Florida State University Early Head Start marks 30 years of supporting Gadsden County families

For first-time mother Jemisa Lamb, the weekly home visits from Florida State University’s Early Head Start program provided something she was missing: guidance. 

Having lost her own mother years earlier, Lamb was looking for support as she learned how to care for her child. 

“As a first-time mom in 2014 I didn’t know anything. I needed help,” said Lamb, a Gadsden County mother. “My home visitors always took the place of my mom. I was looking for answers that I couldn’t get from my mom, so they gave me the advice I needed — parenting from step one to step two or how to care for them to see them progress and grow.” 

For 30 years, stories like Lamb’s have been at the heart of FSU Early Head Start in Gadsden County. 

The program, operated through Florida State’s Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Policy, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Since 1996, it has helped expectant parents and families with infants and toddlers build strong foundations during the earliest years of a child’s life. 

“By supporting families through FSU Early Head Start we are investing in the foundation of strong thriving communities where every child and parent has the opportunity to grow and succeed. Decades of research have robustly demonstrated that caregiver and early childhood interventions enhance healthy human development.”

— Jim Clark, FSU provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs 

“By supporting families through FSU Early Head Start we are investing in the foundation of strong thriving communities where every child and parent has the opportunity to grow and succeed,” said Jim Clark, FSU provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “Decades of research have robustly demonstrated that caregiver and early childhood interventions enhance healthy human development.”