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Collaborations are developed through the greater Jacksonville area. Some existing partners are:
- Mayor John Peyton’s Literacy Initiative
- Jacksonville Children’s Commission
- Florida Institute of Education University of North Florida
- Jacksonville Housing Authority
- Duval County School Board
- Duval County Health Department
- Girls Scouts of America
- Magic Johnson Foundation
- Florida Department of Children and Families
- Aetna
- Early Learning Coalition of Duval County
- Jacksonville Public Library
- Work Source
Provision of ongoing comprehensive services for the neediest eligible children and families in Duval County. We also utilize an accredited curriculum that is enhanced by the utilization of a research-based literacy curriculum; and the involvement of parents in all facets of our program operations. Our “shared” governance results in a high level of involvement with our Board of Directors and the Head Start Policy Council. Our Policy Council is representative of 51% current parents and 49% professional and community representatives.
Operations have the responsibility for the acquisition of all facilities, insuring that our centers meet licensing requirements. View our current locations. Operations also include coordinating transportation services. A large portion of this division’s operation includes daily transportation services for children and parents. This service area can best be described as the “support-arm” of our program operation.
Our objective is to provide all children with safe, nurturing, engaging, enjoyable, and secure learning environment. This results in the development of skills and increased confidence necessary to succeed in their present environment and to deal with later responsibilities in school and in life. We place emphasis on developing school readiness skills.
- Child Health and Developmental Services ensure that through established partnerships between families, and staff and collaboration with area health professionals, all child health and developmental concerns are identified, and children and families are linked to an ongoing source of continuous, accessible care to meet their basic health needs. We utilize the High Reach Framework Curriculum. Children are evaluated to determine “gains” throughout the program year.
- Child Health and Safety supports healthy physical development, by encouraging practices that prevents illness or injury, and by promoting positive, culturally relevant health behaviors that enhance overall well-being.
- Child Nutrition promotes child wellness by providing nutrition services that supplement and complement those of the home and community. Head Start meets two-thirds of a child’s daily nutritional requirement. Program activities are provided to assist children and families with establishing good eating habits and to understand the importance of wellness practices in their home environment.
- Child Mental Health Services builds collaborative relationships among children, families, staff, mental health professionals, and the larger community, in order to enhance an awareness and understanding of positive mental health practices.
The objective of this service area is to support parents as they identify and meet their own goals, nurture the development of their children in the context of their family and culture, and advocate for communities that are supportive of children and families of all cultures. This service area also represents the organized method of assisting families to assess their needs, through collaborative partnerships which provide those services that will build upon the individual strengths of families to meet their own needs through self-help and employment opportunities.
This is accomplished by developing family partnership agreements, providing parent workshops and support services via referrals, and information about available community resources and how to access these services.
Our Responsible Fatherhood/Male Involvement Initiative was established to promote significant participation by our Head Start fathers and/or male designees enrolled in the program. Fathers are introduced to five steps that will assist them in making positive parental decisions, making progress towards developing employability skills, child rearing, family planning and other life affirming skills.
Fathers meet once a month to participate in workshops through a designed curriculum in the following areas that include, but are not limited to, modules in the area(s) of :
- Prevention
- Promotion of paternity at childbirth
- To encourage men to be fathers, whether married or not
- To assist in acclimating the fathers to his rightful place in the home, workplace, caregiver and provider of his family
- To discourage stereotype of the “deadbeat” dad syndrome
- To focus participation beyond the level of support groups and establish them in productive community activities.
We are excited about our newest initiative whether we strive to
strengthen families.
We provide a seven week workshop series to assist our families in making their marriages and families healthier, stronger and more vibrant. The workshops are provided by Head Start staff that have been trained and certified in Covey’s
7-Habits of Highly Successful Families.
A collaboration was established through City and State initiatives to help our families, as well as, the citizens of Jacksonville to make our city a family-friendly place to raise children. The workshops are free and childcare is provided at the various training sites. Both engaged couples and those thinking about becoming engaged are encouraged to participate.
Upon entering our program, children are screened utilizing the Brigance Screener and shortly thereafter the Galileo
Assessment
Tool to determine their development in the following school
readiness domains. Language and Literacy, Early Math, Social and Emotional Development, Approaches to Learning, Nature and Science, Creative Arts, Fine
and Gross Motor Skills, Physical Health. This data is used to assist us in ongoing program planning and curriculum development. Attached you will find our 2006 Report Card
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