The Salvation Army Early Head Start Annual Report

The results of the most recent review by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the independent financial audit: The program was reviewed on over 1,700 performance standards November 14, 2010 through November 19, 2010. The program was determined to be in compliance with all applicable Head Start program performance standards, laws, regulations and policy requirements. No corrective action was required on our part based on this triennial and ARRA review. The program will undergo a Federal Performance Review during the 2013-2014 program year.

Results of the independent A-133 audit for the period ending September 30, 2012 showed no Federal award findings or questioned costs for the Early Head Start program.

Community Partnerships:

2012-2013 PROGR AM YE AR

The Salvation Army Early Head Start Annual Report to the Public

Child Saving Institute St. Cecilia Child Care Center Omaha Public Schools-Early Development Network and Head Start Program Visiting Nurses Association One World Community Health Center The Salvation Army Programs CSI - Kids Squad PTI Nebraska Douglas County Health Department WIC 2012-2013 ANNUAL REPORT The Salvation Army Early Head Start 3612 Cuming Street Omaha, NE 68131 Phone: 402-898-7504 Fax: 402-898-7533

Mission Statement: Empowering parents by encouraging self-sufficiency, promoting healthy child development, and supporting the family unit.

Budget Period: 9/1/12-8/31/13

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The Salvation Army

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Early Head Start

What We Do The Salvation Army Early Head Start Program, located within the Salvation Army Lied Renaissance Center at 3612 Cuming Street, is a federally funded home-based and center-based program that works to:  enhance children's physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development;  assist pregnant women to access comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care;  support parents' efforts to fulfill their parental roles; and  help parents move toward self-sufficiency.

The Early Head Start program is unique in itself, as it is one of the only programs in the metropolitan area to provide weekly, inhome visits based around early childhood education. Homebased services are open to 87 children and pregnant women, and center-based services work with 24 children in two locations for a total funded enrollment of 111 children and pregnant women.

The program partners with two child care sites to provide center-based services for families who are working or going to school full time.  St. Cecilia Child Care Center, located at 3869 Webster St., provides care for 8 children;  Child Saving Institute located on the corner of 46th and Dodge St., serves 16 children.

School Readiness Continued Three times a year, data gathered for each goal is aggregate and analyzed. Information gathered is used to assist the program in identifying patterns of progress with both groups and individual caseloads of children.

Socialization planning focuses on the results of the School Readiness goals. Using the indicators (not started, started and mastered) of the school readiness measurements (PAT milestones), the program establishes goals for the different age groups for socializations based on milestones not started or started. By doing so, families and children will be provided experiences and opportunities to be better prepared and accomplish the milestones necessary to enter school.

In addition to using the results for socializations, the program uses the aggregated results to improve services to families and children. For example, In one aggregation, the program looked at the difference between home-based children who routinely receive 90 minute weekly home visits versus center –based children who receive a 60 minute home visit every other week in addition to a minimum of six hours of center based care, five days per week. Another aggregation looked at the difference between dual language learners and monolingual learners. In both cases, the program examined the results and discussed how services to families and individual children could be improved.

Future analysis may assist parents in establishing individualized child development goals, assist in the development of weekly plans and provide program improvements and enhancements in training plans and ideas for home visiting activities.

At the end of a child’s time in Early Head Start, it is our belief that all children are “school ready” and prepared for the next step of attending either Head Start or another preschool program in preparation for kindergarten.

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The Salvation Army

2012-2013 Annual Report

Community Impact - A Year in Review

School Readiness “The Head Start Approach to School Readiness means that children are ready for school, families are ready to support their children’s learning, and schools are ready for children.”

–Head Start Approach to School Readiness The Salvation Army Early Head Start program enthusiastically took on the task of meeting 45 CFR 1307.3(b) this year by establishing program goals for improving the school readiness of children in the five domains outlined in the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework.

These domains include; physical development and health, social and emotional development, language and literacy, cognition and general knowledge, and approaches to learning.

The total number of children and families served: During the 2012-2013 program year, 174 children and 9 pregnant women received services for a total cumulative enrollment of 183 children and pregnant women served for the year.

Sixty-one, two-parent families and 73, single-parent families (totaling 134 families) benefitted from the program during the year.

Family Consultants worked with the parents to complete a school readiness assessment based on the child’s age. Because of the wide range of abilities between birth and age three, developmental milestones were broken down to five age groups. The age ranges selected are as follows:     

Percentage of eligible children served: According to the program’s 2012-2013 community assessment, 3,618 children are eligible for Early Head Start services in Omaha. The program served 174 children during the 2012-2013 program year indicating that only 4.8% of eligible Early Head Start children in Douglas County received Early Head Start services through our program.

birth to 4 months 5 to 8 months 9 to 14 months 15 to 23 months 24 to 36 months

For each goal, the program selected two Parents As Teachers Milestones for each age group above that most reflected accomplishment of the goal, and were easily measureable and observable not only to parents but to the Family Consultant. Each milestone had 3 possible responses (indicators):  Not started - the activity had not been introduced to the child,  Started – the activity had been introduced to the child, but they are still working on it.  Mastered - the parent had observed the activity at least 3 times or the child completed the activity on demand.

