Charles Isbell Head Start Child Development Center

The NINOS Early Head Start program started providing center-based services in 1999. The program serves 120 pregnant women infants and toddlers at four center sites: Brownsville (Rancho del Cielo EHS); Harlingen (Texas State Technical College EHS); Los Indios (Los Indios EHS); and San Benito (Kenneth Lake EHS). EHS program utilize multiple strategies to provide a wide range of services to participants. Children and families enrolled receive comprehensive services in a center-based setting supplemented with home visits by the childs teacher and other EHS staff (a minimum of two home visits a year to each family). Services include child care and development services comprehensive health and mental health services parenting education nutrition education and family support.
Program Design

Early Head Start focuses on what is known as the Four Cornerstones of high quality program development: Child Development Family Partnership Development Staff Training & Development and Community Involvement. It is these four building blocks that provide the framework for the services offered to families and children.

1. Child Development: EHS programs must support the physical social emotional cognitive and language development of each child. The services that programs must provide directly or through a referral include early-education services in a range of developmentally appropriate settings home visits parent education and parent- child activities comprehensive health and mental health services and high-quality child care services.

• Developmental experiences geared to the individual infant/toddler
• Educational sessions for pregnant women
• Activities which build self-esteem social skills and physical skills
• Atmosphere which celebrates diversity
• Denver II Developmental screenings
• Early Learning Accomplishment Profile (ELAP) Ongoing Assessment

2. Family Development: Programs must attempt to empower families by developing goals for themselves and their children. Staff and parents must develop individualized family development plans that focus on the child’s developmental needs and the family’s social and economic needs. The services that programs must provide directly or through a referral include child development information; comprehensive health and mental health services (including smoking cessation and substance abuse treatment); adult education literacy and job skills training; assistance in obtaining income support safe housing or emergency cash; and transportation to program services.

• Nutritious family-style meals
• Medical dental vision and hearing screenings
• Identification of medical and dental home
• Mental health and disability services
• Health nutrition and safety education for children and families

3. Community Building: Programs are required to conduct an assessment of community resources so as to enable them to build a comprehensive network of services and supports for pregnant women and families with young children. The goal of this network is to increase family access to community support make the most efficient use of limited resources and improve the service delivery system for all families in the community.

• Parent groups and classes
• Breastfeeding provisions available at each center site
• Family counseling
• Information and referrals to community agencies
• Opportunities for personal growth empowerment and leadership
• Job training and employment programs

4. Staff Development: EHS staff members must have the capacity to develop caring supportive relationships with both children and families. Ongoing training supervision and mentoring encompass an interdisciplinary approach and emphasize relationship building. Staff development is grounded in established best practices in the areas of child development family development and community building. EHS programs must be committed to continuous improvement through ongoing training and technical assistance provided by the EHS National Resource Center (EHS NRC). NINOS Early Head Start program has changed lives and changed families. Mandated to assist the “neediest of the needy” Early Head Start program has been dedicated to create positive learning environments and foster healthy lifestyles for infants and toddlers as well as parents.

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Child Ages:

3 years - 5 years

Licenses & Accreditations:

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services

Preschool:

Yes

Hours of Operation:

07:30 AM-05:30 PM - Monday - Friday