Preconception to Preschool May 2003

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#990000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="http://www.gcchc.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.gcchc.org"><U>Home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Calendar"><U>Calendar</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Grant County Information"><U>Grant County Information</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Health Council"><U>Health Council</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Council Staff"><U>Council Staff</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Community Meetings "><U>Community Meetings </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id89.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="InterAgency Alliance"><U>InterAgency Alliance</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Highlights "><U>Highlights </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id453.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Resource Directory 2007"><U>Resource Directory 2007</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFBF0" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Preconception to Preschool May 2003</B></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Grant County Community Health Council</B></div> <div> <B>PreConception to PreSchool Life Cycle Meeting</B></div> <div> <B>May 7, 2003</B></div> <div> MINUTES</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Present</U></B>: </div> <bR> <div> Shauna McCosh (Relaciones), Donna Flenniken (La Familia), Terry Anderson (WNMU), Lydia Seely (Life Quest), Vicki Johnson (First Born), Angel Toyota Sharpe (WNMU), Kathleen Trumbull (PSN/UNM, FIT/DOH), Jamie John, Melanie Barrhart (CDD/UNM), Jeanie McNabb (CDD/UNM), Alison Noble (CDD/UNM), Metie Pederson (CDD/UNM) John Eich (GCCHC), and Jane Olson (GCCHC).</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>UNM Center for Development and Disability</U></B></div> <bR> <div>      Four members from the Center attended our Life Cycle meeting. They nominated our group twice for national awards because of the kind of networking we do! They are 1 of 61 centers receiving Health and Human Services Disabilities funding.  Their center is attached to the Medical Center, but this does not preclude them from working across departments.  They have helped NMSU establish another resource library like the one we have now at La Familia that provides materials about providing services and support to individuals with disabilities and their families.  They also work with UNM Gallup and Bureau of Indian Affairs.  </div> <div>      Their relationship with Terry Anderson at WNMU will help provide training for child care givers, information about the Center, the Preschool Network, the Early Childhood Network, and evaluation programs for kids with special developmental needs. The video, Project Jericho, is here and is a great example of the work being done in these areas.</div> <div>      How does their Center relate to NM Developmental Disability Council? Each state has a council and ours is Parents Reaching Out (P.R.O.).  They can lobby more than the Center because they are employees of the state.</div> <div>      Do we have needs that the Center can help us with-training, C.E.U.'s, the telemedicine computer at the FSC? </div> <div> Something that comes up a lot with First Born regarding the Developmental Assessment Surveys/Brigance is a lack of expressive language.  It is a delay, but is it a normal delay? A speech therapist or a play group is an option. Maybe we need training on how to strengthen what needs to happen? </div> <div> Seventy-five percent of kids in Pre School's Special Ed are there because of speech delays.  It is the #1 referral for Head Start across the board.  As humans, we are very verbally expressive.  Speech is what is most apparent to us.</div> <div> We know that putting pressure on kids to speak for what they want makes them not want to speak.  The Hammond Speech Program is used by Life Quest and they cannot provide enough of it. Speech therapy vs. a rich learning environment, what are ways that families can naturally create language skills? There is a Hammond Speech video at La Familia for parents to help encourage speech with their kids.  There is now scientific evidence about a child's brain activity being null when watching TV.  Handouts are also very effective at lodging ideas in parent's heads as evidenced in the First Born Program. </div> <div> What should we do? The Center recommends that we continue to hone in on the problem.  It doesn't seem that the children need a special referral.  Should we be worried, are there intervention methods? Is there training for providers about this? </div> <div> Our greatest opportunities to stimulate language and study this issue is really in a frontline prevention group such as First Born.  Since the Brigance Assessment is the test used for a first measurement, then we can do a follow-up study using outcome measures.  Study the children once they get to school.  Check out an RFP to fund this study.  We could use the Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Prevention category to apply for early ortodysmedia screenings for early intervention.</div> <div> Another problem we are working with is evaluation for kids in Grant County.  There are special ed services but, we need screenings for psycho-evaluations.  We only need one person to do psychevals for younger kids.  Kids usually have to travel which makes a breakdown in communication and trust.  The Early Childhood Evaluation Program at UNM just received a call about a child needing a psycheval but, UNM Hospital would not see the child because they were too young. </div> <div> Life Quest does psychevals for birth-3 and 3-5 year olds.  Life Quest will be given a referral from CYFD for abuse and neglect and LQ will start serving the child and advocating for them.  They look at developmental and emotional issues asking themselves the questions, should they go back home, should they have visitation, should they see their siblings, should they go back to the foster home?  The courts ask for a psycheval to make a decision. CYFD places the responsibility on LQ to make these evaluations but, it shouldn't be a part of what LQ does.  The child may be emotionally distressed because of the CPS situation or because of a bio-neurological disorder. It's hard to tease out.  Once again, we need BAMHS and CYFD here at the table.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Shared Trainings</B></div> <bR> <div> Cathie Owens from WNMU's Social Work department is talking about a training for this group on ECO mapping.  When a child is in the system, it focuses on teamwork and how important it is for agencies to work together when they are all dealing with the same child.  It is a good visual representation of how many agencies are serving that one child and how information can be effectively sent to each other.  Also, information sharing is important so that parents are able to get all of the information in order to make the most informed decisions for their child. </div> <div> Our other unmet training need being to learn how to care for substance abusing families may be filled by La Familia's new collaboration with the Developmental Disabilities Training Council.  Their `Project Jericho', <B>a project in Albuquerque that works with early childhood care providers, will be sending representatives here July 8</B>.  They are the decision makers for trainings for care providers for the coming year.  They will fund 10 trainings next year! What else do we need? Treating foster families.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Old Business</B></div> <bR> <div> The next Children's Fiesta meeting is Tuesday, May 13 at 3:30 at Life Quest. Let's talk about our participation in the fair at the next meeting.</div> <bR> <div> The Fatherhood Involvement initiative reports that an email has been sent to everyone interested to tell them we want to get it going.  The National Association for education of young children has lots of focus on developing fatherhood initiative. We need to look at what program is necessary and what population to target.  First Born, Life Quest and WNMU's Early Childhood Program want flyers to give to their dads.  </div> <bR> <div> Let's announce the next YWCA meeting at our next meeting. </div> <bR> <div> <B>IHI's Community Health Improvement Plan-Life Cycle's participation</B></div> <bR> <div> Our Life Cycle's Prioritized Cross Cutting Indicators Impacting Grant County</div> <div> Mental Health</div> <div> Family Violence</div> <div> PreNatal & Early Childhood Care</div> <div> Accidents</div> <div> Disease Related Illnesses & Deaths</div> <bR> <div> 2<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >nd</FONT> Core Team/Community Action Team: Mental Health</div> <bR> <div> PreConception to PreSchool Life Cycle focus for 2003-2004:</div> <div> PreNatal & Early Childhood Care</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Next Meeting: June 11, 11:00-12:00, at the Life Quest building on Alabama St.</B></div> <bR> <div>      </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>