9 pregnant women

174 children

The average monthly enrollment (percentage of funded enrollment)

The program was fully enrolled at 111 each month. Typically the waiting list averaged 47 children and pregnant women at any given time.

Trends in Service: The program served an increased number of refugee and immigrant families during the 2012-2013 program year, Over one-third of the families in the program are Hispanic and the number of Burmese families served has risen from 4% to 6% in the past year.

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2012-2013 Annual Report

2012-2013 Annual Report

Medical Support for Families      

98% of the children  were up-to-date on preventative health care.

98% of children were up-to-date on a schedule of preventive and primary health care 28 of 28 children needing specific medical treatment during the year received that treatment 97% of children had health insurance at end of enrollment year 100% of children had a medical home at the end of enrollment year 93% of children were up-to-date on immunizations or had all possible immunizations to date 97% of children had a dental home at the end of enrollment 94% of children received a dental exam

By Race: 1% American Indian 5% Asian 25% African American 18% Caucasian 12% Biracial 36% Hispanic 3% African

Amount of public and private funds received and the amount from each source: Early Head Start Grant: Budget Period 9/1/12-8/31/13 Federal Funds (80%): $1,442,193 Non Federal Funds (20%): $360,548 An explanation of budgetary expenditures and proposed budget for the fiscal year:   

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Who We Served in 2012-2013:

By Eligibility: 67% Within 0-100% of the Poverty Guideline 27% Receiving TANF or SSI 2% In foster care 1% Homeless 3% Over the Poverty Guideline

Financial Report

By Age: 31% Under 1 year 26% 1 year old 26% 2 years old 13% 3 years old 5% Pregnant woman

By Education of Parent: 1% Advanced degree 16% Associates degree or some college 59% High school grad or GED 24% Less than high school grad

By Primary Language: 62% English 9% Other 29% Spanish

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Personnel: 43%- Includes staff salaries.

Fringe Benefits: 15%- Health Insurance, Pension, FICA, workman’s compensation.

Out of Town Travel: 2% -Lodging, airfare, ground transportation and meals for out-of-town conferences.

Equipment: NA Supplies: 3%- Office supplies, children and family services supplies, food supplies.

Contracts: 19%, center-based contracts, WIC nutrition assessment and mental health consultant contracts.

Other: 10%, mileage reimbursement for home visitors and transportation expenses, utilities and phone, occupancy expenses, dues and memberships, other training expenses including registration fees, employee education reimbursement, printing and publication expenses and subscriptions.

Indirect Costs: 8%, Costs which may be charged by The Salvation Army for administrative support , such as legal and computer support, the annual audit, Human Resources, Accounting and other administrative supervision. A set rate is negotiated between The Salvation Army and the Department of Health and Human Services each year for these costs.

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Parent Involvement Activities

Family Feedback

Family Gatherings, offered twice per month to each family, were held throughout the year. In an effort to accommodate more families, gatherings were held in the mornings from 10:30-noon and from 5:00-6:30pm.

Families shared a meal or snack together then split into age specific groups (infants, toddlers, and 2’s and 3’s) to participate in developmentally appropriate activities for fun and learning.

Typically, a group is offered for Spanish-speaking families and English-speaking families each month and then a playgroup is held in which all families can participate. On a quarterly basis, Parent Meetings are offered which cover the topics of:    

Transitions; Child Abuse & Neglect; Pedestrian and Car Seat Safety Screening, On-Going Assessment/ Disabilities; Curriculum, Individualization and Program Options.

Parents are able to provide input and suggestions on ways to enhance Early Head Start services by completing surveys during each Family Gathering and Parent Meeting, and participating on the Policy Council.

Efforts to prepare children for pre-school: Family Consultants begin to discuss transitioning from the program into Head Start or another pre-school program when the child is 30 months of age.

Families begin to explore options at this time with their Family Consultants who help prepare families by completing preschool applications and/or making visits to pre-schools. During a Parent Meeting, Omaha Public Schools Head Start staff is invited to take applications for the upcoming year so that families may begin preparations for leaving the program. The program also held a Transition Celebration this year to congratulate those families who will be transitioning out of the program by August 31.

We asked on our Spring 2013 survey of our Early Head Start parents what they thought of the program. Here’s what they said: “EHS has helped me so much with strategies and positive ways to be a teacher to my daughter. I am recommending this program to all my friends who are expecting or currently have young children.”

“Love being in the program” “Very accommodating and supportive” “Me siento siempre en contianza y muy contenta con los servicios que mi consultora” [I always feel confident and content with the services of my Consultant”] “Thank you so much because I don’t know how I will do it without this program”

Program success in any language!

“Meda mucho gusto que algan instituciones que ayuden amadres solteres como yo. Adarnos animos para salir adelanten y apoyarnos con nuestros hijos, asi mismo aser mejores padres. Gracias por todo you estory muy agrendecida y contenta con sos servicios.” [I am pleased there are places that help single mom’s like me. They give us courage to move forward and support us with our children so we can be better parents. Thank you for everything. I am very grateful and content with the services.