Jefferson County Child Development Council
The Jefferson County Child Development Council (JCCDC) is a non-profit organization founded in January 1972 to support and coordinate child-care programs in Jefferson County. The organization's offices are in the Dorothy S. Willingham Center for Child Development at 728 37th Street South in Birmingham's Highland Office Park. The executive director is Earlene Reynolds.
JCCDC began participating in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Child Nutrition Program (CNP) as a sponsor organization under contract to the Alabama Department of Education in 1977. The organization supports implementation of CNP programs at 95 family childcare and group homes across a 6-county area.
Since the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched the initiative in July 1984 the JCCDC has offered full-day, year-round Head Start Family Child Care programs. They initially served 100 children and now coordinate service for more than 200 through a network of licensed home-based providers. In 2010 an Early Head Start Family Child Care program serving pregnant women and infants was begun.
The Jefferson County Child Development Council provides family engagement specialists to mentor and support families with children. Children enrolled in Head Start programs receive free immunizations and health and developmental screenings.