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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President


For Immediate Release May 13, 1999
                     VICE PRESIDENT GORE ANNOUNCES
           13 PARTNERSHIPS TO IMPROVE THE WELL BEING OF CHILDREN

Charlotte, NC -- Vice President Gore announced today a new initiative that will cut red tape and streamline services in communities across the nation to help them better serve our nation's children.

Under the initiative, known as Boost4Kids, Vice President Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government will work hand in hand with 13 partnerships among local communities and state and federal agencies to achieve community specific goals, such as increasing child health insurance and immunization coverage and reducing youth crime and injury rates.

"The 13 'Boost4Kids Partners' will work hand-in-hand with the federal government to cut red tape, and improve services for our nation's children," Vice President Gore said. "This measure will allow communities nationwide to use existing resources more effectively and put our children, not paperwork first."

The Boost4Kids Partners will work to achieve better opportunities and outcomes starting today. Specifically, they will:

Help communities measure results for kids like insurance coverage, immunization, housing, food security, traumatic injury rate, youth crime rate, and school readiness;

Find ways to pool administrative savings from discretionary grant programs to turn dollars saved in administration to improving outcomes for children;

Streamline administration and provide greater flexibility to communities in administering grant funds;

Address barriers at the federal, state and local levels - in ways allowable under current law - to better provide needed services and supports for children;

      Maximize the use of resources for services for children and;
      Share lessons with other communities

     After a nationwide search for community/state partners the

following Boost4Kids partnerships have been chosen:

  1. California: Contra Costa County
  2. California: Placer County
  3. California: San Diego County
  4. Florida: Palm Beach and Pinellas Counties
  5. Georgia: Athens Family Connection
  6. Georgia: Houston County
  7. Hawaii: Good Beginnings Alliance
  8. Iowa: Cass, Mills, & Montgomery Counties, State

    Empowerment Board

  9. Maine: Communities for Children
  10. Maryland: Family League of Baltimore City, Inc.
  11. Michigan: St. Joseph County
  12. North Carolina: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Resolves II
  13. Vermont: Vermont Regional Partnership

The initiative was first proposed by Dr. Robert Ross of San Diego County at the Family Re-Union Conference in Nashville, Tennessee in June 1998. It is based on what San Diego County has been able to do - - by cutting overhead, they have realized significant savings and used them to increase probation officers working with troubled kids and families and to fund 38 after school programs.

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