School Ready Scholarships 2007-2008

Early Educator Training Stipends

FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAMS
 

 Empowerment Family Support Program
The Family Support Program is a service offered through Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County (Broadway and Pheasant Ridge), Iowa City Community Schools (Coralville, Hills, and North Liberty Family Resource Centers), and United Action for Youth. Families learn about child growth and development, and receive assistance locating quality child care, accessing health care, and providing a child-safe environment. Parents build parenting skills and use those skills in discipline and child guidance, assessing their child’s school readiness, and strengthening the parent-child relationship. Home visits focus on observing child development and applying parenting knowledge on a daily basis. Call Laurie Nash at 339-6179.

Parent Support & Education
Five-week Parent Skills Workshops are available to Johnson County residents, with special emphasis on parent participation from the rural communities. Classes take place at the Iowa Children’s Museum in Coralville, Lone Tree Preschool, and Lakeview Preschool in Solon. Staff from UAY, along with guest speakers, provide information and instruction. Workshops are designed for parents of children birth to 5 years old. Contact Kerri Barnstuble at UAY at 338-7518.

The Arc of Johnson County & The Children’s Center for Therapy host a Hispanic parent education and support group for families who have a child with a disability ages birth to five. The group meets twice monthly, on Fridays, over the noon hour. Transportation and childcare are available. A light lunch is also provided. Contact Jennifer Adrian at The Arc 351-5017 or, for a Spanish speaker, Dayrin Lovan at 665-4360..

HACAP offers monthly parenting education programs at their Bloomington, Coral Ridge, First Christian Church, and Waterfront sites. Additional monthly family support and networking events are available at the Waterfront site. A family meal, parent activity, childcare, and incentives are available for each program. Contact Sandy MacKain (Bloomington) at 339-0632, Dawn McCoy (Coral Ridge) at 351-1214, Pat Arnold (First Christian) at 358-9565, or Nancy Chown (Waterfront) at 337-5765.

Hills Family Resource Center offers the IPTV Family Books program. Monthly workshops focus on a specific children’s book, IPTV programming, and how parents can support their child’s early reading.  A light snack and bilingual books are available. Contact Hills Family Resource Center at 688-1109.

Mid Eastern Council on Chemical Abuse (MECCA) provides parenting and substance abuse prevention activities. Activities include parenting workshops for families with children birth to 5 and prevention workshops for preschoolers.  MECCA also provides monthly Child Wellness workshops to parents with children age 0-5. Workshops include a family meal, parent education, and appropriate chid care. Contact MECCA at 351-4357.

Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County (NCJC) provides community based family literacy opportunities. Parents can participate in ESL and GED classes at NCJC while their children participate in an NAEYC accredited early education program. Contact Diane at 354-2886.

Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County - Latino provides twice monthly parent group workshops for Latino families provides parent information and support. Additional twice monthly Parent And Child Time (PACT) focuses on early reading and school success.. Contact Diane at 354-2886.

North Liberty Family Resource Center offers a monthly family playgroup during the school year for families who are pregnant or have children ages birth to pre-kindergarten. Playgroups are held at Penn Elementary in North Liberty. Activities include a light meal and theme related materials and incentives. Questions may be directed to the North Liberty FRC at 688-1154.

Regency Community Center is home to Family Playgroups for families with children ages 2-5 hosted by the Hills FRC. A three-hour playgroup is offered weekly and includes activities for children and parents, reading time, and resource materials. Contact Hills FRC at 688-1109.

UAY provides parent skills development and parenting support groups for teen parents. Transportation, childcare, and incentives availble. Contact UAY at 338-7518.

HEALTH SUPPORTS

  UAY Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
A Pediatric Nurse Practitioner from Mercy Home Health provides in-home pre- and post-natal health education, nutrition counseling, and well child assessments to young families participating in the Teen Parent Program at United Action for Youth. The PNP provides supplemental health services in conjunction with a primary health care provider

Children’s Health Insurance Outreach
hawk-i is a low- or no-cost health insurance program for the children of middle income families in Iowa. It includes:

• doctor visits
• prescription medicines
• dental care
• immunizations
• mental health services
• hospital services
• hearing, speech, vision care
• other health services

Monthly premiums are $0-$20. The Johnson County Outreach Specialist will assist families in completing the application form, documenting income, and tracking the application once it has been sent for approval. Contact Children’s Health Outreach Coordinator at the VNA at 337-9686.
 

