What is First Five SC? 
First Five SC is a single portal into publicly funded early childhood programs and services in South Carolina. The site allows users to learn about early childhood public assistance programs, determine eligibility for these programs, and complete an application for these programs, without having to complete multiple, separate eligibility screeners or applications. Families and system navigators assisting families (including staff of social service nonprofit organizations and government entities) can visit First5SC.org to access all the latest information and services in five overarching areas of interest: 

- Child Care and Early Education
- Health and Safety
- Special Needs and Early Intervention
- Food and Nutrition
- Parenting and Support

How did First Five SC get started?
In 2019, South Carolina was awarded federal Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five funding, which supported a variety of early childhood system building activities. The First Five SC Committee was established as a working group of “Preschool Development Grant B-5 Activity 3: Building Parent and Family Knowledge, Choice and Engagement in Their Child’s Early Learning and Development.” The purpose of the committee was to assess the need for a single portal into publicly funded early childhood programs and services in South Carolina, to explore options for the development of such a portal, conduct a market analysis, develop a single brand identity, and develop technical specifications for the portal. 

The committee was intentionally designed to include agency representatives, system navigators, nonprofits, state and local leaders, and members of the Early Childhood Advisory Council. Membership on the committee was fluid, with meetings open to the public and available in person or by webinar. The committee provided ideas, recommendations, feedback, and offered insights that were critical in developing the final set of technical specifications for First Five SC. The First Five SC Committee operated in an advisory capacity. 

What are the benefits of a resource like First Five SC?
First Five SC enables more families throughout the state to assess and access the services they need to thrive. Some highlights of the site include:

- 24/7 service: Access to help happens outside of 9am-5pm. ​By democratizing 24/7 self-service access and awareness to publicly funded birth through 5-year-old childhood programs and services, First Five SC is increasing visibility of state-wide services. 
- Self support: Easily accessible from a smartphone or computer, First Five SC promotes an online user behavior that supports a “do it myself” model to accessing information. 
- Accommodating complexity: The eligibility criteria for services varies and can be complex. By grouping key services into five categories, First Five SC simplifies a system that can at times feel overwhelming. 

What is the purpose of First Five SC and why is it needed?
Over 90% of the brain’s architecture is built before age 5. In South Carolina, there are about 300,000 children under age 5 who need health, nutrition, safety, and educational resources to support their success, as well as the success of their family and community. South Carolina has many opportunities in all these sectors for our youngest citizens. We created First Five SC to increase parent knowledge of the wide variety of services that are available to them and their young children and assist them in accessing those services.​ 

How much does it cost to create a resource like this? 
It depends on the state. Each state has a different level of discovery depending on the scope as well as needs. The First Steps SC toolkit includes a budget worksheet to help states plan for both development and promotion of the resource. The toolkit also includes resources for identifying funding sources. 

How is First Five SC related to Palmetto Pre-K? Why are these maintained as two separate portals? 
For years, the Education Oversight Committee and state legislators urged collaboration around recruitment and enrollment in publicly funded pre-K programs. Palmetto Pre-K was developed to enable joint outreach and enrollment for locally funded, state-funded, and federally funded pre-K 3 and 4 programs. First Five SC and Palmetto Pre-K “talk to each other” so that the back-end information that populates the databases for eligibility screening and for available programs does not have to be entered twice. First Five SC pulls data from Palmetto Pre-K to “populate” the pre-K 3 and 4 component of the Child Care and Early Education domain within First Five SC. However, South Carolina's early care and education system extends beyond just pre-K 3 and 4 programs and will need to also include other programs not listed on Palmetto Pre-K.

Who is the target population for First Five SC?
First Five SC is targeted at South Carolina parents and guardians of children ages prenatal to 5 as well as providers and others who work with families that include children ages prenatal to 5.

