Children And Families First Delaware Inc

Early childhoodhead start and early head start (hs|ehs) are national model evidence-based dual-generation early childhood preschool education programs serving eligible kent and sussex county children from birth to 5 years old, and their families. Educators and a staff of specialized professionals support healthy child development and learning through a combination of education, health, nutrition, and human services, and caregiver engagement through direct services and partnerships with numerous community organizations. In the 2023-2024 school year, cff hs enrolled 576 children, of which 43% (246) were multi-language children. In addition to the early education programming that all children received, the most frequent services engaged in by families included: connection to basic needs, housing assistance, asset building, engagement in the child's screening/assessment results and progress, transition support to kindergarten, and preventative medical and oral health education. The child and adult care food program (cacfp) assures that children cared for by licensed childcare providers and centers, often located in underserved communities, receive nutritionally balanced meals. Cff staff monitors provide nutrition, food preparation, safety, and other training and education, and visit each facility at least three times per year. In addition, cacfp reimburses childcare providers for meals that follow stringent u.s. Department of agriculture nutrition guidelines. In 2024, 637,444 nutritious meals were served to children by participating providers. Early childhood educator scholarship program provides technical assistance and funding to childcare providers for higher education tuition, training, and credentialing, to increase the quality of delaware's childcare workforce. This program iteration concluded in december 2023.childhood development associate (cda) certification cohort program contracts with the early childhood innovation center (ecic) at delaware state university to administer cohorts for child care professionals to complete their cda certification. The coaches provide extensive support throughout the cda credentialing process. These supports include required monthly cohort meetings, classroom observations and reflective meetings, guidance in completing their required professional development, review of portfolios, along with preparation for the final exam and cda observation. The first cohorts ran from july 2023 june 2024. A second round of cohorts began in july 2024 and will end in june 2025. In 2024, 115 individuals participated in 10 cohorts across kent and sussex counties (4 cohorts beginning in june 2023 and 6 beginning in june 2024). Of those students, 59 completed all 120 hours and 32 passed their cda exam.

Supporting children & teensadolescent resource center education (arc ed) provides comprehensive school-based group human sexuality education in alignment with delaware department of education standards, national sex education standards second edition, and universal learning design standards to meet the needs of diverse learners. In 2024, group scores for knowledge among youth participating in school-based education increased by 29% in the 5th grade puberty and 11% in the high school human sexuality education curricula. Adolescent resource center counseling & medical services (arc med) provides clinic-based individual counseling and medical services for teens in partnership with nemours children's health, to promote healthy choices and decrease risk-taking behaviors. Clinic services include individualized counseling and education; contraception; testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (stis); pregnancy confirmation; and referrals to medical services or ongoing individual/family counseling not available at the clinic. In 2024, 103 teens received sti tests, and 95% of youth diagnosed with an sti in arc clinics were treated promptly. Behavioral health consultants (bhc) are licensed and license-eligible therapists placed in 30 middle schools across delaware. These therapists provide screening for mental health, substance abuse, trauma, and risk of suicidality/homicidality, brief stabilization services, and supportive counseling and case management to students, as well as consultation services for school staff. In 2024, 911 students enrolled in supportive counseling. Of those, 75% successfully discharged from services. In addition, bhcs provided 294 risk assessments during crisis support consultations. 92% of school staff who were surveyed rated the bhc service as valuable. Community schools (cs) provide a wide range of vital in-house services to identified elementary, middle, and high schools. These to such as support for social-emotional learning, attendance, and behavior, parent engagement activities, and cultural enrichment opportunities to ensure that children are physically, emotionally, and socially supported to learn. In 2024, the cs program provided 2,395 individual service encounters among 973 students, including 75 students with in-depth counseling services. In addition, the program provided 341 activities and groups, engaging 23,533 students and 6,729 family and community members (duplicated contacts), and cs staff provided 1,111 hours of school climate support.school based therapy program (sbtp) provides individual and group therapy and social-emotional education statewide to students in elementary, middle, and high school. Master's level mental health clinicians provide evidence-based, developmentally appropriate therapy interventions for elementary (bounce back, bb), and middle and high school students (cognitive behavior intervention for trauma in schools, cbits) exposed to trauma and violence, to reduce symptoms of ptsd, and to enhance skills to handle future stresses. Therapists also provided evidence-based individual trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy (tf-cbt) and overcoming obstacles (oo) and circle groups (cg) group social-emotional learning. In 2024, the program provided cbits/bb to 66 students. Of those 73% successfully completed, 46% improved symptoms, and 47% improved skills. 73 students participated in oo/cg. Of those, 75% completed, 56% increased skills, and 53% increased resiliency. 24 students participated in tf-cbt. Of those 88% successfully completed, 58% improved symptoms, and 67% increased resiliency. Cbits curricula-based resiliency classrooms did not take place in 2024.

