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A Head Start Right From the Beginning
This innovative program in the Rockaway community of Queens takes its name seriously. Here an early head start in child development can begin as early as the womb. The emphasis is on teen families and their children up to three years of age, though pregnant women up to age 25 are also accepted. The program serves 75 children with 32 in the Early Steps Family Center, and 43 in the home or yet to be born.
Teen Families in an Impoverished Community
Many envision Rockaway as a strip of tidy, middle-class homes tucked between Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, the peninsula is also home to several large, aging and rundown public housing developments. According to Laura Ensler, former Program Director of Early Head Start, this section of the community is "completely impoverished with a dearth of services." Early Head Start helps fill the void. "We work with teen families by establishing relationships. Ninety to ninety-five percent of our staff is from the community," says Laura. "We have a lot of community collaboration. New York Hospital/Cornell sends pediatric residents who do home visits and run workshops for parents. We also collaborate with Queens Comprehensive Perinatal Council and STRIVE, which helps our parents get jobs. The program's done really well. We also work really closely with other Children's and Family Services programs. Fourteen percent of our children are in Early Intervention. Many receive their occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy or special-ed services at the Center. Our home visitors that go to visit pregnant mothers often go with a Maternal/ Newborn and Pediatrics nurse."
Multi-faceted Program
EHS has many facets. For parents, education, involvement and support are emphasized. Teen mothers are encouraged to continue their education during pregnancy. For parents who have dropped out of school, the center offers a GED program. Graduation rate so far? 100%.
The Center is open four days a week and offers both full and half-day programs for the children. The teacher-child ratio is extremely low and all head teachers are certified. Friday mornings are devoted to staff development.
In the home-based program, home visitors, who are qualified family workers, make 90-minute weekly visits. "They start with a family partnership agreement," explains Laura, "that sets goals for the mother and child. We're very respectful of ethnic and cultural backgrounds and our visitors translate development information in ways that make sense. They share information about child development, may do activities with the mother and child - to encourage gross motor skills, for instance -and provide a whole range of supportive activities." EHS also offers workshops on breast feeding and child development, literacy programs, childbirth classes, trained doulas and other social services.
Education for Today, a Keepsake for Tomorrow
The Ounce Scale is an observational assessment system that lets parents and professionals collaborate on tracking a child's development. The scale, which covers birth to three years, has three components: Observational Record, Family Album and Developmental Profile. Six major areas of development are tracked: personal connections, feelings about self, relationships with other children, understanding and communicating, exploration and problem solving, and movement and coordination. The Family Album teaches young parents about child development and what to expect in each stage of development in an interactive way. Parents record regular observations about their babies and toddlers, answer questions, add photographs and drawings and write stories. Parents not only get an education in child development, but a treasured and very personal keepsake of their child.
Reaching Out to Fathers, Too
From the very beginning, EHS's emphasis on the family has included fathers. David Jones, Director of Family Support Services and founder of the Fathers First Program, says a turning point for him came when he worked in a program for babies born to substance abusers. David noticed a young man who always hung around outside the hospital while the mother went in to visit their baby, attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings and other programs. He asked why the man didn't go in as well. "No one ever asked me," the young father replied. "If we're going to heal families," says David, "we need to heal the whole family." EHS offers a full spectrum of services for fathers: individual counseling, crisis counseling, weekly support groups, on-site GED and others. What's primary, though, says David, is helping the fathers "connect with, bond and nurture their children."
"We're asking them to do something different than what was done to them," continues David. "Ninety percent of them didn't grow up with their fathers around. Now their child has the experience of having both parents actively involved which is what every child should have."
Besides the father-child relationship, EHS also helps the fathers develop successful co-parenting relationships with the mothers including problem solving, conflict resolution, and anger management. The program also has a prevention component. "We go to the high schools and talk about male responsibility. We want to prevent them becoming fathers before they become men."
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