website asks for a family’s income, how many children are in the family, their children’s ages, whether they’re homeless, whether a child has any developmental delays, whether a child has been abused or is in foster care, or if a child was a high-risk pregnancy, among other things.
After answering a handful of questions, the site will give a list of available resources the family qualifies for.
“Families understand what they need and want better than anyone else,” said Georgia Mjartan, executive director South Carolina First Steps, which operates the Early Childhood Advisory Council. “First Five SC makes it easier for families to understand their options and find the support they need, want, and deserve – programs that ensure babies are born healthy, parents have great, affordable, child care options and preschoolers are given the learning opportunities they need to be ready for success in school.”
To visit the site, go to first5sc.org.
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 3:00 PM.