How does First Five SC help families identify services that they are eligible for?
When a parent checks for eligibility for a specific category of services (e.g. child care), First Five SC also checks their eligibility for other categories and indicates that they may be eligible for other programs (e.g. food stamps) based on the information they entered. Technically, this will be accomplished by checking eligibility for all programs, not just the selected category. The site will show results for the selected category first, then offer suggestions for other categories. 

Does First Five SC determine an applicant’s eligibility for various programs? 
Parents/caregivers complete a screener, which then points them in the direction of the program(s) or service(s) for which they are eligible. The user is then directed to complete a common application that includes only the components relevant to the programs for which they may be eligible.

Public agency participants in First Five SC are ultimately responsible for the final determination of eligibility. The eligibility screener assists families in determining what services they may be eligible for.

Does First Five SC offer child care provider licensing?
No. Some of the programs and services that families can access on this site—including licensed child care – also have their own agency-specific portal, listing, or access point. 
In cases where agencies have existing digital portals, eligibility screeners, or service listings that are database-driven, the vendor is expected to develop the most efficient way of inputting the information into First Five SC (i.e., through API) so that the agency does not have to re-enter information.

How do applicants submit supporting documentation (e.g., pay stubs, proof of residency, proof of citizenship) to verify eligibility criteria? Does First Five SC allow applicants to upload verification documents and transfer them, along with the application data, to external systems?
Applicants create a secure account where they can upload any necessary documentation. They can then send the required documentation along with their application. 

Is the application transferred to the relevant agencies for processing as a .pdf or is the application data exported to a record in the receiving systems?
First Five SC is designed to meet agencies where they are. Since every agency has different technical requirements, First Five SC is flexible and can send the application in a variety of ways. Some agencies opt for full web service integration, while others prefer to receive the application as a PDF or an excel file. You will need to explore what each program prefers as part of the discovery process. 

Are users able to apply for programs offered by other agencies from the First Five SC site—or does First Five SC provide the user with links to different applications?
First Five SC provides a common application that allows users to apply for the programs they are eligible for without going to the various agency web sites and completing separate applications. 

Parameters used to determine eligibility may differ from program to program. First Five SC identifies where overlapping criteria exist, making it possible for the user to complete a single screener. Once the user completes the screener, First Five SC points them in the direction of the program(s) or service(s) they are eligible for. The user can then complete a common application that includes only the components relevant to the programs for which they may be eligible. 

How does a potential user access First Five SC?
The portal can be accessed via a mobile app or desktop computer at firstfivesc.org.

For how many programs does First Five SC offer the eligibility screener and option for the common application submission?
First Five SC is regularly expanding. At a minimum, it features all agency members of the SC Early Childhood Advisory Council and the Interagency Collaboration Committee and the services they offer to children prenatal through age five. See additional information at https://scfirststeps.org/who-we-are/early-childhood-advisory-council/.

Is First Five SC available in multiple languages?
In addition to English, users can access a Spanish language version of the tool. For other languages, First Five SC is connected to Google translate.

Is the eligibility screener specifically focused on families with small children—or does it work for adults, whole families, and older individuals, too?
The eligibility screener and common application are built for families that include at least one child prenatal through age five. Once they are “in” through the young child, other family members outside of that age range may benefit as well. For example, a child care scholarship application that is available on the common application would also be appropriate for a child up to age 12. 

Can service providers fill out the application on behalf of families?
Service providers can help families complete the application, but the parent or guardian must sign the consent forms and be the person listed as the contact on the application. First Five SC’s guiding principles include self-navigation and self-service. In the event a family needs additional assistance in completing the applications, the pre-existing application processes at the partner agencies still exist.

If families are unable to use the web portal, is there also a phone number they can use to access the information and apply for benefits? First Five SC offers contact information for all the individual programs included. Families can call  the ones they are interested in—or they can click the “Need more help” tab to access a community navigator partner who can assist them.

