Lewis and Clark County’s Local Best
Beginnings Community Council
GOALS
1. Children have access to high quality Early Childhood Programs
2. Families with young children are supported in their community
3. Children have access to a medical home and health insurance
4. Social, emotional, and mental health needs of young children
and families are supported.
“Investing In The Very Young”
Mission
With the focus on the whole child, we
promote community collaboration to
network resources and streamline services
in support of the health, safety, care and
education of children ages 0-8 and their
families in the greater Helena area.
Vision
Safe, stable, nurturing relationships lead to
resilient children, strong families, and stable
communities
ECC Functions
•
•
•
•
•
Network within Coalition membership
Raise community awareness
Streamline services
Identify and improve existing system barriers
Advocate for children 0-8 and their families
Early Childhood Community Needs Assessment
& Strategic Plan
• Funded by the Maternal Infant Home Visiting
Infrastructure Development (MIECHV-ID)
Project
Needs Assessment Results
Working Families, Barely Getting By
•
•
•
•
•
11% of the population in Lewis & Clark County is children ages 0-8
At least 28% of families with children in Lewis & Clark County are likely to face
permanent or periodic financial insecurity
18% of those families are considered above the poverty level, but remain
financially insecure and do not qualify for many of the services designed to assist
families in need…..otherwise known as “GAP” families.
An estimated 53% of single, female-headed households face this insecurity.
In Lewis & Clark County, 69% of families with children 0-5 and 81% with
children 6-17 have all adults in the household participating in the workforce.
For a family of four, the FPL for 2012 for a family of four is $23,050. Annual
income of $42,643 is equal to 185% of FPL
Needs Assessment Results
• In order qualify for free or reduced school lunch, a student’s
family must make less than 185% of the FPL
• In the Helena School District 39.7% of children preschool
through 5th grade qualified for free or reduced lunches in
2011/2012.
• In the East Helena Public Schools, Eastgate (K-1) had 50.7%
and Radley (2-5) had 49% participation in free or reduced
lunch in spring 2012.
Some Needs Assessment Results
FAMILY SUPPORT NEEDS
• Parenting Support
• Increased access to resources
• Link families to “fun” activities
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND MENTAL HEALTH
NEEDS
• Attachment
• Behavior Challenges
HEALTH NEEDS
• Better Nutrition
• Rising obesity level
• Clear, consistent messaging and access to tools to promote positive
health practices in the community
Taking ACTION to address
needs thanks to the “Family
Forum” Project
Funding provided by partnership grants from: Child & Family Services
Division, Early Childhood Services Bureau, Family & Community Health
Bureau, and the Prevention Resource Center
Family….Food…Friends….Fun Event
GOALS:
• Parenting Support
• Fun Activity
• Improve social/emotional development &
attachment/bonding
• Improve nutrition
• Provide tools
• Link families with up-to-date information about
nutrition
• Teach affordability & health benefits of cooking at
home
Free Event for Families
May 18th or June 8th 8am-noon
LIMITED SPACE!
Contact: Brie Oliver 457-8975
boliver@lccountymt.gov
FuN
FAMILY…FRIENDS…FOOD…
Adults
Kids
Will go to Dinners Done Right and
learn about health benefits of cooking
with your family and get tools to make
fast/easy meals at home with your
kids.
Will go the YMCA for a fun,
supervised morning of gym
games, and maybe even meet
a new friend!
Trolley Rides – MEET AT STEWART HOMES
FRONT OFFICE
FREE CHILD CARE
JOIN THE FUN!!!!!
FREE
Gifts:
Adults get:
Kids get:
A Slow Cooker
Last Chance Splash Punch pass
Water bottle
Frisbee
Cookbooks
Spices
6 meals
Lunch
Lunch
Slow Cookers, spices, books, Frisbees,
swim passes, water bottles
Helena Trolley Picking up Families at Stewart homes
The kids were up bright and early to get on at 8
in the morning on a Saturday
“Yeah! Gym Games!!”
Trolley Dropped kids at the Y, then
took parents to Dinners Done Right
Child care room at YMCA
Marah Connole, RD, teaching parents about Ellyn Satter’s Division of
Responsibility and discussing relationships around family and food
Satter’s Feeding Relationship
• Effective feeding depends on a division of
responsibility. Parents do the what, when, and
where of feeding; Children do the how much and
whether of eating.
• Feeding a child
–
–
–
–
Is about the connections between parent and child,
About trusting or controlling
About providing or neglecting
About accepting or rejecting
Families make 6 meals to take home.
Marah gave individual consults while participants
assembled meals.
Our youngest chef!
Vikki, the owner of DDR, (in background) was very
helpful and open to more cooking activities in her store
Offered a salad bar for lunch
Parents joined kids back at the Y to
help them with lunch
Kids happily played games all morning
and were HUNGRY for lunch!
Community Collaboration Partners
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Helena Housing
YMCA
City of Helena Public Transportation
Early Childhood Coalition Members
Dinner’s Done Right
Dietician
DPHHS
What worked well?
• Group cooking
• Special kid activity paired with adult activity
increased participation (reported by parents)
• Went door to door at Stewart Homes signing
people up for activity
• Ellyn Satter information (Division of
Responsibility)-Most parents had never received
this information
• Dinner’s Done Right takes SNAP benefits! And is
Family Friendly
What we would do different?
• Families wanted to cook with their kids
• Kitchen at Dinner’s Done Right was loud, hard
to have a good discussion
• Some people already had slow cookers
• Variety of days/times
• Plan for next activity and sign up families
while they are with the group
Sustainability
• Helena Housing Authority wants to continue to
offer opportunities to build relationships for
families, especially single mothers
experiencing the most isolation, poverty, and
distress.
• Early stages of planning the next cooking
event to include kids.
• Beginning Cooking Matters Classes locally.
RESOURCES
• Dinner’s Done Right takes SNAP
• HUD provides some on-site community
building funding (Resident-Management
Corp.)
• SNAP-ED classes
• Cooking Matters Classes
• Local Best Beginnings councils may have
funds to help with groups
Contact Information
Brie Oliver, RN, CLC
Lewis and Clark City-County Health Department
1930 9th Avenue
Helena, MT 59601
(406) 457-8975
boliver@lccountymt.gov