2011 Meeting Dates

April 1, 2011

FOOTHILL CHILD ABUSE AND FAMILY VIOLENCE COUNCIL

Recognizes…

Foothill Family Service's Outreach To Preschools, Child Care Providers, Children And Their Families With New Early Esteem Mobile Assessment And Treatment Vans

Mobile Services Provide Free, On-Site Counseling to More Than 500 Child Care Providers in the San Gabriel Valley

PASADENA, Calif. - With funding from The Los Angeles County Children and Families First - Proposition 10 Commission, Foothill Family Service launches its newest service, the Early ESTEEM Mobile Assessment and Treatment Vans, providing preschools and child care providers with convenient access to free hands-on training and consultation at their workplace from Master's level therapists as well as a first-ever, mobile on-site play therapy area and private counseling space for children and their families.

The Early ESTEEM Mobile Assessment and Treatment Vans were designed to increase the level of outreach and training to preschools and child care providers in the San Gabriel Valley to enhance their skills and knowledge in understanding early child development and in recognizing behaviors of child abuse, neglect and other mental health problems in children ages 0 to 5.

"Most child care providers are not trained in identifying symptoms of mental health problems, child abuse or neglect due to lack of formal training or no access to training," said Pat Kocsis, Coordinator of the Early Esteem Program for Foothill Family Service. "With these new vans, we will be able to reach out to more providers to assist them in better working with children and families who may need help, rather than simply labeling children as "bad" or "difficult."

Foothill Family Service's Early Esteem Program offers training to preschools and child care providers working with children 0 to 5 and increases access to high quality, early intervention mental health services through a mobile delivery system. Early ESTEEM includes the following services: mobile, responsive and accessible services provided by therapists in Early ESTEEM vans; workshops and consultation for childcare providers and community preschool teachers; "hands-on" training for childcare providers and teachers to learn about early child development and to identify potential mental health problems, child abuse and neglect problems; parent education and consultation; play therapy for children 0 to 5; parent-child video treatment; family therapy; language development activities; and case management services.

Foothill Family Service (www.foothillfamily.org) was founded 75 years ago to provide counseling to children and families in the San Gabriel Valley. Programs include Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment, Early Child Development Programs, Teen Family Services, school-based counseling, family and individual counseling, youth development and family strengthening. Last year, more than 15,000 children and their families received "life-changing" services