OC Partnership for Young Children report 1999

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Understanding the Needs of Los, Minos in Orange County SUMMARY REPORT INTRODUCTION "I see a great opportunity to build community between Latinos and non - Latinos in Orange County. And I think that these types of positions that Smart Start might be able to fund which will serve as bridges between the communities could be a big part in creating that. " - Michelle Easter of InterFaith Council, Los Ninos Task Force Member Along with many other counties in North Carolina, Orange County has experienced a dramatic increase in the number of Latino residents over the past few years. According to the U.S. Census, Latinos are the fastest growing ethnic population in North Carolina, having increased 37% from 1980 to 1990. Latino children are the fastest growing group of children in the stateZ. In Orange County, births to parents with Hispanic surnames represented 23% of all births from June 1998 — March 19993. Like all families with young children, the Latino members of our community need services to ensure that their children are healthy and ready to succeed when they enter school. But these families face additional barriers in securing health care, child care, and other family supports. Language barriers, cultural differences, and difficulties in finding and qualifying for services mean that Latino children in Orange County too often go without the help they need. As the Latino population has grown, the organizations in our community that provide Smart Start services have reported increasing challenges in meeting the needs of Latino children. Consequently, the Board of Directors of the Orange County Partnership for Young Children (OCPYC) became interested in gaining a better understanding of the particular needs of Latino children ages 0 — 5 and the capacity of community agencies to serve these families. As planners and funders of local services, the Partnership also was interested in the community's ideas about creative strategies to fill the gaps in services and address special challenges. Through the collaborative process of this initiative, the Board hoped to contribute to a more responsive and'comprehensive service delivery system, and to make effective decisions regarding the expenditures of Smart Start funds. Together with community agencies the Partnership initiated the following activities to answer these questions and produce this report. We have used the terms Latino and Spanish speaking interchangeably to represent persons of diverse Hispanic origins whose native language is Spanish. 2 Virginia Lewis and Florence M. Siman- Zablah, Child Care for Latino/Hispanic Families in North Carolina, Child Care Networks, 1997. 3 Source: Orange County Department of Health live birth records.