2. Saskatchewan
KidsFirst Vision
Children living in vulnerable circumstances enjoy a good start
in life and are nurtured by caring families and communities.
In targeted, high-needs communities, supports and services
are provided through partnerships between families,
communities and service providers.
3. Importance of the Early Years
Brain development research
Creating environments for healthy
development
Laying foundation for healthy growth and
development
Investing in your children pays off for the
children, family and community
4. Background
Saskatchewan’s 1993 Action Plan for
Children
June 2000 Comprehensive Early Childhood
Development Strategy framework approved
September 2000 First Ministers’ Accord on
Early Childhood Development
New Federal funding offered an opportunity
to enhance provincial early childhood
services.
5. Provincial Program Sites
Regina
Moose Jaw
Yorkton
North Battleford
Nipawin
Prince Albert
Meadow Lake
The North
Saskatoon
6. Saskatchewan KidsFirst Goals
Provide families a range of supports that
promote and support positive parent
interaction
Provide families a range of supports that
promote and enhance child development and
well-being
Support prenatal women to have healthy
pregnancies and birth outcomes
7. Saskatchewan KidsFirst Goals
Support families to provide environments to
promote child development and family
well-being
Provide accountability for quality
programming
9. Provincial Program Principles
Cooperative, collaborative
Strength based
Representative
Innovative and flexible
Voluntary
Build Capacity
Quality Standards
10. Program Elements
•Prenatal referral and support
•Universal screening at birth/assessment
•Home visiting
•Enhanced early learning, child care and
family support opportunities
•Dedicated mental health and addictions
services
•Regional community development
13. How Do Families Access
KidsFirst?
In-Hospital Birth Questionnaire
Score of 9 or higher
Referral – anyone can refer with
Client's consent, self referral
also accepted
Completion of In-Depth Assessment
Acceptance to
KidsFirst Program –
Introduction of Home Visitor
Deemed inappropriate for
services – other services
offered
14. Routes to Program Involvement
• Pre-natal referral
• In-hospital birth questionnaire
• Self-referral or referral from community
source
Referral is followed by in-depth assessment
process
16. Assessment
Following referral families are assessed in
24 facets of their life
The assessment provides us with
comprehensive baseline data that reflects
both family strengths and risks
17. Home Visiting
• Cornerstone of the program
• All families are matched with a home visitor
• Many programs use lay home visitor model
18. Role of Home Visitors
• Develop trusting relationships with families
• Build on families strengths
• Support families as they identify goals and
address issues
• Connecting families to community services,
programs and activities
19. Home Visiting
Growing Great Kids Curriculum
Cues and communication
Basic care
Social and emotional development
Physical and brain development
Play and stimulation
Parent supports
Injury prevention and home safety
20. Home Visiting Supervisors
The programs have Supervisors provide
regular support and supervision to the Home
Visitors.
21. Each program has staff who work with
families to acknowledge and address mental
health and addictions concerns
Provide services in a non-traditional way
including home visits
Support the Home Visitors
Mental Health and Addictions
Team
22. Early Learning
• KidsFirst Programs provide funding to
early learning centres in their
communities to expand the number of
spaces so that children in the KidsFirst
Program will have access to this support
23. Child Care
•KidsFirst has developed an array of childcare
options for KidsFirst families including drop-in and
respite spaces.
• Provision of childcare is a critical first step in
supporting parents to return to work or school.
•Childcare is also provided as part of a family’s
therapeutic plan.
24. Parent Supports
•Assistance is provided to build on
strengths and to address each family’s
unique needs.
•Parents are supported to explore their
hopes and dreams, identifying their
deepest wishes for a good life for
themselves and their children.
25. Regional Community Development
Throughout the province there is funding for
Regional Community Development Positions
They work in varied ways to highlight and address
important issues related to the early years.
A community development approach is used.
26. KidsFirst service provision differs
from conventional service provision…
and is responsive to the realities of the lives
of the families involved in the program, many
of whom have not been effectively served by
other services.
27. Length of Involvement
Families are eligible to stay involved until
they reach their goals and graduate or until
their youngest child is 5 years of age.
Goal is graduation
This is the vision for all Saskatchewan children, including those who live in the most vulnerable of circumstances. KidsFirst also envisions that children receive the nurturing, stimulation and support they need for healthy growth and development to become contributing citizens, and that supports and services are provided through partnerships among families, communities, service organizations and government.
Emphasis on prevention and early intervention
Comprehensive
Empowering – building family and community capacity
90% of connecting up of brain cells to form pathways is achieved in the first 2 years
Sensitive periods for children’s brain development such as vision, language, emotional control, central auditory system, peer social skills, ways of responding occur in the first years of life – most of these peak before age 4
The interaction between a child’s genes and their early environment has a profound impact on later outcomes
Brain and biological development during the first years of life depend on the quality of stimulation in the infants environment, at the level of the family, community and society.
Early childhood development in turn is a life long determinant of health, well-being and learning skills.
Selected communities with a significant number of children who are vulnerable -– in prenatal to age five group.
