Boone County News Release

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Boone County Participates in National Collaboratives for Infants and Toddlers Gathering

May 29, 2019—Boone County, as a National Collaboratives for Infants and Toddlers (NCIT) community, was well-represented at a recent NCIT gathering in Salt Lake County, Utah. The All Community Convening event, held April 23-24, 2019, focused on giving NCIT communities the opportunity to share ideas, best practices and successes in prenatal-to-three development through the Pritzker Children’s Initiative (PCI) and NCIT. Kelly Wallis, Director of Boone County Community Services, served as a panelist during the discussion, “Financing Strategies and Solutions.” Crystal Kroner, Executive Director of the Cradle to Career Alliance, served as a panelist during the discussion, “Making the Connection: Linking PN-3 Issues to the Broader Community Agenda with Dr. Joan Lombardi.”

Officials gathered from 29 cities and counties to exchange ideas during the meeting hosted by PCI and Sorenson Impact Center at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business. Discussions highlighted equity, family voice, storytelling and developing a shared sense of immediacy to affect meaningful change for infants, toddlers and their families.

Boone County is one of only eight counties, selected through a competitive application process in 2017, to participate in the program offered by the National Association of Counties (NACo) and NCIT, funded by PCI. Participating counties received tailored and intensive technical assistance to expand and strengthen their early childhood systems for children from prenatal to age three.

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