Birth to Five Illinois Gives Public Comment During Washington County Board Meeting

May 29, 2025

Original coverage in Washington County News by Todd Marver.

Birth to Five Illinois

Brittany Gowler of Birth to Five Illinois spoke during public comment near the beginning of the meeting. Public commentwas moved from near the end of the meeting to near the beginning of the meeting per the board’s established and recorded rules on public comment. Gowler said their region is Jefferson, Marion, Washington and Clinton County and their office is located in Carlyle. She is from Jefferson County. She said in 2023 they did an Early Childhood Regional Needs Assessment of the four counties. She said currently they are working on recommendations from that assessment in three different areas and they are working on an action plan that they have been doing for the past two years. She said they would like to let everyone know they are getting interest forms for action councils and family councils and those are meetings they have once a month. She said the family council is made up of family members that live in the four counties and the action council is made up of programs, service providers and stakeholders.

“Currently we only have one representative from Washington County on that action council. We have two representatives from Washington County on the family council. We hope we can get more representation from Washington County, so we can know how to best serve your children and families here in the county,” she said.