Just a month before it celebrates Healthy Families Howard County’s 10th anniversary, Family and Children’s Services (FCS) of Central Maryland has launched a new pilot program to help at-risk children at Bollman Bridge Elementary School.
Funded by The Horizon Foundation, Wendel and Beyond provides case management and counseling services to children who are “having issues in their lives that may impact their ability to succeed in school,” said FCS Assistant Executive Director Connie Sgarlata. Under the program, the children’s families also receive services from FCS.
The program is part of the Youth Initiative of Southeast 2015, the Horizon initiative aimed at improving health and wellness in Southeast Howard County. It’s an outgrowth of Bollman Bridge’s Wendel Club, which supports kids who need “positive reinforcement for positive behaviors,” Sgarlata said. Children in the Wendel Club check in and out of school each day with their assigned support person and are encouraged and rewarded for positive behavior.
Family Matters
Sgarlata expects Wendel and Beyond will serve at least 10 children and their families in its first year. The kids are referred by school psychologist Beth Boyer or special education teacher Kasi Klingbiel, who are spearheading the program in the school. Some of the children were chosen because they are already in the Wendel Club.
As it happens, it’s often not just the children who are at risk. “Their families may also be high risk of losing their home or job and need more support to deal with family issues,” Sgarlata said.
Although FCS may be best known for its elder services and individual and family counseling, Wendel and Beyond isn’t its first program for children and their families. Ten years ago, it began Healthy Families Howard County in partnership with Howard County General Hospital.
The program, which is part of the Healthy Families America initiative, helps first-time parents access community resources and provides support in their new roles as moms and dads. FCS provides the home visit component of the program.
Locally, Healthy Families began 10 years ago with 25 families and now serves 100. Director Judy Templeton says Healthy Families has done 14,903 home visits since it started.
Working Together
During the home visits, family support workers teach positive parenting skills, put parents in touch with necessary resources and refer them to other agencies that can help. The visits begin at birth and continue until the child is five.
Parents also attend an educational or social event once a month. Among the events are the Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County hosted annual Thanksgiving dinner and “Shop ’til You Drop” events, where the new parents can choose from hundreds of gently used items for both children and adults. The families also make a summertime visit to Clark’s Elioak Farm’s petting zoo and enjoy an indoor carnival, and went to Toby’s Dinner Theatre to see “Winnie the Pooh.”
Recently, Templeton began English classes designed especially for parents. Nineteen Spanish-speaking moms and one dad are learning the English skills they need to talk with doctors, teachers and emergency workers. They also learn how to prepare for job interviews.
“It’s an empowering group,” Templeton says. “We’re already seeing positive changes.”
Sgarlata, too, is expecting positive changes for families participating in Wendel and Beyond.
Family advocates see the children one-on-one for support and intervention. Family members can also receive intervention together, and the parents can receive assistance with case management services. Meetings take place at the clients’ homes, at the school or at the North Laurel-Savage Multiservice Center.
Case management services for families in the program include linking them to other services they may need, like housing assistance, help with utility bills and immigration issues, and accessing financial assistance.
Branching Out
“As Wendel and Beyond catches on and has success, my hope is that other schools will express interest and that we can expand into other schools with the appropriate funds,” Sgarlata said.
“By being part of the program, parents will continue to receive assistance and support from FCS,” she added. “The children will benefit from having one-on-one support in the school to talk about their feelings and any concerns and difficulties at home. And being part of the program will provide some structure and consistency for the entire family. That will ultimately impact the children’s ability to succeed at school.”
