2018-19 Annual report
A PROGRAM OF
BLAIR COUNTY HEAD START
CABC BOARD OF DIRECTORS DAN HOOVER CHAIRPERSON STEVE WICKS VICE CHAIRPERSON KRISTEN PEARSON SECRETARY JOHN KEPLER CONNIE SHAFER ANNE CRAMER CANDACE MCQUILLEN DANIEL NOVAK STACEY CORLE
Under the auspices of the Healthy Blair County Coalition, a Dental Care Workgroup (DCW) was established for the purpose of addressing selected strategies identified through the Community Health Needs Assessment. One of the goals for the DCW was to provide dental screenings specifically to Blair County Head Start (BCHS) children and to link the children to a Dental Home, ensuring ongoing dental care. The DCW provided a venue for collaboration between UPMC Partnering for Dental Services Director, Dr. Dan Novak and BCHS staff. This collaboration resulted in a partnership in which Dr. Novak provides mobile dental screenings at individual Head Start centers throughout Blair County and continues dental services through appointments at the UPMC Dental Clinic. During the 2018-19 program year, our first year in the partnership, the Tyrone center documented an increase of 17% for children completing the Head Start dental requirements. The partnership has been recognized as an innovative practice at the state level. Dentists from other counties in Pennsylvania will be visiting Blair County to learn how to establish a partnership to replicate this practice with Head Start programs in their county.
Efforts recognized on local and state level
Head start Family Demographics
Spring 20##
A focus on dental health
During the 2018-2019 program year, Blair County Head Start provided services to 538 families. 54% two parent families 30% both parents/guardians employed 62% one parent/guardian employed Less than 1% of two parent families had at least one parent/guardian in job training or school 46% single parent families 55% of single parent families were employed A high school diploma or GED was the highest level of education attained by the child's parent/guardian for 69% of families while 17% received some college, vocational school or an Associate's degree. Twelve (12) families have at least one parent who is a veteran One (1) family has a parent who is active duty military
TERRY WASOVICH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DARYL SARVER CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER BRENDA GARLICK CHILD DEVELOPMENT & EDUCATION MANAGER CAROL LEONARD FAMILY & COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER AMANDA LYKENS HEALTH & DISABILITIES MANAGER KEN POORMAN FACILITIES & TRANSPORTATION MANAGER
@CABCInc @blair_county_head_start
Positive outcomes for children
Meeting health requirements
@CABCInc
814-946-5247
Between the fall of 2018 and spring of 2019, Blair County Head Start documented improvement in all areas of the Teaching Strategies GOLD online child outcomes assessment. The highest percentage of improvement was in the area of physical development with 49% of children entering the program below age-level expectations and upon exit, 92% were meeting or exceeding expectations. Language was the second highest area of growth with half of children falling below expectations in the fall of 2018 and by the end of the program year, 87% of children were meeting or exceeding.
Federal regulations require that Head Start programs work with families of enrolled children in obtaining physical and dental exams and up-to-date immunizations. Blair County Head Start works closely with families in establishing a medical home and medical appointments. Of the enrolled children in the 2018-19 program year, 98% had up-to-date immunizations; 83% had a current physical exam; and 68% an up-to-date dental exam.
BCHS MANAGEMENT TEAM
facebook.com/blaircountyheadstart facebook.com/CABCINC
www.cabc-bchs.org
Staffing for success
Each year, BCHS reviews Child Outcomes to determine the level of overall growth for children in a variety of domains. The program's Education and School Readiness Advisory Committee meets bi-annually to review child outcomes and the status of school readiness goals. This committee consists of Child Development & Education program staff as well as community stakeholders and Head Start parents. Upon review of these outcomes in the fall of 2018, the advisory committee collectively decided to change the program's School Readiness Goal Plan to focus on mathematics. Program data showed a high number of children falling below age expectations in math. While the Spring 2019 checkpoint showed some growth, a significant amount of children were still falling below expectations. This focus on math will be continued through the 2019-2020 program year when the new math curriculum will be implemented program-wide.
school readiness goal plan
program to implement new math curriculum
In effort to increase child outcomes in the area of mathematics, BCHS will be adopting a new, comprehensive pre-kindergarten math curriculum in the 2019-2020 program year. Everyday Mathematics, developed by the University of Chicago, is a research-based and field-tested curriculum that focuses on developing children's understanding and skills in ways that produce life-long mathematical power. The curriculum allows children to gain an understanding of mathematical concepts and a solid mathematical foundation. In addition, it supports teachers as well as children with the materials necessary to enable those children to meet higher expectations. Everyday Mathematics emphasizes conceptual understanding while building a mastery of basic skills, while also exploring a broad mathematical spectrum.
