Mountain States Early Head Start fetes 20 years

SANDPOINT — There is no manual for those important, first steps in raising happy, well-adjusted children. If there was, it might well resemble what Mountain States Early Head Start has been teaching North Idaho families since 1998.

In the next few weeks, the MSEHS offices that span a region that runs from the Silver Valley to the Canadian border will celebrate 20 years of providing free, comprehensive child development and family support services to pregnant women and children birth to age 3 that foster the development and school readiness of children.

The first two centers were opened in Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint, followed by an office in Rathdrum and, most recently, an expansion into Shoshone County last year.

Program wide, MSEHS serves about 300 pregnant women and children each year, with a combined staff of 29 administrators, specialists, home visitors, play group coordinators and administrative assistants.

According to Brenda Hammond, mental health specialist for the four offices, getting the earliest start possible on childhood education sets the stage for an enhanced ability to learn later on.

“Because school readiness is based on both emotional and cognitive development — and both are based on a strong and secure attachment with a primary caregiver — it is never too soon to begin,” she said.

“Ideally, attachment begins while the child is still in the womb and is reinforced during the most formative years for brain development — the first three years.”

Supporting that assertion, Hammond points to data from the website zerotothree.org, which states: “By age 2, a baby’s brain has reached 80 percent of its adult size. The quality of experiences during the first 1,000 days of life establishes either a strong or fragile foundation for everything that follows.”

MSEHS is a free, home-based child development program based on relationships forged between parents, children and staff. Helping parents to better understand childhood behaviors and respond to those needs results in better outcomes when the child reaches school age, Hammond explained.

Home visitors work with the family for an hour and a half each week, bringing with them information on health and child development, as well as an idea for a developmentally appropriate activity that the parent can do with their child.

“She will also check in with the family about how things are going, provide a listening ear, encouragement, support and information about resources in the community,” said Hammond.

MSEHS-enrolled families also can attend a playgroup once a week, where children can become accustomed to routines and play with other children while the parents get to socialize. Each playgroup has a developmental theme and activities are planned to promote the development of the individual children who are attending.

Originally designed to serve families at or below federal poverty guidelines, MSEHS now serves a broader population, rating eligibility on need and the number of risk factors involved.

“For example, almost 20 percent of our enrolled children are children with disabilities,” Hammond said. “We are also able to weight an application in favor of children of teen parents, who are in foster care, or have substance abuse, mental health or incarceration as complicating factors.”

An especially successful part of Early Head Start training has been a program called Circle of Security.

Offered in partnership with Kaniksu Land Trust, which makes it possible for the program to be offered at no charge, Circle of Security strives to develop a deeper parent understanding of their child’s emotional world by learning to read emotional needs, supporting their child’s ability to successfully manage emotions, building self-esteem and honoring the innate wisdom and desire for their child to be secure.

A big component of the non-profit Kaniksu Land Trust’s raison d’être is its educational outreach programs. KLT has purchased 75 acres of wetlands and forest near Clark Fork and another 100 acres of forest and fields in eastern Bonner County.

‘The group currently is wrapping up fundraising toward meeting the goal of raising $2.1 million to acquire 160 acres to create what the group is calling “a community forest” to be named the Pine Street Woods.

The land, owned by Joe Weisz, sits on top of Pine Street hill and overlooks both Sandpoint and Dover.

Once the purchase is final, Pine Street Woods will be set aside as a large, natural space that will be open to the public in perpetuity. KLT views the project as an outdoor classroom that, according to Hammond, is well suited for Circle of Security classes.

“Kaniksu Land Trust understands that outdoor activity is very important to a child’s optimal brain development,” she said. “They also understand that it is never too early too start promoting the kind of healthy lifestyle that involves being active and being able to appreciate and respond to the natural environment.”

The MSEHS center in Bonner County has been called the best-kept secret in the community – a description Hammond believes can be used for all of the offices in North Idaho.

“I’m afraid we have been too busy doing our work supporting children and families to blow our own horn,” she said. “By our new focus of reaching out to the community with classes and support groups, we are hoping to make more people aware of the many ways we can support families.”

Those wishing to learn more about Mountain States Early Head Start and its various programs can attend a series of 20th anniversary celebration open houses throughout the region, scheduled as follows:

- July 10, from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., at the Mountain States Early Head Start Kootenai County Center, located at 411 N. 15th St., Ste. 200, in Coeur d’Alene. (Information: 208-765-6955)

- July 12, from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., at the Mountain States Early Head Start Sandpoint Center, located at 137 McGhee Rd., in Kootenai. (Information: 208-263-2569)

- July 13, from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., at the Mountain States Early Head Start Shoshone County Center (at Christian Life Center Church), located at 308 W. Mission, in Kellogg.

Each event will include bubble play, story time and art activities, as well as light snacks and a family photo to take home to commemorate your time together.