Early childhood services showcased at Marion
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Debbie Darrow led a presentation on early intervention services in Marion County Friday at the interagency meeting at McGillicuddy's.
A four-member site-visit team from the state was on hand to observe the meeting and evaluate the services.
Darrow identified the Early Childhood Task Force as a working group of Communities in Schools. The group meets once a month and is open to anyone who works with infants and children. It serves in an advisory capacity for parents and teachers and provides training sessions.
Several publicly-funded programs exist in Marion County to serve families with infants and children and to assist in childhood development.
Healthy Start is a program provided through Marion County Health Department. It is directed by Sondra Mayfield, who makes visits to pregnant teens and new mothers and refers them to other services.
Early Intervention Services program is provided through Marion County Special Education Cooperative, with headquarters at Florence. The program is directed by Darrow.
These services are provided at no cost to any family in Marion County with a child, birth through five years, who has special needs.
Early Intervention Services has three components:
1) The infant-toddler program serves children from birth to three years and their families and provides referrals to various social service agencies.
2) Preschool services are aimed at children ages three to five. They involve a combination of home-based, family-oriented activities and community-based pre-academic activities that develop social and language skills.
3) Developmental screening services are available each month at a different location in Marion County. They test hearing, vision, nutrition, speech, movement, learning abilities, language development, self-help skills, and social skills.
Parents as Teachers is an off-shoot of Communities in Schools (CIS) of Marion County. It provides early assistance, with monthly visitations to homes with children from birth to three years.
Director Leslie Beery said 80 families now are participating in the visitation program, including 34 in Marion, 19 at Hillsboro, 11 in the Centre district, 11 at Peabody, and five in the Goessel area. An additional 15 families will be added soon. As many as 120 families could be participating next year, Beery said. Tisha Bielefeld of Peabody will become a full-time visitor July 1, along with Beery.
Marion County Extension Office, directed by Nancy Pihl, provides information on nutrition for infants and children.
The Child Care Resource and Referral Agency is located in Emporia. Amber Biddle attended the Interagency meeting and reported the agency serves east-central Kansas and matches families with child care providers. Her focus is on providing help in caring for infants.
The agency offers a new service called Great Expectations. It allows young unwed pregnant girls or new mothers to spend 30 hours in skills training and working with children in preparation for parenting and entering the work world.
Interagency voted to allow the balance of $239.01 in the family services fund to be used to provide admissions to group activities (such as zoo visits) provided by Prairie View.
Attendees learned that a young woman who received money for rent in April from the family services fund (provided through Prairie View), as approved by Interagency, has graduated from high school. The rental payment allowed her to continue in school.
Lyn Unruh of Mid-Cap (Mid-Kansas Community Action Program) said the agency provides pudding snacks and powdered milk to parents of young children. It also has a summer food service program which provides meals — breakfast, lunch, and dinner — for low-income families.
Kay Gregory of SOS (Services Offering Safety), Emporia, said the number of reported incidences of violence against children is "way down."
Elizabeth Schmidt, Northview Developmental Services representative from Newton said Northview is awaiting word from the state on the money the agency will have to work with in the next fiscal year.
The next Interagency meeting will be Sept. 12 at McGillicuddy's in Marion. In an effort to increase participation, CIS deputy director Linda Ogden urged members to "bring a friend," such as a business owner or agency employee.