Did you engage in MOUs or agreements for the programs in the screener and application?
First Five SC features a few different levels of participation. In February 2020, the South Carolina Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) voted to adopt First Five SC as a project. This served as our enabling agreement for the screener. At the screener phase, families input minimal information to learn what supports and programs they are eligible for. They do not provide any confidential information. As such, we do not require participating agencies to complete an MOU to participate in and appear on the screener.

Once families determine what supports and programs they would like to apply for, they move on to the application phase. At this stage, participating agencies need an MOU. The MOU allows these partnering agencies to follow up with families, tell them about other available services, and help with enrollment. The MOU ensures the partnering agencies are HIPAA and FERPA compliant, puts data sharing agreements in place, and allows these agencies to share contact information and the child’s age with relevant providers.  The MOU also outlines responsibilities for ensuring the content provided – including eligibility requirements – is regularly updated. Each MOU is tailored to the partnering agency. You’ll need legal counsel to help put MOUs in place. Be sure to factor legal resources – capacity and funds – into your project plan. 

What happens after a user submits the application?
Once the application is submitted, a pop-up screen appears with vetted language from each agency or program about next steps, including when and how additional information will be provided. Applicants also receive an email response to each submitted application detailing next steps. We are currently testing a follow-up drip campaign for reminders to complete “in progress” applications.

Does the program or an assessment worker ever reach out in response to an application?
It depends on each individual program and its existing enrollment process.

How does Help Me Grow SC integrate or support First Five SC? 
In South Carolina, Help Me Grow operates as one of several entities that act as an information and referral system for families. Several of these information and referral entities are First Five SC partners, including Help Me Grow as well as our local early childhood hubs (First Steps), CCRR, and Family Connection (which receives federal funds to help families that have children with disabilities access public services and supports).

Help Me Grow uses First Five SC to help the families that contact them and request more support. However, a core principle of First Five SC is a focus on putting the power fully in parents’ hands. The overarching goal of First Five SC is to create a governmental interface that most parents can self-navigate. This helps reserve Help me Grow resources for families that need extra assistance. 

What type of resources does First Five SC offer to providers?
To help providers connect parents and caregivers with publicly funded programs that help children and families thrive, First Five SC offers a variety of outreach materials, including social media posts and print materials they can share with families. First Five SC also helps providers keep up-to-date about the eligibility requirements for dozens of programs they might not otherwise know about. 

Are all the supports offered on First Five SC in the same department?
No. The programs made available are span 10 state agencies and public entities. 

What was the process for mapping eligibility requirements and necessary documentation across programs?
We mapped the requirements for each included program as well as the requirements for applications or referrals during discovery meetings with programs both at the design of the eligibility screener and at the development of the common application. This information was confirmed and retested prior to release and reviewed and updated at several points throughout the year to ensure they are consistent with changes (e.g., income eligibility may shift). This information was entered into a master spreadsheet for the coders during project build.

How long did it take to map all the supports and services?
It took about six months to map the information for the eligibility screener.

How were parents and other stakeholders engaged in the design and development of First Five SC? 
First Five SC engaged parents and other stakeholders throughout the process. This included meetings with the SC Family Voice Council as well as user test groups with families. Stakeholder feedback integrated into the final design. 

How were public agencies and system navigators involved in developing First Five SC?
First Five SC was developed with input from the state leadership teams, workgroups, providers, and other stakeholders with the intent that it will be used by all agencies and system navigators and will also be easy for parents to use. A gap analysis was performed to better understand the landscape of services and ensure that the efforts of First Five SC were supportive of existing services and not duplicative.

What lessons did you learn about working within rules and regulations of a state agency? 
The biggest lesson we learned is the importance of meeting people where they are. It is important to understand that each partner is working within their own constraints. To be successful, you will have to work inside and outside of the system. This includes learning to assess actual requirements and understanding what is negotiable. For example, is there a regulation that says something can’t be done – or are there no guidelines as to how it can be done? Remaining flexible is also important.

Do you have tips for procuring a vendor? 
Ensure the vendor is flexible and able to adapt as the project evolves. Additional tips and resources for hiring a vendor are included in the First Five SC toolkit. 

