Children's Center receives Early Head Start expansion grant

The Children’s Center will expand its Early Head Start program by 100 children and eight pregnant women after receiving expansion dollars through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

 The Center has received an additional $1,089,084 in federal grants and will expand the Early Head Start program in Franklin, Southampton County, Isle of Wight County, and Suffolk through a renovation project at the Texie Camp Marks Children’s Center and an addition built on to the Suffolk Children’s Center. Some of the new children will receive home-based services.

The Center currently receives funding to serve 140 children and eight pregnant women.

Beginning in April, the Center will add 12 home-based children. By June, 32 additional children will receive early care and education services at the Texie Camp Marks several days each week and a monthly home visit to extend those activities into the home. An additional eight children will receive early care and education services daily at the Center.

In November, 48 children will receive the combination center based and home based services, and an additional eight children will attend the Suffolk Children’s Center, daily.

Renovations will take place at the Texie Camp Marks building to convert classrooms for joint Early Head Start and community childcare use.

In Suffolk, the Center will build an addition on to the current Suffolk Children’s Center at 300 Executive Court.

The expansion will include the hiring of approximately 38 new employees.

“We are thrilled to be able to provide services to these additional children and women,” said Barbara Mease,” Executive Director of the Children’s Center. “After careful research of Western Tidewater, we decided to apply for this expansion after we determined that there was is a need for Early Head Start services in the region. We are fortunate that our community partners – Smart Beginnings Western Tidewater, Camp Foundations, Hampton Roads Foundation, Beazley Foundation, and Bank of America Foundation have supported our efforts to raise the matching funds required for this project.” EHS requires that the community provide $1 for every $4 of federal funds.

The expansion marks the second increase in Early Head Start funding for the Children’s Center. The Center also received EHS expansion money in 2000.

Local partnership to administer ABC Project grant

The Children’s Center has received a $337,903 grant from the Virginia Department of Social Services Office of Early Childhood Development to pilot the Advancing Behavioral Competencies (ABC) Project for possible replication in other communities.

 The 15-month project will address challenging behaviors and support social and emotional development for infants and toddlers in the Western Tidewater area, including children in Franklin, Suffolk, Southampton County, and Isle of Wight County. Specifically, the project will focus on the support and training of early care and education providers of infants and toddlers. The project will include training, services, and a support program to provide services to families of infants and toddlers and their caregivers.

The project involves a partnership with Smart Beginnings Western Tidewater, the Planning Council, Paul D. Camp Community College, and the Training and Technical Assistance Center (T/TAC) at Old Dominion University.

“We are excited to be able to develop additional support services for the social and emotional support of infants and toddlers. This project will allow us to provide that support by providing information and coaching to care providers and to parents,”

said Barbara Mease, executive director at the Children’s Center. “Too often, infants and toddlers and their families do not have access to specialized services to develop the supports they need. The ABC Project will increase the support and awareness of parents, providers, and the community regarding the social-emotional health of infants and toddlers.”

The ABC Project will create four new jobs for the region.