History of Onslow County Partnership for Children

The Onslow County Partnership for Children (OCPC) is a private non-profit agency with the mission of developing and advocating for accessible, affordable and available quality early care and education programs, health support programs and family support programs that serve Onslow County’s children and their families.  OCPC’s vision is that all children are healthy; all children are free of abuse and neglect and all children are ready and eager to learn.

OCPC received its 501(c)3 tax exempt status in June 1999, primarily to administer Smart Start funding for Onslow County.  Smart Start is designed to leverage community dollars to fill gaps in services for young children and their families.

OCPC accomplishments include:

• 2001: Began the annual “State of the Child” Breakfast to bring together elected officials, military officials, business leaders and community members to celebrate children and discuss the important work of caring for children in our community, ensuring their safety and well-being, and envisioning their future success as community leaders, parents, employers and employees.
• 2002: Convened over 30 community agencies/organizations to facilitate the first community wide strategic plan for children and families of Onslow County.  As a result of the plan, a quarterly training is now held for all newly hired human service professionals in the county to orient them with community resources for families.
• 2003: Began an annual “Books for Kids” book drive that has collected and distributed over 86,000 books to area children.
• 2003: Participated in the development and implementation of Project Community Action Readiness Effort (CARE) in response to Operation Iraqi Freedom and the deployment of many Onslow County residents in support of the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• 2004: Became a national Touchpoints Site through the Brazelton Touchpoints Center to provide training that uses Dr. T. Berry Brazelton’s approach to working with parents in our community to child care providers, pediatric medical professionals, human services professionals and others with the goal of optimal child development and healthy, functional families.
• 2005: Convened a multi-disciplinary team of professionals to establish a child advocacy center to serve Onslow County and surrounding areas.  Child Advocacy Centers bring all services for children who have suffered physical or sexual abuse together, eliminating travel and time burdens for families, human service and law enforcement personnel, and creating opportunities for efficient and timely prosecution of perpetrators.
• 2005: Developed and activated the Emergency Child Care Plan for Essential Personnel in response to Hurricane Ophelia.  The plan, the first of its kind in the country, provided specialized training to qualified licensed child care providers and connected essential personnel to providers who committed to remaining open during the preparation and recovery phases of natural disasters for which evacuation is not necessary.
• 2006: Partnered with Onslow Memorial Hospital to implement the Period of Purple Crying parenting education program designed to lessen the risk of shaken baby syndrome and infant abuse.
• 2006: Began training human service professionals to serve as facilitators of the Darkness to Light sexual abuse prevention curriculum.
• 2008: Became one of four sites in the nation to administer respite child care services to military families enrolled in the Exceptional Family Members Program from 2008 to 2010.
• 2010: Began serving 72 pregnant women and children ages birth to three through a home-based Early Head Start program.
• 2010: Executive Director, Dawn Rochelle, MSW, LCSW, presented information in Washington, D.C. about Onslow County as a community that has some of the elements of an Early Learning Community as defined by the Administration of Children and Families at the request of Jeffrey Capizzano, Senior Policy Advisor for Early Childhood Development and Education with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families.
• 2011: Awarded a grant through Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NC for $252,500 to serve as one of four regional “hubs” in NC in a project targeted at the prevention of childhood obesity.
• 2011: Awarded a grant through the NC Division for Public Health for $546,383 to serve pregnant and parenting teens and women ages 13-24.