Children's programs may suffer without private donations
BY LISA NEWELL Gulf Breeze News lisa@gulfbreezenews.com

Lisa Newell/Gulf Breeze News Betty Arnold, Santa Rosa Operations Director of the Children's Services Center, shows Charles Bare, aide to U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, the toy room where parents can shop after earning points by attending classes or participating in their child's day care environment.

Even people without children benefit from the work done by the Children's Services Center.

That's because without quality child care options, more people would be on welfare, children wouldn't succeed in school, the economy would suffer and there would be more incidences of child abuse and neglect.

This year, the agency is in danger of not securing all of the available federal funds due to a shortfall in local match, said Nancy Power, Public Education and Resource Development Director. "We must raise a dollar for every $15 of state and federal money."

The primary Santa Rosa County office of the Children's Service Center, located in Milton, works in tandem with the Escambia County office to help families raise their children.

Some of the services the Children's Service Center provides are training child care workers, conducting parenting classes, helping families find and pay for child care, and helping families raising children with clothing, furniture or any kind of need. The Center's programs are funded by the Early Learning Coalition of Santa Rosa County

The Milton Service Center has a toy store where parents can shop after earning points by attending parenting classes or participating in their child's day care environment. There's a resource room with an Ellison machine, a laminator and other craft supplies for anyone doing child care.

"We've never turned anyone away," said Betty Arnold, Vice President, Santa Rosa Operations

The center can research records of child care centers as reference for parents looking to compare options.

It can also help provide quality day care options for low income families.

"One fourth of families earn less than $25,000 a year. Child care costs between $4,000 and $12,000 a year," said Becky Kirsch, President and CEO of Children's Services Center in Escambia and Santa Rosa County.

The average salary of a child care worker is $7.57 per hour, or $15,740 per year. In 37 states, no training is required to be a child care worker, yet cosmetologists must have 2,000 hours of training before they can touch a person's hair.

The center sponsors the APEX, or Adult Professional Educational Exchange, inservice classes for child care workers to prepare children absorb knowledge for school readiness. The center performs behavior screenings, does early interventions on children who may need extra help, promotes literacy and has a Registered Nurse who visits child care centers to perform speech and hearing screenings.

According to data, 61 percent of homes don't have children's books, and that correlates to failure on standardized tests. The "Roads to Reading" program helps children learn about reading and prepare to read.

Recent data indicates that "Santa Rosa County has the highest school readiness scores in the state of Florida," Arnold said.

Parenting classes teach skills and techniques, allowing parents to mingle and share their successes and challenges.

There's even a class targeting incarcerated fathers, called "Fathers are Parents Too," which keeps dads connected with their children during their jail time.

"These families are raising our workforce, our leaders, our volunteers and our future," Cindy Anderson, board chair, said.

A big push is on for registering 4-year-olds in the Voluntary Pre-K program, which was mandated by a recent constitutional amendment. The summer VPK is being offered at two locations in the east Gulf Breeze/Midway area, and it will consist of eight-to-nine-hour days. Teachers must have bachelor's degrees, and the program is free for the children to attend. As VPK slots fill, more programs will be offered. Kids Discovery Center in Gulf Breeze is planning to offer VPK in the fall.

Children's Services Center helps families regardless of economic need to become better parents. There is an office located in the South Santa Rosa Annex.

If you can donate to the Children's Services Center, send your check to 6576 Caroline Street in Milton, 32570. For more information, visit www.childrensservicescenter.or g or call 595-5921.