Supporting kids in care family foster care (fc) at cff provides stability and supportive environments to delaware infants, children, and teens including those requiring therapeutic and specialized care who cannot remain at home for a variety of reasons, including child abuse and neglect relating to caregiver substance abuse. Foster families receive extensive training and support, and birth families receive family-centered counseling, visitation, and support services toward reuniting the child, as appropriate. In 2024, 42 children were joined to resource families. There were between 45 and 49 children in care each quarter, and 37 children were discharged from care throughout the year. Of those discharged, 38% were reunified with their birth families, 5% were adopted through guardianship, 24% were adopted through cff, 3% were adopted by other means, and 30% went to a non-cff placement.special needs adoption provides a permanent home for delaware's older youth; sibling groups; and children with emotional, developmental, or medical needs whose birth parents have had parental rights terminated. In 2024, 9 children were joined with an adoptive family. Of those, 9 adoptions were finalized, and 100% remained with the joined family.child-specific recruitment (csr) recruits, assesses, trains, and selects potential adoptive families to facilitate successful adoptions of specific children with special needs. In 2024, between 19 and 27 children were served, and 10 were discharged. Of those discharged, 90% had an adoptive resource.family search & engagement (fse) works with delaware youth ages 10 to 17 who are at risk of aging out of foster care, either to connect them to a support system of extended family members or other caring adults, for permanent placement, or support during transition to independence. In 2024, between 17 and 21 youth were served. Of those youth, a total of 68 connections were made with caring adults and family. A total of 12 youth were discharged. Of those youth discharged, 25 connections were made with caring adults and family.seaford house therapeutic residence (shtr) is a 16-bed group residence for youth ages 12 to 17 who are in the custody of the division of family services (dfs) and are unable to be served in traditional home-based foster care due to complex trauma and challenges. The program offers strength-based therapeutic support by trained clinicians, behavioral management, and skills training in a safe, supportive environment. In 2024, 14 teens completed services and were discharged. Of those, 57% of discharges were to independent living, reunification or family foster care. While at shtr, 42% of the teens improved strengths and difficulties, 40% increased resiliency, and 78% participated in community activities.

Supporting families & providing resourcesaccesscare helps families statewide identify childcare centers, family childcare homes, preschools, school-age programs and camps, and provides coaching on how to make informed care decisions. In 2024, the program assisted 2,790 people, including 252 with purchase of care enhanced support services. Just-in-time care (jitc) is a back-up dependent care program offered to corporations across the u.s. As an employee benefit. Options can include childcare centers, family childcare homes, school-age programs, centers for mildly ill children, adult daycare centers, and in-home care. Individuals can also choose their own backup care providers, including friends and family members. An employee subsidy helps offset the backup care costs. In 2024, jitc saved 5,158 workdays for 490 employees. 96% of jitc participants who completed a survey reported they were able to get to work because of the program and 92% said jitc met their needs. Family assessment and intervention response (fair) is part of the delaware division of family services (dfs) differential response system, designed to prevent children and teens statewide from entering foster care through the provision of assessment, safety planning, and dual-generation evidence-based and informed services, including functional family therapy (fft) and child parent psychotherapy (cpp). In 2024, fair assessed 266 families and closed 300 cases (which included cases that opened in 2023). Of those, 81% closed successfully. Fair fft served 59 families and 46 families were closed. 18% were closed during the generalization phase. 64% of youth increased resiliency, and 69% of caregivers increased resiliency. Community mental health (cmh) is a statewide evidence-based dual-generation intervention that helps children and youth through age 18 and their families struggling with behavioral problems and family conflict, to improve communication, relationships, and family functioning. Fft is delivered by therapists trained in the model, and services generally complete within six months. In 2024, 142 families completed cmh. Of those, 43% successfully completed. Of those, 124 families completed fft and 52% were closed in the generalization phase, 59% of youth and 63% of adults increased resiliency, 57% of youth and 63% of adults improved their strengths and difficulties score. Of the tsf families, 14 completed and 7% of those families were successfully closed.parenting enrichment (pe) provides evidence-based dual-generation skills training and education to prevent child abuse and neglect by teaching at-risk families statewide positive and caring nurturing skills. Nurturing parenting program (npp) for parents of infants and preschoolers and strengthening families program (sfp) for older children and teens, are 14-week small group classes delivered by trained educators. Classes include dedicated time for parents to learn skills and practice them with their children. In 2024, 56 and 30 families engaged in npp and sfp, respectively. Of those engaged, 85% and 86% successfully completed; and of those, 82% and 92% demonstrated improvement across at least two parenting domains.seaford community of hope (scoh) is a community action initiative that engages a broad spectrum of public, private, faith-based, and non-profit community partners and families with lived expertise to provide comprehensive placed-based services and supports in subsidized housing neighborhoods, starting with meadowbridge and chandler heights, and to improve family stability, protective factors, and economic mobility and impact the social determinants of health of vulnerable populations. In 2024, scoh provided 319 individual/family service encounters, participated in 139 stakeholder meetings/events, and held 312 neighborhood/community events which served 5,757 community members (duplicated). In addition, 7 advisory council members were engaged to provide program guidance, and 37 families engaged in case management services.