Empowerment Infant and Toddler Quality Child Care Program
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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 UAY at 338-7518.

The Children’s Center for Therapy hosts 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 351-5437 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.

Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County (NCJC) provides community based family literacy opportunities.  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.

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.
Click here for a list of dentists who accept hawk-i and/or Medicaid.
 

EARLY EDUCATION SUPPORT
 

 School Ready Scholarships
Unfortunately, due to state budget cuts, the School Ready Scholarship program for Fiscal Year 2010 is out of money. 

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 2009 or Fall 2010 and who meet eligiblity guidelines. For more information, contact An Leonard at 688-5740.

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
Unfortunately, due to state budget cuts, the Continue Care program for Fiscal Year 2010 has very limited funds and may not be available. Please call An Leonard at 688-5740 to check for availability.

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. Funds are available for up to 6 months with a cap of $1 ,000 per under-school-age and $500 per school-age child. The child must have attended child care within the last 7 days. One child receiving funding must be uner -school-age. Service providers must be licensed or registered with DHS or meet non-registered provider requirements. Call An Leonard at 688-5740. Click here for printable application.

 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.