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1801 Smith Street (800) 654-9421 Fax: (574) 722-3447 |
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Small Business Incubator Program
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Head Start The Area Five Agency Head Start Program serves over 200 children and families in Cass, Fulton, and Wabash counties. Along with nutritionally balanced breakfasts, lunches, and snacks, children from low-income families receive developmentally appropriate and individualized instruction. There is an emphasis on literacy and numeracy, allowing the children to learn in context, while surrounded by acceptance, love, understanding and a feeling of security and structure. Area Five Agency Head Start still meets and exceeds the mandate set by the Federal government to have 50% of our teachers qualified with at least a 2-year degree in Early Childhood or Child Development. Currently several of our teachers are working towards furthering their education, whether that means earning an Associate degree or going for a Bachelor's. Furthering their education brings quality to the Head Start program, and we are proud of the tenacity and the efforts put forth by our teaching staff. Head Start is ALWAYS looking for volunteers to spend some time in our classrooms. We would love to have you and you would love to be there! Come read to the children and spend some time here. Child Care Voucher Program The Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) Intake Program offers childcare assistance to parents who are working and/or going to school and/or in a TANF approved activity and are income-eligible. Area Five Agency serves as the voucher agent for Benton, Boone, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Fountain, Howard, Miami, Montgomery, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Warren, and White counties. Childcare providers who want to service the assisted families on the program are required to meet minimum standards before they are approved for reimbursement. Child Care Subsidy Pre-Application Healthy Families Healthy Families Indiana and the Family and Social Services Administration of Indiana have a goal of reaching 100% of the birthing population with parenting and resource information by July of 2003. Our program has been working toward this goal for the past two years through our assessment services and we saw a dramatic increase in the number of families we reached through this service. Speaking with families at hospitals, WIC clinics, prenatal clinics, and doctor offices, over 1,950 families received some kind of support ranging from basic parenting information to a complete assessment leading to home visitation. Home visits are made to families participating in the program. Visits include a curriculum activity designed to stimulate and develop the parent/child relationship. Parents also received the most up-to-date parenting information and referrals to community resources. Immunizing children, conducting developmental screenings, and assisting families in accessing appropriate medical care through a medical home are three of the main goals for Healthy Families Indiana and our own program. We completed our third year of Making Parenting a Pleasure in Wabash, a curriculum developed through the University of Oregon and used throughout the nation. We were fortunate to be able to secure funding from Community Based Family Resource Services to supplement this service. Meld Meld for Growing Families is a support and information group created for parents of children under five years old to give them an opportunity to meet with other parents who have children of similar ages to support and learn from each other. It's called Meld because the parents make new friends and meld into a group. Meld meets weekly for two hours. During this time refreshments are served and then children go to childcare and the moms go to group. If transportation is a problem, vouchers will be given to come to group. There are six subjects we discuss in group. They are health, nutrition, child development, child guidance, parent development, and use of community resources. Growing Families is offered in Cass and Miami counties, and, Nueva Familia is offered for Hispanic families in Cass County. WIC - Women, Infants, and Children - Service detail at Aging & Community Services. Contact For more information on the Head Start program, please contact Cindy Hatten, Child Services Director, at ChildServices@areafive.com. |
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Copyright Area Five Agency on Aging and Community Services. |
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