The Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners is collaborating with almost two dozen community, corporate and private foundations on a five-year, $70 million-plus Invest in Children (IIC) initiative that will focus on creating quality early childhood development programs and services.

The George Gund Foundation has made a $1 million commitment to this groundbreaking public-private partnership that has four components: Effective Parents and Families, Safe and Healthy Children, Children Prepared for School and A Community Committed to Children.

“What sets this apart from early childhood initiatives in other communities, is that IIC is designed to create a comprehensive early childhood system for Cuyahoga County, not just a collection of individual programs or services,” said Marcia Egbert, senior program officer at the Foundation. “The plan is to create a high quality system that will promote children’s physical and mental health from birth to six, provide every parent that wants it access to a good preschool program for their children, and build community support for investment in young children.”