DISABILITIES
Servicing children with disabilities has strengthened Head Start's ability to individualize for all children.
Head Start is fully committed to the maintenance of effort as required for all agencies by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and by the Head Start Act. Head Start is committed to fiscal support to assure that the services, which children with disabilities need to meet their special needs, will be provided in full, either directly or by a combination of Head Start funds and other resources.
HEALTH SERVICES
By
working with parents, both individually and in groups, agencies assist
families to become more aware of basic aspects of health care systems,
and the services that are available to them.
Head Start staff encourages parents to:
- Accompany
their child to appointments, provide emotional support, if the child
is apprehensive, and ask providers to explain medical conditions and
procedures in understandable terms;
- Enroll
in a system of ongoing family health care, rather than relying upon
emergency rooms. OWCAP Head Start provides the names of addresses of
medical practices, clinics, or health maintenance organizations, including
a list of providers who accept Medicaid, as well as information about
after-hours care and how to obtain medical advice by telephone;
- Apply
for Medicaid. Options for obtaining health insurance or low-cost medical
care are discussed, if the family is not eligible for Medicaid;
- Recognize
the importance of preventive care and of detecting signs of health problems;
- Model
healthy behaviors by having the child observe parents going to the doctor
and dentist; and
- Keep
their child connected with a "medical home," after the child
leaves Head Start.
MENTAL HEALTH
Mental Health information to parents includes, but is not limited to:
- Prevention programs for at-risk families,
- Help for other family members through such groups as Al-Anon and other support organizations,
- Identification of resources relating to domestic violence, and
- Information about local substance abuse treatment programs.
OWCAP Head Start's Mental Health Specialist works with children and families as well as staff that are in need Mental Health services.