Family Support Programs

Reach Out and Read

Orange County Partnership for Young Children

Reach Out and Read (ROR) provides pre-literacy opportunities for children and their parents during their well-child visits receiving care in participating practices. At each well-child visit children receive a new, culturally and developmentally-appropriate book to take home. Parents are provided demonstrations during the visits on how to incorporate the books at home to support their child’s early learning. The trained medical care provider discusses the importance of reading, models reading a book aloud to the child, and encourages parent-child interactions as part of pre-literacy and language development.

Contact: Linda Hindman
919-967-9091
Lhindman@orangesmartstart.org

Incredible Years Toddler Parenting Education

Chapel Hill Training and Outreach Project, Inc. – KidSCope

The Incredible Years Toddler Parenting Education program provides group-based parenting education classes serving Orange County parents and primary caregivers of children ages 1-3 years. This family support program teaches parents how to provide effective play-time, praise, coaching, routines and positive limit-setting for toddlers. Parents gain understanding in fostering warm, nurturing and rewarding interactions with their children and gain knowledge in the importance of play, positive attention, and positive discipline.

Contact: Lara Kehle
919-644-6590
Lkehle@kidscope.chtop.org

Families Learning Together Initiative

Orange County Literacy Council

The Families Learning Together Initiative provides children with a literacy rich environment where everyday life is filled with language development. This project is aimed at helping stay-at-home moms whose first language is not English and parents of children ages 0-5 who need support building their own literacy skills and those of their children. This initiative helps parents and caregivers build the skills needed to prepare the children in their care to enter and to thrive in school. Through a series of access points, the initiative introduces parents and caregivers to strategies that integrate language learning into daily activities and works with them as they build confidence and proficiency in working with their children.

Contact: Alice Denson
919-914-6153
Adenson@orangeliteracy.org

Community Response Program

Orange County Department of Social Services

The Community Response Program (CRP) provides family-centered services for Orange County families with children birth to 5 who have been reported to Child Protective Services (CPS) with reports closed or screened out at intake. CRP engages families for up to 6 months through home visits to build upon family strengths or to meet needs. Home visits focus on building protective factors to reduce risk factors that can lead to further CPS involvement, increase positive parenting practices, and encourage healthy child development. Families are provided with family support services including a family assessment, screening children under the age of 5 for early intervention services, linkage to community resources, and information on child development and parenting. Evidence-based interventions include Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) and Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-UP (ABC). CRP will train additional CPS staff in Triple P in order to broaden the scope of the interventions available through Orange County DSS.

Contact: Alexa Hamel
919-245-2748
Ahamel@orangecountync.gov