Need help finding free preschool for your child? SC has a new website to help
Parents who want to find a free pre-kindergarten program for their children — and to see if they are eligible for that assistance — now have an easier way to find out.
South Carolina this week formally launched palmettoprek.org, an online portal to help families find free or subsidized preschool programs.
“When we provide high-quality learning to our state’s youngest children, we not only give them the foundation they need to become productive citizens of our state, but also provide their parents the opportunity to find meaningful work,” Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette said in a news release announcing the portal.
Parents can answer a few questions and see if they qualify for a publicly funded program, said Laura Baker, spokeswoman for S.C. First Steps.
“We want to make it easier to be able find the information they need and if they qualify,” Baker said.
The site was built for $50,000 with the help of a federal grant and is a collaboration between South Carolina First Steps, Head Start, and the state’s education and social services departments. The year-long project included merging the four agencies’ databases on available programs.
Before the portal, parents needed to contact providers individually to see if their children were eligible, or visit each agency’s website to research programs. However, sometimes information on pre-K programs and day cares would be hard to find on the websites.
Since launching the site on Feb. 1, the site has had 1,200 unique visitors. Of those, 500 people answered the eligibility questions, and 250 people found their children were eligible for free 3- and 4-year-old programs, said Georgia Mjartan, the executive director of First Steps.
During a recent discussion with House members, Mjartan said having the website will help families who would be eligible for early childhood programs but are unable to find what’s available.
“We were tasked with the responsibility to integrate all of these different services to make this portal (and) these systems understandable to families,” Mjartan said. “We were tasked with making sure there wasn’t a duplication of services or spending of funds in two places.”
This story was originally published February 7, 2020 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Need help finding free preschool for your child? SC has a new website to help."
