Judith Hasty serves as the Community Relations coordinator of the Children’s Center, and although she is dedicated to the Center’s services, one of the four programs is near and dear to her heart;

Hasty’s three year old son, Grant Franklin Hasty, participates in the Early Intervention program.

&uot;When Grant was about two years old, we noticed that he wasn’t talking like other children his age,&uot; Hasty explained. &uot;We put him into the program and he’s progressing nicely. They even come to our home to work with Grant and they work with us as a family as well.&uot;

Early Intervention provides coordinated services to children, but parents play a key role in helping the early intervention team understand the strengths of their child and their hopes and dreams for the child.

Some services are provided at no cost to the families, and for services where there is a charge families are placed on an ability to pay scale.

&uot;No family is denied service due to an inability to pay,&uot; said Hasty. &uot;Services are provided in the child’s natural environment, like the home or in a childcare setting in harmony with the child’s interests and daily routines.&uot;

Hasty said some services include speech therapy, audiology, special instruction, occupational therapy, vision services, physical therapy, transportation, and nutrition.

Referrals to this program can come from anyone and once the Center is notified about a child’s needs, they make decisions on what services are provided. Hasty said the medical community is always involved in the child’s care in early intervention.

The Pediatric Therapy program is another that offers help from birth through adults aged 21.

Speech is one of the therapy services of this program that includes both language skills and feeding and swallowing abilities.

Language skills include speech development, voice disorders and articulation. It may also include teaching &uot;signing&uot; to a child who is hearing impaired.

Occupational therapies focus on fine motor skills such as use of arms, hands, and fingers. This therapy seeks to improve hand-eye coordination such as buttoning and zipping, self-feeding, handwriting and appropriate play skills like putting together a puzzle or using scissors.

Physical therapy focuses on complete motor skills, which means the whole body. It helps children learn to crawl, walk, and run. A child may need this type of therapy due to developmental delay, accident or illness.

The Center requires a physician referral for pediatric services.

The Early Head Start program provides family-centered services to low-income pregnant women and low-income families with children under the age of three.

&uot;Early Head Start promotes the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional growth of young children as well as supporters parents’ roles as primary caregivers and educators,&uot; said Hasty. &uot;The program is based in Suffolk at Pruden Center and we have school buses to pick up children and deliver them back home. Those buses are equipped with car seats and they are operated with specially licensed drivers.&uot;

According to Hasty, Early Head Start services include center-based child care, either full or part-time for infants or toddlers, and classroom ratios are one adult to every four children. Each lead teacher has a Child Development Associates degree or higher, plus infant/toddler child care experience.

&uot;Home visitors&uot; screen children and they are assessed for their educational needs. The families are also offered developmentally appropriate activities for their children, and they also focus on health, prevention, and early prenatal education, and support for parental literacy.

Eligibility for the Early Head Start is based on several factors including the family income. The family must live in Suffolk, Franklin, Southampton, or Isle of Wight, and the recipient of services may be a foster child.

&uot;Our mission statement says it all when it comes to the Children’s Center,&uot; said Hasty. &uot;We nurture and educate children and their families through a professional staff dedicated to enhancing each child’s potential with creative, quality programs.&uot;

Children deserve the best, according to Hasty and Barbara Mease, executive director of the Children’s Center.

The agency serves children of all levels of ability, and they celebrate the diversity in all the programs. The team also recognizes that the family is the best teacher and decision maker for each child.

For more information on the Children’s Center, call Hasty at 562-6806.