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Community Child Care Resources, Inc. Psychological Services Children's Services Advisory Committee Be PROGRAM NEED STATEMENT Entire Section B not to exceed one page) 1 . a) What is the unacceptable condition requiring change? b) Who has the need? c) Where do they live? d) Provide local, state, or national trend data, with reference source, that corroborates that this is an area of need. a . A percentage of all families face problems and stresses and need professional psychological intervention. Recent research indicates that more children three and under suffer from emotional stress, like adults, "but they lack the coping mechanisms years of living bring" (Florida Association for Infant Mental Health, 2003 ) . CCCR' s targeted population is more economically needy, and families historically face life challenges to a greater degree than the general population. Consequently, they exhibit a greater need for psychological support. Indian River County lacks sufficient psychological services to serve low- income families with mental health needs. In addition, there are challenges in identifying families with such needs and encouraging them to take advantage of available resources. CCCR centers lack clinical staff and the financial resources to independently contract with mental health professionals . Problems in the classroom that cannot be handled within the capabilities of the staff often result in the expulsion of the child in crisis. Teacher requests for therapeutic intervention center on the number of children (total class, not just CCCR) exhibiting inappropriate anger towards both fellow students and teachers . CCCR staff has seen an increase in inappropriate anger in classrooms in recent years . On-site visits by therapists increase impact by helping the teacher develop a plan for work with the child who is angry and disruptive, restoring a productive environment and showing the other children in the class positive strategies for dealing with anger. b . The targeted population is CCCR families who demonstrate a need for psychological services in one or more of the following areas : . 1) Children who exhibit behavioral, developmental, and/or emotional difficulties that seriously impact their chances for school and life success . 2) Parents who deal with issues like : abuse, divorce, depression, anxiety, custody, substance abuse or significant health problems. 3) Parents with "special needs" children in the family who need support. 4) CCCR centers need the opportunity to receive on-site professional psychological/behavioral support. c. Those in need appear to be spread evenly throughout Indian River County. d . In the 2002-2003 funding year 26% of CCCR families received psychological services. eight visits were made to classrooms, and 54 individual sessions were held, representing 78 hours of therapist time. Mid-year 2003 -2004, 10% of CCCR families were referred for counseling and four classroom visits were made, representing 30 hours of therapist time. The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment Program (DECA) is a social-emotional screening instrument used in all CCCR Centers. In 2002-2003 29% of all CCCR children scored outside the normal range, while only 12% of the CCCR children who had been with the program at least a year scored outside the norm. 2 . a) Identify similar programs that are currently serving the needs of your targeted population , b) Explain how these existing programs are under-serving the targeted population of your program. a. CCCR and the School Readiness Coalition are the only programs in the County that tie psychological services, including direct intervention to the funding of childcare. b. The School Readiness Coalition has $ 5 ,000 in enhancement money to be used exclusively for direct services to individual children in their program. This would provide 60 hours of therapy, for Coalition children, and is unable to include family support. Application for 2004-2005 service period 5