Program Highlight: Smart from the Start: Promoting School Readiness; Changing Lives….

 

Smart from the Start (S²) is a Boston-based program whose mission is to promote school readiness and work to eliminate the achievement gap among Boston’s lowest income families. It is just as much a prevention program as it is a school readiness initiative. They work with the most vulnerable families in the city with the goal of breaking the cycles of youth violence, chronic poverty and hopelessness, substance abuse, depression and undiagnosed and untreated mental and physical health conditions. With continued support, they hope that the young children that they serve now, will not need the level of intervention that teens in the city need today. Instead, they will have the linguistic, cognitive and social-emotional skills necessary to be successful in school, set and achieve goals, and to become leaders in their communities in the future.

The model

• S² staff go to families, rather than expecting them to come forward. Outreach includes: door-knocking in all homes in the pilot housing developments; consistently visiting playgrounds, laundromats, hair salons, libraries, public pools, local businesses and other locations where families with children already go; and simply walking the streets to engage families.

• Programming is strengths-based and family-driven. Recognizing the incredible strengths and resiliencies of the families with whom they work, S² staff introduce families to strengths and work with them to build on those strengths to improve outcomes for their families. Smart hopes to promote a system-wide paradigm shift that will lead all service providers to adopt a similar approach.

• Smart works with the entire family. While their focus is birth to five, they cannot improve outcomes for young children in isolation from their families and communities. S² staff provides support and assistance to adult caregivers and older siblings, to identify and achieve both short term and long term goals in these difficult times. They aim to help these teens stay on the right track, realize their dreams and become good role models for their younger siblings.

The Families

160 families, including over 200 children, are actively enrolled in programming, with hundreds more in the recruitment pipeline. This level of enrollment is especially promising given that Smart from the Start focuses on reaching families who historically are isolated, with parents/guardians who have historically not sought out or participated in voluntary services. Family members were born in many areas of the world, including China, Somalia, Haiti, Eastern Europe, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Ecuador and the United States. Many of the families served are enduring the risks and challenges of recovery from substance use and experience of domestic violence, as well as maternal depression.

Programming

• Prenatal Outreach: Expectant families meet weekly to get to know other families in their neighborhood, participate in workshops and prenatal education opportunities, and to learn about services in their community. Each participating family is given a baby shower and receives new layette items for their baby.

• Welcome Baby!: A universal home visit is offered to all families with newborns in our pilot communities at which each family receives a Welcome Baby basket with books and goodies for mom and baby. During the visit, the core principles of raising a learner are introduced. Families in need of crucial services are connected with community providers through this program, which will also serve as an important gateway into the other S² programming.

• Family Nurturing Program: A 15-week curriculum that families attend with their children (of all ages), with proven outcomes in reducing hitting as a form of punishment, increasing parents’ usage of community resources, and decreasing child abuse and neglect.

• Play-to-Learn Groups: Structured playgroups for caregivers with their infants, toddlers or preschoolers, especially children not in structured child care. During playgroups early learning and parenting skills are promoted in the context of play. Families are also connected with necessary services.

• Loosely structured Support and Empowerment Groups to engage families in early learning, provide parenting support and to prevent the social isolation that often comes with raising small children in challenging circumstances.

• Parenting Workshops: A series of one-time workshops with topics chosen by families to address their specific parenting challenges. For example, Read Boston has facilitated an Early Words workshop series in Charlestown, and now starting in Roslindale, to provide in depth, hands-on and individualized support for parents to improve language developmentin their young children.

• Adult Education and Family Literacy: A set of adult education, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), and family literacy courses with curriculum that focuses on child development and school readiness.

• Financial Literacy/Career Planning Program: Training to explore attitudes and values related to money, learning how to save and budget, while getting basic information about banking. Participants identify new career paths and set goals toward self-sufficiency. Upon completion of the 8-week intensive course, participants receive 8 hours of individual coaching and mentoring toward their identified goals. Participants agree to share what they have learned with friends and neighbors in their communities.

• Information and Referral: A key role of S² is to link families with existing services and supports, such as referrals for adult education, substance abuse, job training, housing and domestic violence issues, so this work is a part of all S² services and activities.

• Exploring Boston Field Trip Program: An innovative field trip model creates multiple opportunities for S² families to get out of their homes and communities, in groups, to visit unfamiliar sites and activities in Boston. The goal is to broaden experiences for adults and children, with a focus on language and literacy development during the trips. The majority of participants report never having such experiences, exposure or adventures before, such as visiting the Franklin Park Zoo, splashing in the (free) Frog Pond, playing at the Children’s Museum, attending an ice show, or apple-picking

• Community School Readiness: Community stakeholders will work together to define some key activities and approaches to reinforcing school readiness everywhere children and families go – from local bodegas and supermarkets to hair salons to playgrounds – and will determine the best ways to engage the larger community in understanding their role in promoting early learning.

• Parent Leadership : From current participants, 12 family leaders have agreed to serve on the newly-forming family advisory committee (FAC), representing each of the three current Smart from the Start communities. These advisors will assist with the development of new programming, increase enrollment, plan events, represent S 2 at community events, and support program evaluation. Family advisors will participate in a full day of leadership training facilitated by Parents Helping Parents and will continue to participate in leadership and advocacy skills building as they learn how to support, mentor and advocate for others in their communities.

Partnerships

• Smart from the Start is spearheaded by Boston Centers for Youth and Families, the Boston Housing Authority, the Family Nurturing Center, the Boston Public Health Commission, and the Office of Mayor Thomas M. Menino, working closely with multiple community-based organizations and City departments;

• During 2008, partnerships have expanded: Including Countdown to Kindergarten, ReadBoston, Parents Helping Parents, Isis Maternity, Boston Childcare Alliance, the MA Department of Education, Mattapan Health Center, Bowdoin Street Health Center, Mass Family Network, WIC, Healthy Baby/Healthy Child, Boston Medical Center, the Child Witness to Violence Project, Children’s Hospital Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital, Spark Childcare, Entre Familia, Thom Early Intervention, Charlestown Workforce Development Alliance, ABCD Head Start, and the Roslindale Health and Dental Center.

Impact

Year one parent surveys showed the following:

• 88% of families did not know that talking to their baby increased language acquisition and school readiness.
• Almost 80% did not have their own collection of books at home.
• 100% of parents report being more confident in their parenting ability.
• 92% of parents read more to their children.
• 100% of parents report a difference in their child's social/emotional development.
• 100% of parents feel better about themselves.
• 92% of parents feel less isolated.
• Over 90% of parents reported learning new activities to do at home with their children.

To Refer

Complete and submit the referral form. For future reference, it will be on our website in the Staff Access index under “Children & Families” > Education.

 

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