United Way of Santa Fe County plans to direct all its resources to early childhood education and intervention in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Local agencies that provide those services will be invited to apply for grants.

"We have been working toward this direction for a really long time," said president and CEO Katherine Freeman. "We will not have an open funding process" in which any health or human services agency can apply for funds.

Freeman added that, "We have been talking for many years about becoming more focused in our investment."

United Way will continue to pass through donations designated for specific charitable organizations, but donors also can contribute directly to those nonprofits.

Freeman said United Way has a meeting scheduled for March 12 with agencies providing services to very young children that might be invited to participate in its initiative.

In the current fiscal year, United Way has given about $400,000 to 13 community partners. That money now will be targeted toward home visitation, pre-natal care and early childhood services.

Freeman said she expects this year's fundraising campaign to hold its own, although she admitted that because of concern over the economy, "We are being very conservative about our commitments for next year."

According to Freeman, donors have known for a long time about the new focus on preparing children for school in a way that helps them graduate from high school and be successful. She said kindergarten readiness is a predictor of fourth-grade reading skills, and that is a predictor of high-school graduation.

An evaluation of the Agua Fría Children's Zone Pre-K Project (now the Santa Fe Children's Project) during the 2005-2006 school year by Coop Consulting Inc. found that children who received the services improved more than those who didn't in six measurements including literacy, creativity and scientific and conceptual understanding.

Although local nonprofits have known about United Way's new focus for years, not all are happy with it. Deborah Tang, director of the St. Elizabeth Shelter, said she feels that, "United Way has abandoned crucial programs in our community."

Contact Anne Constable at 986-3022 or aconstable@sfnewmexican.com.