Early Head Start (a project of The ChildCareGroup of Dallas)
The Early Head Start program (a project of The ChildCareGroup) is serving the needs of all types of families with infants and toddlers in a variety of ways that include child development and health services, parent education, mental health services, child assessments, services for children with disabilities, parent partnership agreements, nutrition services, staff development, and collaborations in communities.
A unique collaboration with The ChildCareGroup of Dallas has helped LBWDC to become the first Early Head Start program to provide care for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit graduates.
Teen Parenting Assistance Program
LBWDC provides case management, childcare and follow-up services in support of keeping teen parents in school until graduation. The program includes weekly support groups, mentoring and parenting classes. In the last 12 months, 42 teenparents have received services and all have gone on to graduate.
Outreach to 7 Dallas ISD high schools helps ensure teens gain skills needed to stay in school and make responsible decisions. More than 1100 teens have benefited from the Teen Star Program offered as part of the curriculum.
Parent Education Program
The mothers attend skills training classes such as GED, ESL, personal finance, nutrition and computer instruction.
There are also parenting groups, emphasizing family relationships, literacy, and parental social support and case management—including referrals and coordination with other social service agencies.
Mental Health Services
Infant Mental Health: The ability for children to develop physically, cognitively, and socially in a manner which allows them to master the primary emotional tasks of early childhood without serious disruption caused by harmful life events.
Because infants grow in a context of nurturing environments, infant mental health involves the psychological balance of the infant-family system
Research
Low Birth Weight babies and their familes have unique needs.
The Low Birth Weight Development Center is a unique, multi-faceted, comprehensive program designed to meet the complex psychosocial and developmental needs of high-risk, low birth weight infants, birth through three years, and their families.
Families involved at the center share experiences and support each other in learning to cope with the challenges of raising a low birth weight child.
LBWDC is the only agency of its kind in the United States.
