| Smart Start is an ECD initiative based in Kenya’s Siaya County. Powered by strong central leadership, community buy-in, and supportive ECD policies, the program was initiated in 2012 following legislation in 2006 and 2010 that established national ECD policy and frameworks to be implemented through the decentralized county governments. The Siaya County governor and Kenyan first lady led a coordinated county-wide effort to support local ECD. In partnership with university ECD centers and foundations, CCD home visits were integrated with other ECD efforts to form the Smart Start program in 2014. A high priority was placed on embedding ECD activities into all local public services including home garden programs addressing child nutrition, hygiene and sanitation village outreach for preventing child diarrheal disease, and local reforms of the justice system to improve its capacity to prevent and mitigate child abuse and neglect. The presence of strong central leadership and use of multisectoral activities led to high program visibility and uptake by clinics’ staff. Village leaders served as community champions of Smart Start, further encouraging families to participate. Central leadership from the governor and first lady was informed by data collected through a multisectoral team, which coordinated intra-sectoral partnerships and monitoring activities to capture data on program successes and challenges. Following one year of implementing home visits, the absence of government stipends for the community health workers delivering Smart Start home visits and activities was identified as a major barrier to program success. In response, Siaya County became the first Kenyan County to pass legislation guaranteeing government stipends for community health volunteers. This robust, multisectoral program was feasible, sustainable, and successfully implemented at full scale within Siaya County due to the focused leadership of the local government and ongoing collaborations with diverse multi-level stakeholders. |