Selection of communities occurred through a ranking process based on factors associated with poor childhood outcomes
Poverty
Incidents of low and high birth weight
Infant hospitalization rates
Lone parenting rates
Number of births in the community
Goal 1 - range of supports to promote positive parent interaction
To Deliver Growing Great Kids and other Curricula
To Provide referrals, information, tools and activities to enhance parent-child interaction
Goal 2 – range of supports that promote and enhance child development and well-being
To deliver Growing Great Kids and other Curricula
To support early identification of developmental delays through developmental screening, referrals and links to appropriate services
Goal 3 – support prenatal women to have healthy pregnancies and birth outcomes
To provide women with information on all aspects of prenatal health
To support positive maternal mental health through early identification and intervention
To support women to identify and address mental health, addictions and domestic violence issues
Goal 4 - Support families to provide environments to promote child development and family well-being
To support families in enhancing social supports, housing suitability and sustainability, and food security
To support families to prevent, identify and address mental health and addictions concerns and to promote positive mental health
To enhance skill development, education and employment.
Goal 5 – Provide accountability for quality programming
Services strive to identify and implement promising practices for quality assurance and continuous program development
Programs meet quality standards in a variety of areas such as: curriculum delivery, staff training, documentation, confidentiality
KidsFirst families receive:
Support from a home visitor who will provide assistance concerning child development, parenting and connecting to community.
Help to access services such as child care and parent support groups.
Early learning opportunities for children.
Help regarding literacy, nutrition, transportation, and specialized counselling services
Ability to access dedicated mental health and addictions services
All babies born in Saskatchewan hospitals and their families, with consent will be screened by staff for risk using the In-Hospital Birth Questionnaire Screening Tool prior to discharge home.
Screening results will be sent to the various KidsFirst programs in the province.
Prenatal referrals
Given priority within the program
Pregnancy is often a catalyst to change and this is an ideal time to support readiness to address issues that increase vulnerability
In-hospital screens
Nurses of the Healthy & Home program in Royal University Hospital are doing in-hospital screening. The screening tool looks at congenital or acquired health challenges which present at birth, factors which will influence development such as prenatal care, use of drugs and alcohol, labour and birth events, and at social, mental health and economic factors which affect family functioning.
Total screens - 7546 completed from Feb 2002-Jan 2005 (8% refused)
Score over 9 indicates vulnerability
40% scored over 9
72% in target neighbourhoods scored over 9
Average score in target areas over 9 = 22
34% admitted drug/alcohol use in target areas. 5% of all births in RHA
Highest score has been 59.
Self referrals and referrals from other community agencies are accommodated as they come in, considering program capacity and individual circumstances
The in-home assessment looks at family strengths. Those consenting families who can best benefit from KidsFirst services will be eligible to join the program.
Consenting families who score over 9 on the hospital screen, who are referred prenatally, self-refer, or who are referred by community sources due to high-risk concerns, undergo a further in-depth assessment prior to admission into the KidsFirst program.
I want you to imagine a family:
A single-parent family, headed by a 24 year old mother who has recently gotten found housing, is now on the methadone program and is pregnant with her 4th child;
A family who is struggling with the stresses of living in a new country, unable to speak the language and unable to make sense of the systems that are in place to support them.
Or…
A family where the parents themselves struggle with substance use issues and are now struggling to parent their two young children.
These are the realities of the families involved in the KidsFirst program. Although many details and the lived experiences differ from family to family there are many overriding similarities among KidsFirst families:
Those who do not access programs and services and are apprehensive about using formal supports
Those who receive little or no prenatal care
Those who begin having children early in teens
Those who have complex socio-economic issues (substance abuse, violence, poverty, lack of education, etc.)
Home visiting is the cornerstone of the KidsFirst program.
Visitors were selected for experience and suitability and receive extensive and on-going training.
The focus of the home visiting program is to promote positive parent-child interaction, promote healthy childhood growth and development and to enhance family functioning. Home Visitors meet with families often building trust and systematically offering a wide range of supports based on each family’s unique circumstances.. Home visitors help families to learn about and use community services, such as child care, pre-school programs, health services, and transportation.
There is a child development curriculum that is shared, supporting parents to engage their children in developmentally appropriate play and supporting families to explore their values, beliefs, hopes and dreams
The types and levels of support vary from community to community but may include:
Cooking groups or collective kitchens
Good food boxes in select communities
Family literacy programs
Milk and other food vouchers, vitamin supplements
Prenatal programs
Dad’s groups
Family events
Transportation and childcare
Many families have shared their personal stories of how the support, understanding, information and connection they have experienced as a result of
Becoming a parent can be a catalyst for change. The desire to change is a powerful force. Families involved in KidsFirst have shared with us that the support and information they receive has provided them with an opportunity to dream about other possibilities for their lives and for their children’s lives. The importance of approaching each family with the attitude of helpfulness and understanding supporting them to take steps towards their dreams has been key to successfully involving families in the KidsFirst program.