SERVICES
Our Community Programs
Child Care
Playgroups
Learning Together Program
Home Visiting / Outreach
Housing
Pregnancy Prevention & Support
For many, the Center serves as a home.
It is a place where people feel safe and respected.
Child Care
The Parent/Child Center childcare has received five stars, the highest rating possible, in STARS, Vermont’s program for recognizing high quality early childhood education settings.
Forty infants and toddlers are served at the Center’s main campus on Monroe Street and at our satellite site at the Patricia Hannaford Career Center. Educated staff and low adult/child ratios assure high quality care. Developmental therapists, physical, occupational and speech therapists, as well as mental health counselors offer supports to children within their natural learning environment. Priority for enrollment is given to the children of teen parents and to children with developmental or social challenges.
Playgroups
Weekly playgroups turn church basements or other settings into fun and challenging environments where young children can interact with their peers, parents can learn from each other and staff is available to answer questions about child development and accessing community supports. Playgroups are free for children birth to 6 years and accompanying parents.
For more information, please click the link below for up-to-date playgroup scheduling via our partners at Minibury.
Home Visiting & Outreach
Home visitation is the most effective way of reaching isolated individuals and helping parents develop a sense of trust in the community. The Center’s nurse and outreach workers provide comprehensive services to pregnant and parenting teens and young adults. Outreach workers conduct support groups in area high schools to encourage students to complete their schooling and delay parenthood. Our early intervention specialists visit families of children with special needs to conduct assessments and coordinate services. Our staff is leading playgroups in the county to provide parents and children a time to socialize, learn about child development, and strengthen their sense of community.
Learning Together Program
This intensive, twenty-eight hour per week training program focuses on helping young people gain the job readiness, retention skills and other skills that will prepare them to be successful in the work place, as parents, and in life.
The program serves as an alternative education site for the four Addison County high schools, so that those who need their diploma may earn credit towards graduation during their Learning Together hours.
Pregnancy Prevention & Support
Parent Child Center was founded to address the needs of adolescent parents, this population remains highest priority. It is heart-breaking to see an adolescent setting aside her own education and her own needs to focus on those of her child. Therefore, we remain committed to investing what resources we can into preventing teen pregnancies in this community.
Here are some of the ways we help:
Free pregnancy tests and counseling
On-going home visiting support to adolescents at high risk of an unwanted pregnancy
Free condoms and counseling on safe sex
Services to young fathers and fathers-to-be.
Workshops for parents on “talking to your child about issues of sexuality and health”
Teen parent panels for local high school classes
Professional Support & Consultation
On-site mental health consultation is available through the Center for early childhood and Kindergarten teachers and for home childcare providers. Professional development workshops are offered occasionally at the Center or we can arrange to offer them at other sites. The Center serves as a training site for professional interns. Usually this is for Master’s level internships, most often in social work, but we would consider other fields of study on an individual basis. Program tours and/or consultations may be arranged by contacting one of the Co-Directors.