Year-round
Intensive Services: Early Head Start focuses on
promoting healthy relationships as the context for all
learning and growth. Children and their families receive
year-round weekly services until the child reaches the
age of three. Therefore, staff have the opportunity
to establish close relationships with families and work
in partnership with parents towards achieving goals
for children and families.
Home
Visits: Home visiting has proven to be particularly
effective with families seeking assistance in parenting
their young children. Our bilingual Specialists go into
the home to assist the family in identifying and meeting
goals for the child and the parent. We provide direct
assistance in helping the parent learn effective parenting
strategies, reinforcing the parent as the child's first
and most important nurturer, teacher and advocate, and
learning to use the home as a learning environment
.
Center-based Child Care: The Early Head Start Program
provides center-based services for children and their
parents through a collaboration with two center-based
child care sites in Prince George's County, Easter Seals
and Northwestern High School
Parent-Child
Activity Groups: Families have the option of attending
weekly parent-child activity groups, which reinforce
the goals of the home visit, while providing parent
and child the opportunity to interact with others in
a supported environment. These groups are designed and
based on a successful clinical model developed by the
Lourie Center.
Maternal
and Child Health: Early Head Start assures that
pregnant women receive prenatal care and educational
services, and that newborn children receive a medical
visit within two weeks of birth. We also assure that
all children receive appropriate health and developmental
screening and referrals to other agencies for any identified
problems/needs. Early Head Start provides inclusive
services to children with diagnosed disabilities.
Parent
Involvement and Governance: We encourage parent
involvement in governance, including approval of staff
hiring and dismissal, and advice and consent of all
budgets and program policies. This is a unique feature
of all Head Start programs.