How does the technical design of First Five SC account for potential user error?
The site features a plain text search that screens for and corrects typos and misspellings and recognizes commonly used synonyms for official services (e.g., daycare, childcare, food stamps). The top five commonly searched keywords pop up as quick links for people unsure of exact search terms. English and Spanish (on the applicable site) language analyzers account for stop words (e.g,. the, a), plurals, and possessives.

What software application platforms were used to create First Five SC?
This will vary pending the state or agency’s requirements. This is what First Five SC used:

• ​VueJs 2.x:an open-source Model–view–view model JavaScript framework for building user interfaces and single-page applications. 
• Bootstrap Vue 2.1: a framework for building responsive, mobile-first, and ARIA accessible projects on the web using Vue.js and the world's most popular front-end CSS library — Bootstrap v4. 
• ​Asp.net MVC 5: A web application framework developed by Microsoft, which implements the model–view–controller (MVC) pattern. 
• Asp.net Web API 2
• Entity Framework 6
• Microsoft SQL Server 2016 4.7.​ ​ElasticSearch 7.x

Who is responsible for managing First Five SC?
First Five SC is a project of the state’s Early Childhood Advisory Council, which is managed and staffed by South Carolina First Steps.  The Early Childhood Advisory Council is responsible for the portal in the long-term, working with a web vendor to complete ongoing maintenance and hosting.

What type of staff capacity is needed to pull this off?
We recommend having one full-time project manager devoted to overseeing this effort in addition to a mix of internal staff and consultants supporting it. The project also requires some time from:
- Someone in a leadership role who can approve costs and has the authority and connections to work across divisions and agencies and with external providers and other partners.
- Communications staff (both senior and support level).
- Grants and development to assist with fundraising and report.

At some point you will need added capacity (more staff or external consultants) to:
- Build and grow the resource
- Maintain update of the resource
- Collect feedback from partners and users
- Train new users
- Provide legal counsel for MOUs/data sharing agreements

What type of capacity or staff is needed to build the site?
You can either purchase a pre-made product or hire a subcontractor to build the site. To be cost effective, be sure to discuss efficiencies and cost savings explicitly in the selection criteria and include this as part of the scoring process if you are procuring a vendor.

Is there a process in place to check in on referral outcomes? How are enrollment outcomes tracked and measured?
Data sharing agreements give us access to some data, but it is not a requirement of our partners.  For local partners, we are tracking some data points through our core functions data matrix. This will be robust when we integrate that information with the data and case management system currently in development. The different entities on the common application all have the capability to track the referral source of the application. Since the common application is relatively new, we don’t yet have enrollment data available but will be able to measure enrollments from partners in the future. 

Is there a mechanism for measuring program capacity (e.g., if a program can’t take on more referrals, is there a process to measure that)?
Not currently, but in our visioning meetings we have discussed opportunities for adding this in the future. 

Do providers have access to data First Five SC collects about families? 
Providers that sign a data-sharing agreement can access information about families in their county related to the area of service for the programs they operate. Providers with agreements in place can see an aggregation of relevant programs. For example, if they offer PPP but a family that qualifies is also eligible for WIC, the provider will see this and can let the family know they also qualify for WIC. However, the provider will not have access to the data that allowed the family to qualify for WIC.

How does First Five SC keep data secure?
A firewall limits access to HTTP(80) and HTTPS (443) by the general public. Access to remote desktop and other management protocols is based on an IP address whitelist. This site uses HTTPS to encrypt information between the user and the server.

The collection of personally identifiable information (PII) is limited to the parent, not the child. Children’s birthdates and income are only used in the local browser to determine eligibility and not stored on the server. The site does not collect social security numbers.

How are you tracking long-term outcomes for families? 
We are currently working with a limited data set, but First Five SC is integrating with other data initiatives in an attempt to track outcomes for families over time. Some of our state agency partners are also exploring opportunities to track outcomes for families in specific areas.