Children First Inc
Ranked in the top 1% out of more than 1,800 programs nationwide.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Head Start/Early Head Start
Head Start meets the comprehensive needs of at risk families throughout Sarasota County who have children three to five years of age. The families served live below the federal poverty level (e.g. family of three - gross annual income under $21,330) Children living in foster homes and families on public assistance are eligible as are children with disabilities, irrespective of family income. We have an 9:1 child to teacher ratio.
Early Childhood Education
Our Early Childhood Education program focuses on the comprehensive needs of children birth to five years of age, whose families live at, or slightly above the federal poverty level. Although these families do not qualify for Head Start or Early Head Start, they are considered “working poor” and most are eligible for state subsidized child-care. Every child we serve at Children First receives equal care.
Families First Institute
Equally important to early education are the services provided to families to enable them to make productive lifestyle choices so that they will be positive role models for their children. This includes helping parents identify and attain goals such as training and employment. We offer training, classes, and other assistance to strengthen families and help them on their way toward self-sufficiency.
RISE
RISE is a partnership between Children First and Take Stock in Children Sarasota County Inc., a statewide mentoring and college scholarship program. RISE provides support to low-income families with students in grades K-5 through a two part approach. One-on-one literacy support for each child instills a love of reading and creates caring relationships between child and mentor, and work with families promotes parent engagement and investment in students’ education. We aim to provide each child and family with encouragement, knowledge and tools necessary to attend college and succeed in the future.
Where we work
Accreditations
National Accreditation Commission for Early Care and Education Programs 2016
Awards
Best Children's Nonprofit - Gold 2019
SRQ Magazine
Nonprofit of the Year 2019
WEDU PBS
Educational Outreach 2019
WEDU PBS
Best Places to Work Sarasota-Manatee 2019
Herald-Tribune and Best Companies Group
James E. Duffy "Friend of Literacy" Award 2019
Literacy Council of Sarasota
Best Children's Nonprofit - Gold 2019
SRQ Magazine
Best Places to Work Sarasota-Manatee 2020
Herald-Tribune and Best Companies Group
Best Nonprofits to Work For Top 50 2021
The Nonprofit Times
Nonprofit of the Year 2022
Sarasota Chamber of Commerce
Top Workplace 2022
Top Workplaces Sarasota-Manatee
Change Agent Philanthropic Award 2022
SRQ Magazine
Best Children's Nonprofit 2022
SRQ Magazine
Best Community Accomplishment 2022
SRQ Magazine
ONE Tampa Bay Nonprofit of the Year 2022
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Platinum Seal of Transparency 2022
Candid
Affiliations & memberships
National Head Start Association 1994
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of children who have the ability to use eye-hand coordination, strength, and motor control to use age-appropriate tools and utensils effectively
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers
Related Program
Head Start/Early Head Start
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Due to the covid -19 pandemic, end-of-school-year assessments were conducted remotely, in partnership with family reporting, after on-campus services were suspended on March 12, 2020.
Number of children who have the ability to understand and comprehend communication
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers
Related Program
Head Start/Early Head Start
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Due to the covid -19 pandemic, end-of-school-year assessments were conducted remotely, in partnership with family reporting, after on-campus services were suspended on March 12, 2020.
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of children who have the skills necessary to maintain personal health
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Infants and toddlers, Ethnic and racial groups
Related Program
Head Start/Early Head Start
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Due to the covid -19 pandemic, end-of-school-year assessments were conducted remotely, in partnership with family reporting, after on-campus services were suspended on March 12, 2020.
Number of children who have an innate motivation to master and control their environment
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers
Related Program
Head Start/Early Head Start
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Children will actively explore their environment to discover what objects and people do, how things work and how to make things happen.
Number of children able to exercise appropriate control in independent and group activities
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers, Children
Related Program
Head Start/Early Head Start
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Due to the covid -19 pandemic, end-of-school-year assessments were conducted remotely, in partnership with family reporting, after on-campus services were suspended on March 12, 2020.
Number of program graduates
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children
Related Program
Head Start/Early Head Start
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
In 2022, 83 children successfully completed the Head Start and Early Childhood Education programs in order to attend kindergarten.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
1. Children First is the preeminent, trusted child care provider, authority and advocate for children ages 0-5 and their families in Sarasota County
2. Children First remains in the top 1% of Head Start organizations in the United States.
3. Children First proactively seeks innovative, entrepreneurial opportunities for growth including integrated socio-economic programs, corporate collaborations and new strategic partnerships.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1a) The Board of Directors, staff and volunteers will be trained as advocates for the organization, growing in knowledge and providing consistent messaging about Children First throughout the community.
1b) Provide leadership in advocacy for children’s issues through partnerships and collaborations.
1c) Children First will begin a community speaker series to raise awareness concerning child and family issues.
1d) Identify and seek funding from foundations and/or individual donors to build the organizational brand.
1e) Explore strategic partnerships and provide leadership to increase anti-poverty efforts throughout Sarasota County.
f) Seek a research/educational partner to fund/direct a longitudinal study to prove what impact CF programming has on children served 0-5.
2a) Provide top-quality career development and training programs for all staff.
2b) Create and disseminate frequent, creative internal and external communications and messaging to keep all constituents up to date.
2c) Continue to place a high priority on the “Families First Initiative."
3a) Research economically feasible financial models for integrated socio-economic programming.
3b) Explore financial models and potential corporate partnerships to provide quality child care for large Sarasota based employers.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
--Children First has been named a National Head Start Association Program of Excellence three times
--100% of Head Start classrooms have either a two or four year degree teacher
--There is a 4:1 federal match for every private donation
--Board members bring people on tours of Children First, are engaged in thanking donors, and serve on fundraising planning and event committees
--100% of Children First Board Members donate to Children First
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
--Successful Federal Review of Head Start / Early Head Start at end of 2018 performed by 13 Reviewers with expertise in their given fields
--Five sites achieved “4 Star” status as conferred by the Early Learning Coalition
--Met and exceeded federal mandate of having at least 50% of early childhood educators with a bachelor’s degree
--Donor retention rate has been above 80%
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Children First Inc
Board of directorsas of 01/19/2023
Brock Leach
Philip Tavill
CEO Children First
Keith G. Johnson
Truist Wealth
Elizabeth Stamoulis
Williams Parker
Lisa Giglio
Community Volunteer
Howard Berman
Retired
Kenneth Hughes
Frito-Lay
Andrea Johnson
JPMorgan Chase
Barbara Benson
Community Volunteer
Rebecca M. Lieberher
JPMorgan Chase
Jacqueline Ray
Community Volunteer
Elenor Maxheim
Retired
Linda Monda
Retired
Robert L. Moulds
PGT Innovations
Joe Stephan
Retired
Michael K. Suarez
Retired
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 04/06/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.