ChildStrive

The early supports program ("esp") addresses the needs of children state-set criteria for early supports services. Esp services include developmental assessment and evaluations, occupational, physical and speech therapy, educational services and social work services through a parent coaching model, family counseling services, resource coordination and parent education and support. Early supports also addresses the needs of children who are at serious risk of falling behind in their development and of not being successful in school. Services are provided to families residing in homeless shelters, on the tulalip reservation and through drop-in play groups. Funding for this program is provided through the wa department of children, youth, and families (dcyf) contract, snohomish county early supports for infants and toddlers, snohomish county child development services, king county departments of developmental disabilities, private insurance, grants and individual donations. We served 1,795 children and their families during the year that ended june 30, 2023.

Outreach counseling: in fy 2022-23 Childstrive employed six counselors who provided infant and early childhood mental health services to low-income families with trauma exposure, during the prenatal period and with children aged newborn to six. * our spanish language counselors serve families on average for two years. The counselors also facilitated two early parent support groups and one support group for parents of adolescents using peps curriculum. They provided four circle of security parenting groups. In 2023, we added 2 counselors under the eclipse program. They provide consultation and early childhood mental health support to preschool children with behavioral health needs in eceap classrooms, and in their homes. Six children and their families received services in our inaugural year. Our counselor at homeward house worked with pregnant and newly-parenting people who have a high risk of court removal (child welfare dependency) due to substance use disorder and homelessness. 20 infants and their families were served with a combination of parent-child psychotherapy, pfr and groups. Our eceap program served 46 families during the year ended june 30, 2023. *in our model, older children are included as part of the family services and often counselors consult, do screenings and/or refer to other mental health services for school-aged children and adolescents.

Nurse-family partnership (nfp): nfp is a national, evidence-based home visitation program serving first-time parents during their pregnancy until the child is two years old. Specially trained community health nurses visit the families in their home weekly and biweekly, supporting healthy parent and child outcomes and family self-sufficiency. Funding from verdant health commission (snohomish county public hospital district no. 2), snohomish county behavioral health department, and maternal infant and early childhood home visiting (miechv) federal funds via the Washington department of children, youth, and families home visiting services account (dcyf and hvsa) allows for eligible families to be served throughout snohomish county. Nfp served 203 clients during the year ended june 30, 2023.

Parents as teachers (pat): pat is a national, evidence-based home visiting model of services to pregnant and parenting mothers and fathers whose children are under five years of age. Families served include those with extreme risk factors for poor child development outcomes, such as homelessness, parental mental health and substance abuse problems, history of child abuse and neglect, and domestic violence. Funding for this program is provided through a combination of private grants and federal funds passed down from the Washington early learning fund. Pat served 151 children in 117 families during the year ended june 30, 2023.