Convening Head Start Community Partners at an Annual Meeting
“The Importance of the Father” Parenting Classes
Combining Literacy and Nutrition Education for Farmworker Children
Using Technology to Increase Medicaid Application Process for Farmworker Children
Post-Natal Program for Farmworker Families
Bringing Care Directly to Migrant Children
Farmworker Children and Diabetes
Migrant Health and Safety Fair for Children
Convening Head Start Community Partners at an Annual Meeting
2007, East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, North Carolina Direct Services
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The East Coast Migrant Head Start Project North Carolina Direct Services (ECMHSP/NCDS) organizes and hosts an annual Community Partners Meeting for each of its Head Start Centers in North Carolina. The meeting brings together service providers and other potential community partners to lay the ground work for better collaboration to improve services for children and families. Representatives from numerous local, state, and regional organizations attend this one-day meeting, including: local health departments, private providers, community health centers, social service agencies, community colleges, universities, mental health providers, the North Carolina Farmworker Health Program, and the Agricultural Resource Center’s Pesticide Education unit among others.
The meeting is split into three general segments: 1) a Health and Family/Community Partnership session, 2) a catered networking lunch and 3) an Early Childhood Education and Family Literacy/Disability session. Participants are welcome to attend the entire meeting or the segments of their choice. The meeting is scheduled before the center is open for the peak season and is a component of ECMHSP/NCDS’s planning process.
ECMHSP/NCDS has taken collaboration to a new level by expanding beyond farmworker-serving organizations to address the health and social service needs of farmworkers in North Carolina. This unique cross section of partners would not ordinarily be at the same table together. By giving them an opportunity to meet and share information, unique and effective service delivery plans are often developed.
For the past four years, this meeting has yielded numerous fruitful outcomes, such as nutrition and physical education training for teachers, ESL classes for parents, health fairs for migrant children, expedited Medicaid services for families, and pesticide education classes for parents and staff. These collaborative initiatives are essential to address Migrant and Seasonal Head Start’s Performance Standards, and ultimately yield more effective and efficient programs for serving farmworkers and their families in the state.
“The Importance of the Father” Parenting Classes
2006, La Clínica de Baldwin
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La Clínica de Baldwin collaborates with La Casa de Amigos, a local Migrant Head Start agency, to offer
La Importancia del Padre parenting classes, the purpose of which is to strengthen the image of fathers and foster a positive impact on their families’ health. Quarterly, male clients with children are targeted to attend a one-hour class in the evening at La Clínica de Baldwin. Refreshments are provided and various topics related to health and the family are presented in a positive manner, displaying sensitivity to the “machismo” of Latin culture.
This interagency collaboration combines the strength of many professionals and disciplines resulting in a high quality learning outreach activity for migrant workers. By combining the collective knowledge of the two organizations about Latino culture, La Clínica de Baldwin is able to provide health education in a culturally sensitive manner. La Clínica hopes that families will be emboldened to practice healthy lifestyles as a result of targeting migrant fathers with positive health messages.
Combining Literacy and Nutrition Education for Farmworker Children
2006, Darin M. Camarena Health Centers, Inc.
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Darin M. Camarena Health Centers, Inc. (DMCHC) is one of over 2,200 clinics and hospitals nationwide partnering with Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. and the Reach Out and Read® (ROR) program. Children are provided with age, culture and language appropriate books at their wellness check-ups and health promoters read aloud to children in health center waiting rooms, modeling reading techniques for parents. DMCHC also conducts home visits with farmworker families where they speak to families about the importance and benefits of reading aloud to children. The health promoters also promote good nutrition through “Darin’s Eat and Read Club” where both parents and children are invited to the health center every 3rd Friday of the month for fun reading and nutritional promotion activities.
By reading and modeling story-telling to children, DMCHC staff members are introducing the activities of reading and story-telling to both children and parents, regardless of a parent’s ability to read. This program helps children to improve motor skills by encouraging them to become more comfortable with holding and manipulating books. It also allows physicians and staff to assess whether or not an individual child’s cognitive and motor skills are up to par. The ROR program provides health education messages through books with specific health themes (
Vegetable Garden, Everyone Eats Rice, and the Cheerios Counting Book) and through the nutrition education sessions conducted during Darin’s Eat and Read Club. Lastly, having parents involved in health education sessions with their children encourages the children to make smart nutritional choices in the future.
Using Technology to Increase Medicaid Application Process for Farmworker Children
2006, La Clinica de Familia, Inc.
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La Clinica de Familia, Inc. (LCDF) Health Promoter Program equips its health promoters with digital cameras and portable scanners to assist in the process of registering farmworker children for Medicaid benefits. The health promoters carry this equipment with them during their home-based care visits and make copies of all key documents necessary for Medicaid applications. They then take the copied information back to health center and submit the applications for the farmworker families in order to expedite their access to financial coverage of health care for their children.
The scanning service offered during home visits has greatly increased the volume of children getting registered for Medicaid and has freed up the health promoters’ time to do other outreach activities because they no longer go back and forth between clinic and farmworkers’ homes with Medicaid application documents. Farmworker families no longer have to miss work to apply for Medicaid nor do they have to worry about losing or damaging critical documents by carrying them around. When farmworkers return to the area after migrating, they only have to provide income verification to get their children reinstated with Medicaid since copies of their documents are on file at the health center.