CABC has fully embraced the concept of data-driven decision making combined with the strategy of responding to employee input in the crafting of program decisions. A recent staff survey, supported by program data, highlighted the need for specialists to provide enhanced support to classrooms and families. The areas of curriculum fidelity, behavioral interventions and extreme family challenges were identified as priorities. Hiring of personnel with expert skills in those topics formed the underpinning for the goal of CABC being recognized as the premiere provider of high quality programming for preschool children and their families.
The Head Start Supplemental Assistance Pprogram (HSSAP) provides 1.2 million dollars in funds to Blair County Head Start that supports services for 110 children.
Over the last several years, the Blair County Head Start program has seen a dramatic increase in the number of families impacted by a variety of social issues including drug addiction, mental health issues, and homelessness. These increasingly severe impacts prompted the program to create an Intensive Case Manager (ICM) position to work one-on-one with enrolled families most in need of case management support. The ICM position was implemented in the 2018-19 program year and fully supported through funds from Pennsylvania's Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program (HSSAP). The position works one-on-one with families in identifying, developing and obtaining the resources needed to reach specific family and/or school readiness goals. The ICM conducts weekly home visits and coordinates services to assist families in self-sufficiency. Goals set with families are developed in small, achievable steps to allow families to be successful and to understand all steps needed to meet a specific goal. This approach helps to ensure that the family is better able to identify and establish goals on their own after services with the ICM have ended. Goals set with families working directly with the ICM have included topics such as: stable housing financial self-sufficiency goals (payment plans for utilities, applying for LiHeap, job applications, car repairs, child care plans). obtaining mental health services applying for insurance improving child school attendance By the end of the 2018-19 program year, the ICM had worked with a total of 27 families, sixteen of which "graduated" from services through full completion of all mutually set goals. Of the remaining families, a total of 81 goals were set with a 77% completion rate. The program will continue to identify and pair families in need of more individualized case management services with the ICM throughout the 2019-2020 program year.
New position provides additional support through state funds
Head start monitoring
Blair County Head Start received a Notice of Award as a result of a successful five year competitive grant proposal submitted in October 2018, naming CABC as the grantee for the Blair County Head Start program. Funding for the current grant period extends through December 31, 2023. In October 2018, BCHS received its Focus Area 1 (FA1) federal monitoring review. Notification was received on December 6, 2018 of the program’s successful compliance with all FA1 requirements.
The Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center (ECLKC) under The Administration for Children and Families describes family engagement as a collaborative and strengths-based process through which early childhood professionals, families, and children build positive and goal-oriented relationships. ECLKC states that family engagement is a shared responsibility of families and staff at all levels that requires mutual respect for the roles and strengths each has to offer. Family engagement focuses on culturally and linguistically responsive relationship-building with key family members in a child’s life. These people include mothers, fathers, grandparents, and other adult caregivers. Family engagement honors and supports the parent-child relationships that are central to a child’s healthy development, school readiness, and well-being. At Blair County Head Start, family engagement is incorporated into all aspects of the Head Start experience through home visits, parent-teacher conferences, advisory committees, family engagement events, training opportunities and Policy Council. Family activities are offered throughout the program year to encourage and strengthen the relationship between school and home. In the 2018-19 program year, two highly attended family involvement events included Meet the Teacher Night and Grandparents Day. Over 78% of families attended the Meet the Teacher Nights held at individual centers county-wide at the beginning of the program year. These events give children and their families the opportunity to see the classroom and meet staff. Case Managers talk with families about volunteer opportunities and share other pertinent program information while children participate in a group activity. Dinner is provided to families at this event. Grandparents Day is held in individual classrooms and continues to be one of the most highly attended classroom events. Grandparents enjoy time in the classroom to see what their grandchild is learning and an activity is provided for both grandparent and grandchild to work on together.
