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A year in the life of a Family Support Specialist

In October, I found out I had been hired as the Family Support Specialist for our new ECEAP preschool.  ECEAP stands for Early Childhood Assistance Program and is funded by the State of Washington and Vashon School District.  It is a FREE preschool for 3, 4, and 5 year old eligible children.  An affordable (free) preschool had long been a dream of many on Vashon.

Although excited for my job,  there was a small problem.  School was set to start on November 3rd (next year we will start in September) and we had a classroom with no furniture, we had  no supplies, we had still to hire a lead teacher, and we had, um, no students.

It seems nothing short of miraculous that seven months later we have a sweet and thriving preschool housed in the basement of Chautauqua.   We have twenty students (a full class), wonderful teachers, a consulting nurse, and two family support specialists among many others that support our program.  

My job has great variety and is never boring!   I meet with my families regularly to set goals and help them with a variety of life challenges.   This has run the gamut from securing a computer for a mom going back to school, helping families look for secure housing, to just being a sounding board for the day to day challenges of being a parent.   We have had six family events based on topics of interest to our families.  Our most recent one was a little talk in the Vashon Bookstore on developmental milestones with Melanie Salonen as our guest speaker.  

I also work with Sarah Day, our consulting nurse, to make sure that our children are healthy and ready for kindergarten.  This includes screening each child for height/weight, hearing, and vision; and making sure the family has access to health care (not a small feat for Vashon).

Finally, Sally Adam (my colleague and family support specialist for the Spanish-speaking families) and we are in charge of marketing and recruitment.    We want to cast the net far and wide so that we reach every family in need of a program like this one.   Children must be three or four years old by August 31st, 2015.   We are a need based program and the order of priority is as follows:   Foster children, homeless/transitional living, low income four year olds, low income three year olds, and over income families.  There are also many exceptions to income eligibility, so please call and ask if you qualify.  

We are trying to fill all spots by June 1. We keep a waiting list all year long.

The program is funded by ECEAP and the Vashon Island School District.
For more information call Peggy at 206-335-9051 or email Prubensellis@vashonsd.org