EARLY EDUCATION SUPPORT
 

 School Ready Scholarships
The School Ready Scholarship program offers assistance to parents in paying for a quality pre-kindergarten educational experience for their child. Scholarships are available for children ages 3, 4, and 5 who will be starting kindergarten during Fall 2007 or Fall 2008 and who meet eligiblity guidelines. For more information, contact An Fevold at 339-6169 ext. 363.

Lone Tree Preschool Scholarships
Scholarships for children ages 3-5 years to attend Lone Tree Preschool. Call Lone Tree Preschool at 629-4614.

Busy Bees Daycare/Preschool Scholarships
Scholarships for children ages 0-5 years to attend Busy Bees Daycare or Preschool in Tiffin. Call Aimee Weldon-Pitlick at 545-7654.

 Continue Care

Continue Care provides financial assistance to families for the purpose of maintaining stability for a child in their current child care arrangement even though a family situation has changed. Support is intended to be time-limited and not a provision for ongoing child care. Funding is limited with a one year cap of $1000 per child , and the child must have attended child care within the last 7 days. One child receiving funding must be age birth to 5 years. Service providers must be licensed or registered with DHS or meet non-registered provider requirements. Call An Fevold at 356-6050. Click here for printable application.

Mann Preschool Scholarships
Scholarships for children who whose primary language is Spanish to attend the ICCSD Mann Elementary School preschool. Contact Phyllis Tucker at 688-1014.

 Home Ties Child Care
Home Ties is a program of 4Cs supported by funding through Johnson County and Empowerment. Home Ties provides quality, short-term, no cost child care to families who are homeless or near homeless and who are pursuing goals of self-sufficiency. Home Ties is licensed, serving 22 children from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

PREP
Preschoolers Reaching Educational Potential (PREP) is a NCJC summer program to provide children who are at risk of poor kindergarten performance with intensive classroom experience to improve kindergarten success. Offered at Grant Wood Preschool. Contact Sue Freeman at 354-7989.

 Childcare Alliance Response Team (CART)
Grant Wood Area Education Agency will assist early education programs in managing difficult behaviors of 3-5 year old children so that children can remain in their early education program. Support in in the form of child-specific assessment and intervention as well as professional development and on-site consultation for programs. Contact Terri McGraw at 351-2510.

 Wraparound Child Care
Funding for Neighborhood Centers child care programs to turn part-time child care slots in to full-year, full-day slots. Funding for HACAP and Neighborhood Centers to turn part-day Head Start into full day Head Start classrooms. Provides before-and-after preschool at the Twain Elementary preschool. Provides support for Shared Visions Preschools at Hills Elementary and Twain Elementary.

4Cs Child Care Provider Supports
4Cs Child Care Resource & Referral offers a variety of supports to both home and center based child care providers. Services include individualized consultation to child development home providers regarding early childhood best practices, program design, and business practices as well as assistance in becoming registered with DHS. Also provide individualized consultation to programs participating in the Quality Rating Scale (QRS) and providers pursuing Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. A variety of educational opportunities are provided including individual workshops, class series, and Fall and Spring Workshops. For more information, contact 4Cs at 338-7684.

Quality Preschool Program Standards
Iowa’s Quality Preschool Program Standards (QPPS) are standardized measures to identify quality within center-based early education programs for children ages 3-5. Grant Wood Area Education Agency will assist Johnson County child care centers in completing the QPPS self-assessment and provide them with feedback and consultation to improve program quality. Incentives are available for participating programs. For more information, contact Sue Lovik at 800-332-8488.

Every Child Reads
Every Child Reads is a series of quality professional development experiences for preschool and child care providers working with 3-5 year old children.  Participants learn language, pre-reading, and pre-writing strategies to use routinely with 3-5 year old children. Contact Susan Gray at 338-7684.

  Early Educator Training Stipends
Funding is available for child care providers to participate in continuing education. Reimbursement may be requested for the costs of registration, travel, lodging, meals, and substitute provider costs. Training must be formal off-site training such as college courses, class series, and state and national conferences related to early childhood education. Applications must be received at least one month before the training will take place and stipends will be awarded on a first received, first awarded basis until funds have been exhausted. Call Laurie Nash at 339-6179 or see the link above for more information.