Post-Natal Program for Farmworker Families
2005, Golden Valley Health Centers
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The Puentes Program at Golden Valley Health Centers (GVHC) provides post-natal care to new mothers, and enrolls many farmworker mothers. The Puentes Program starts working with new mothers in the hospital immediately after birth, where they are registered for the program and offered health education and breastfeeding advice. A few days after the mother and baby come home, a GVHC nurse will visit the home and conduct a well-assessment of the child. If the child does not have any health issues that need attention from a doctor or nurse, an outreach health educator will visit the home and work with the mother throughout the course of the program. The program curriculum includes breastfeeding and parenting skills as well as screenings for post-partum depression and domestic violence. The Puentes program sometimes serves as a bridge to geographically and culturally isolated farmworker moms, and is an important way for GVHC outreach and Puentes Program staff to access farmworker women and children.
While many health centers have pre-natal programs, Golden Valley Health Center has an additional program that focuses intensively on post-partum care. The program provides much needed services to families in the area, and provides a very important link between the health center and farmworker women and children. The program builds trust and relationships between farmworker families and the health center through home visits and access to outreach health educators. In addition to the care given in the clinics and in home visits, mothers can also use a “warm line” to reach their health educator by phone for any questions or concerns. Golden Valley works in a tight collaboration with WIC, the Public Health Department, and the Office of Education to provide comprehensive services to program participants.
Bringing Care Directly to Migrant Children
2005, Beaufort Jasper Hampton Comprehensive Health Services, Inc.
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Beaufort Jasper Hampton Comprehensive Health Services, Inc. (BJHCHS) works closely with the Migrant Education and Migrant Head Start programs in its community to bring quality health care directly to farmworker children. During peak harvest season, BJHCHS clinical staff go to the Migrant Education and Migrant Head Start school sites twice each week and do physicals for all children and “sick visits” for any child needing additional care. As a regular part of their outreach activities, BJHCHS staff provide information to farmworker families about the Migrant Education and Migrant Head Start programs. Similarly, the Migrant Education/Migrant Head Start programs share information regarding BJHCHS with farmworker families. When families sign up for these programs, they are given the opportunity to automatically register as a patient with BJHCHS.
By maintaining close working relationships with other farmworker-serving agencies in the community, BJHCHS is able to maximize its own outreach efforts while responding to the needs of farmworker families that are not directly health-related. BJHCHS runs a full-service evening clinic every Monday through Thursday during peak harvest season. By simultaneously conducting physicals and sick visits at the Migrant Education and Migrant Head Start sites, BJHCHS ensures that farmworker children who do not present for care at these evening clinics still receive screening and care. Since most of the families who send their children to the education program have already signed the BJHCHS consent forms, BJHCHS clinical personnel can give immediate treatment to any child who needs it when visiting the school sites.
Farmworker Children and Diabetes
2004, Terry Reilly Health Services
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TRHS conducted a pilot study with 182 farmworker children whose body mass indexes placed them in the overweight or obese range to check for possible early signs of diabetes and pre-diabetes. Preliminary results showed levels of overweight and obesity was at least as high as national averages. TRHS staff went door-to-door to recruit participants for the study and sent letters out to the community. The initiative was well received by the community. As a result of the study, TRHS was able to secure a community collaboration funding from the Governor’s Office, State of Idaho to establish a Childhood Obesity Task Force.
Conducting studies with the farmworker community is essential in identifying and verifying health needs. Studies conducted with farmworkers can serve as a stepping stone for building a program effort and securing funding for it. The personal contact with farmworkers, such as going door-to-door to recruit participants for studies or focus groups, is sometimes more effective in securing farmworker participation. As a result of TRHS’ well-planned study with adequate farmworker participation, they not only earned state-wide recognition, but also additional funding, which will further enable them to provide quality services to farmworker children, often not the focus of farmworker health care services.
Migrant Health and Safety Fair for Children
2008, Eastern Shore Rural Health System, Inc.
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Eastern Shore Rural Health System, Inc. (ESRHS) partners with local schools to provide a Migrant Health and Safety Fair each summer for children ages 3-16. Approximately 190 children participate annually. Throughout the day, multiple organizations, such as the fire department, rescue squad, police, and the Coast Guard give presentations and lead hands-on activities on specific safety issues. The children explore ambulances and fire trucks while learning information such as the “stop, drop, and roll” technique, and where to go in a fire emergency. Representatives from 911 perform call simulations with the children where they practice relaying their name and emergency information to a dispatcher.
Separated by grade levels, the children also learn about vehicle and pedestrian safety such as how to properly fit a bike helmet or life jacket and the importance of buckling up. Younger children learn to look both ways before crossing the street and not to run into the street while playing. The children also get information on hygiene, lead poisoning, water, and smoking at various stations. Other activities involve making good food choices, taking care of their teeth, and the importance of exercise. Finally, children are given a toothbrush and educational materials printed in Spanish to take home to share with their parents.
The Migrant Health and Safety Fair is different from other area health fairs because it focuses primarily on children and their needs. ESRHS hopes to reduce the risk of accidents and injuries to children by teaching them how to avoid potentially dangerous situations and how to respond in an emergency. The children also come away with increased confidence in rescue personnel which is especially important for migrant children, whose parents may fear law enforcement officials due to their legal status. As an unexpected benefit, many children come away wanting to be rescue personnel or police officers when they grow up.