Family involvement key component
Blair County has an estimated (2018) population of 122,492, of which 5.3% are children under the age of 5. 14.5% of the total population lives in poverty Median household income is $45,664 3.6% of adults are unemployed in Blair County (April 2019, seasonally adjusted) The majority of unemployed individuals has been among those with less than a high school education and 5.3% of unemployed individuals have a high school diploma/GED Nearly 23.6% of children from birth to age 5 are living at or below 100% of the federal poverty level and nearly 64% are living at the 300% poverty level. In regards to unmet need in Blair County, 47% of children under the 300% federal poverty level are not served in a high-quality, publicly funded preschool. OCDEL's Reach & Risk Report rates Blair County with a "moderate-high" risk for academic failure classification with 26.8% of children under the age of 6 living in economically high risk families, nearly 5% higher than the state's total. Child abuse reports involving children ages 3 & 4 make up 16.5% of all substantiated reports in Blair County (2018 State of Child Welfare Report). 51.2% of the county's children are eligible for Free & Reduced Lunch. County PSSA results indicted that an average of 10% of children were below proficient in 3rd grade reading in 2016-17. Kindergarten enrollments for all school districts in Blair County decreased in the last reporting year (2017-18) with the exception of the Williamsburg Community School District whose enrollment stayed the same.
BCHS FUNDING & Expenditures
At the close of the 2018-19 program year, Child Advocates of Blair County, Inc. (CABC), the grantee for the Head Start program in Blair County, was funded to serve a total of 514 children county wide with federal and state funds. In FY2018, CABC received $3,772,353.00 in federal funding from the Administration for Children & Families to serve 404 children. CABC received $1,195,291.00 in Pennsylvania State Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program (HSSAP) funds to serve 110 children in the 2018-19 program year. Combined, the organization received a total of $4,967,644.00 to operate the Blair County Head Start program. In both the Federal and State budgets, personnel wages and benefits assume the majority of expenses; 83% of the total FY2018 audited federal budget and 85% of the 2018-19 HSSAP final approved budget. The most recent financial audit for January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018 was performed by Young, Oakes, Brown & Company, certified public accountants. In the independent auditor’s report, the auditors expressed a “clean opinion” showing no findings of non-conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Community assessment data
Parenting Connection offers a Parent Support Group twice a month in Altoona and is open to any parents looking to make new friends and connections or spending some time outside of the home. A Teen Pregnancy Prevention Team (TPPT) is a group of community members who meet regularly and are dedicated to raising awareness and providing education regarding teen pregnancy and pregnancy prevention. TPPT exists to provide teens and families with quality leadership, education and advocacy to prevent teen pregnancy in Blair County. The team organizes the annual one-day Teen Power Day workshop for students in 7th through 9th grades. TPPT also offers the CHOICES summer empowerment program for female residents ages 12 to 16 at Evergreen Manors and Character Education through the All Stars program for male residents of Evergreen Manors ages 8 through 12. Case Management services for teen clients are also offered on a one-on-one basis to assist with adjustment to pregnancy or parenting. For more information about programming under Teen Link Connection, call 814-941-TEEN (8336)
All Stars is an 8 week after school program for 7th to 9th graders designed to encourage positive decisions and behaviors which will promote a healthy lifestyle. The mission of the program is to encourage young people to develop positive visions for their own futures and commit to a lifestyle to make those visions a reality.
program information
The Networking Program, based on Stevphen J. Bavolek's Nurturing Parenting Program, offers support and education through one-on-one interaction between a facilitator and parents and/or children within the comfort of their own home. The program is offered to parents who feel they could benefit from parenting support and education services.
The Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts pre-kindergarten program, established by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, makes quality pre-kindergarten opportunities available to children and families across the commonwealth. PA Pre-K Counts is based on the quality components adopted for pre-kindergarten by the State Board of Education. The program provides families in participating communities with a choice of quality pre-kindergarten options and increases access to children and families with a priority in at-risk communities. CABC is one of several grantees for PA Pre-K Counts in Blair County and currently supports 51 children in three classrooms located in Altoona, Claysburg and Williamsburg. To qualify for the PA Pre-K Counts program, children must be 3 years of age by the school district’s cut-off date for kindergarten in their home school district and meet specific household income guidelines (at the 300% federal poverty level). For more information about CABC Pre-K Counts, call 814-946-5247 ext.101.
Parent connection
all stars
Pennsylvania pre-k counts
Networking program
@CABCInc @blair_county_head_start @cabc_prek_counts
Teen link connection
Child advocates of blair county
