ATLANTA CHILDRENS SHELTER INC

Programs: In 2014, acs served 77 children in the national association for the education of young children (naeyc) and bright from the start accredited early childcare education program. Acs teaches from the creative curriculum strategies and regularly tests child development with the brigance screening assessments. 100% of the enrolled children met or exceeded developmental milestones in literacy and math, and 94% met or exceeded social-emotional development milestones. New curriculum implementation began with both foreign and sign language.

the acs social services case management team served 54 homeless families providing family counseling, referrals, advocacy, crisis intervention, and emergency financial assistance. Programming and financial assistance assisted 59% of families transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing. Acs achieved the quality enhancement standards and support training accreditation through the georgia alliance to end homelessness providing assurances that acs is a best practice partner among homeless service providers in georgia. Family progress is monitored using a self-sufficiency matrix database which captures quarterly data of twelve identified indicators of self-sufficiency.

the acs hire up program assisted parents preparing for and locating employment opportunities. In 2014, fifty parents were provided with resume assistance, soft skills training, transportation assistance and work clothing, leading to a 70% employment rate. The average number of program enrollment days a parent actively seeks employment was 63 days. The starting hourly wage for many parents was 28% higher than the state of georgia minimum wage.