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  • Early childhood intervention services
  • Child care assistance

Hennepin County > Health and medical > Strong Beginnings

Strong Beginnings

Strong Beginnings childcare centers deliver high-quality early childhood services. Through an agreement with Hennepin County and Minnesota Department of Human Services, the childcare centers provide services and support that are not required at other childcare centers.  

These Strong Beginnings program components have been evaluated and shown to improve children’s developmental gains, kindergarten readiness, and family engagement. They include developmentally appropriate curriculum, knowledgeable childcare professionals, small class sizes and staff-to-child ratios, systemic efforts to engage parents in their child’s development and education, and assistance with meeting the non-educational needs of the child and family. 

Since 1992, Hennepin County has contracted with childcare centers to implement the Strong Beginnings strategy. Today the centers serve an average of 1,200 children annually. 

Child Care Assistance Program, Lea Bloomquist, Supervisor

lea.bloomquist@hennepin.us

Phone: 612-543-0152

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Strong Beginnings program components
Sixty percent of enrolled children are low-income, special needs, and/or in foster care. 

The program includes culturally responsive childcare practices, such as representative staffing, using children’s first language, and culturally relevant environment. 

There is a higher staff-to-child ratio than required by state licensing. 

We hold the belief that parents are their child’s first teacher. A family coordinator greets, engages, and assists families with participating in their child’s education and accessing services as needed. 

The program holds twice-annual assessments of physical, social and emotional well-being. A child development specialist assists teachers in developing child-specific goals based on assessments and directs the center’s curriculum planning. 

There is a child-specific transition plan to kindergarten. The child development specialist coordinates services with the local school district and the transition to kindergarten. 

There is ongoing staff training and coaching with a focus on trauma, building social-emotional skills, strategies for working with challenging behaviors, practices for culturally responsive care, and empowering parents to become full partners in their child’s education. 
List of Strong Beginnings centers

A Chance to Grow (Turnquist Childcare Center)

Map: Turnquist Childcare Center
1800 NE 2nd Street, Minneapolis, MN 55418

Contact

  • 612-706-5590
  • Visit Turnquist Childcare online.

Anew Dimension Child Enrichment Center

Map: Anew Center
1819 Minnehaha Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55404

Contact

  • 612-339-2333
  • Visit Anew Dimension online.

Baby’s Space: A Place to Grow

Map: Baby’s Space
2438 18th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55404

Contact

  • 612-729-5171
  • Visit Baby's Space online.

Catholic Charities (Northside Child Development Center)

Map: Northside Child Development Center
1000 Plymouth Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55411

Contact

  • 612-204-8575
  • Visit the Northside Center online.

La Crèche Early Childhood Centers

North Center

Map: North Center
1800 Olson Memorial Highway, Minneapolis, MN 55411

Contact

  • 612-377-1786

La Crèche II Center

Map: La Crèche II Center
1120 Oliver Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55411

Contact

  • 612-521-4384
  • Visit La Crèche Early Childhood Centers online.

People Serving People (Center of Excellence)

Inside Lutheran Social Services – The Center for Changing Lives

Map: Center of Excellence
810 7th St. Minneapolis, MN 55414

Contact

  • 612-249-5337
  • Visit the Center of Excellence online.

The Family Partnership

Four Directions Family Center

Map: Four Directions Family Center
1527 E Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN 55407

Contact

  • 612-722-0762

Therapeutic Education Preschool Program for Children/Children’s First Early Learning Center

(Multicultural Therapeutic Children’s Programs)

Map: Children’s First Early Learning Center
1501 Xerxes Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55411

Contact

  • 612-339-9101
  • Visit The Family Partnership online.

YWCA of Minneapolis (Children's Center at Midtown)

Map: Midtown YWCA
2121 East Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN 55407

Contact

  • 612-215-4328
  • Visit the Children’s Center at Midtown online.
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