October 22, 2008

The North Carolina Association of Social Services Directors says its Best Practice Awards are designed to showcase the innovative, successful and unique programs within North Carolina Departments of Social Services and share that information with other counties and the public. Catawba County’s award was presented in the Profiles in Community Collaboration category, which recognizes the county program or policy change that best forged relationships between community partners.

“The Early Childhood Support Team, a Smart Start funded project, is the only program in North Carolina with Team members from different agencies and disciplines that work collaboratively to provide educational, health/safety and clinical services to childcare programs, children birth to five years of age and their families,” said Kathy Marshall, Social Work Supervisor III, who oversees the program. “The Team functions as a single portal of entry to additional early childhood resources in Catawba County. Even though other North Carolina counties have professionals who provide consultative services to childcare programs, there are no additional collaborative teams that include nurses, educators and clinical specialists. Our Team provides the ‘total package’ of health and human services to children, families and childcare programs, which enhances the likelihood that children will be healthy and ready to begin kindergarten.”

“The Early Childhood Support Team reflects the culture of Catawba County in that it is a performance/outcomes based, preventive focused, coordinated, multi-disciplined, community supported, and quality service that helps children be ready to enter school; and, it has quality staff making a difference in families and children” said Bobby Boyd, Catawba County Social Services Director.

The Team’s objectives for Fiscal Year 2007/2008, which ended on June 30, 2008, were to maintain and improve the quality of care provided for children in childcare programs and increase social skills in children referred due to emotional and/or behavioral issues. During the past year, 95% of childcare programs which were assessed for quality of care achieved the scores needed to reach or maintain higher quality status. 90% of children receiving clinical services showed an increase in social skills.

The meeting of the Team’s objectives is expected to positively impact these children’s educational, emotional and social readiness, and their success in school. The Team’s collaboration with the Children’s Developmental Services Agency and Preschool Services assisted in the identification of children who needed additional services and resources to better prepare them for school. The collaboration with Preschool Services also assisted children being transitioned from childcare programs to school in the fall, so kindergarten teachers were better informed and prepared to meet the educational and emotional needs of children.

“The Early Childhood Support Team has been doing outstanding work for over 12 years and we are proud of them and this well deserved recognition,” Marshall said. “As demands for the Team’s services have increased, the number of staff necessary to provide the services has not increased. The Team has overcome this challenge by collaborating with other agencies in the county to provide resources to families and childcare programs, cross training of staff so that staff can better assist each other, and prioritizing needs.”

The members of the Early Childhood Support Team include: Kathy Marshall, Karen Ceccato
Lorna Keene, Susan Arnold, Terri Huene, Glenda Smith, Kathy Martin, Jane Abernathy, Valerie LaBo and Kim Janey from Catawba County Social Services; and Tonya Moss, Alison Henrickson and Angie Reitzell from Catawba County Public Health

For more information on Catawba County’s Early Childhood Support Team, you may contact Kathy Marshall, Program Supervisor, at (828) 256-5084.