Young Children First! has been supporting families of young children in Falmouth since 1997. YCF! (Falmouth's Community Partnership for Children grant program), is one of 168 Community Partnerships statewide. We are funded by the Mass Department of Early Education and Care.

YCF! has three main goals:
1. To provide assistance for families with the high cost of early childhood programs.
2. To provide Falmouth's private center-based and family childcare early childhood
programs with support as they strive for high quality through national accreditation.
3. To provide parent and educator workshops and comprehensive services to support all in
our community who support our children.

• Tuition Assistance Program provides financial assistance for eligible families for early care & education expenses for three and four year olds.

• Information services for families seeking child care or related services in the Falmouth and surrounding area. YCF! helps to publish the Upper Cape Resource Guide ; a comprehensive directory which is distributed throughout the upper Cape area.

• YCF! Lending Library contains a wide variety of educational materials, tapes and over 300 resource books that are loaned out free to parents & area educators.

• Support for local early childhood centers and family child care providers as they continue to pursue and maintain high quality through professional development (trainings, college courses, and conferences) and acquiring national accreditation.

• Parent Education Opportunities offer area parents a wide array of workshops and parenting groups.

• Comprehensive Services to families, including, child studies, Family Literacy activities and many town-wide family events (i.e. puppet shows, band concerts.).

Young Children First! welcomes parents, educators and all interested community members to work with us. We encourage you to attend YCF! activities and to make use of the resources available to you. You are also invited to join the YCF! Council.

Young Children First!

• Program Coordinator: Carolyn Minervino: 508-548-0151 ext 128

• Executive Assistant and Voucher Manager: Amy Nutter: 508-548-0151 ext 173