Head Start Readiness Enhancement Project Success Story
Multnomah County contracts with Impact NW to provide culturally and linguistically specific parent-child playgroups and home visiting services to the County’s Slavic population in our PCDS (Parent Child Development Services) program. Typically, our Slavic families have not been interested in accessing Head Start services—last year, only 25% of Head Start eligible families in our Slavic groups applied.
One of our Parent Child Advocates had concerns about one of the 4 year old boys in her group regarding many areas of his development, including his language. Her concerns were confirmed after she completed a developmental screening. The advocate talked to the mother about early intervention and made a referral for an evaluation. The mother decided that she did not want to follow up with services. This family was one of the few Slavic families in group that decided to apply for Head Start for their child. He was enrolled last school year with the help of the Transition Specialist and PCDS advocate and the family also continued to bring him to the PCDS playgroup with his younger siblings.
Within the first month of attending Head Start, his language increased and his other developmental skills quickly caught up to his peers in the playgroup. His mother was so excited about what Head Start had done for her child that she could not stop talking about it in group with the other mothers. She also told them about the meals that Head Start provided and how they picked her son up at their apartment. The other moms, who had been hesitant to access Head Start in the past, couldn’t wait to apply for their children for next year.
The majority of our Slavic clients live in the Mt. Hood Head Start Boundary, so our Transition Specialist contacted Dawn Barberis of Mt. Hood and requested that she connect her Russian speaking family advocate with our Parent Child Advocates and come to playgroups to help answer questions and help families apply.