The Infant Toddler Specialist Network (ITSN) offers support at no cost to child care providers to help improve the quality of infant and toddler care. It helps child care providers who are religious in compliance, licensed or licensed exempt, care for children aged 0 – 36 months, and care for at least one child who are receiving state child care subsidy. The area we serve supports centers located in Barry, Barton, Cedar, Dade, Lawrence, Jasper, Mcdonald, Newton, Stone, and Vernon county in Missouri. This program helps centers with:
- Free Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS-3) assessment of infant and toddler classrooms
- On-site consultations (including follow-up support)
- Relationship-based care courses and targeted trainings (earn clock hours!)
- Materials to use in your child care program
- New, innovative ideas to improve your work with infants and toddlers
For more information about Educare, contact Kim Burnett at (417)-782-9899 ext 25, or kburnett@theallianceofswmo.org
Educare is a program providing support to area child care providers. Educare eligible providers are: faith-based, home-based with four or fewer children, or licensed family child care accepting DSS subsidy. Educare supports these providers through technical assistance, coaching, and training. The program’s goal is to provide services to improve the quality of child care and early learning programs. Each center receives personalized visits. During these visits we help you identify what your stress points are, or gaps were extra assistance is needed. Some ways the program can help are:
- Incentives
- Support group trainings (most with MO Workshop Calendar credits)
- Learning bags
- Prop boxes lending program
- Our monthly newsletter
- Plus more!
For more information about Educare, contact Kim Burnett at (417)-782-9899 ext 25, or kburnett@theallianceofswmo.org
Many childhood accidents and injuries are unnecessary and easily avoidable. By partnering with local schools and organizations, Safe Kids works to educate children and parents in a variety of safety-related areas by offering informational assemblies and presentations related to:
- Fire safety
- Bicycle safety
- Pedestrian safety
- Seat belt safety
- Water safety
- Gun safety
- Plus more!
Safe Kids also conducts monthly car seat checks, in which certified technicians verify that seats are properly installed. Car seats and booster seats are also distribute during monthly car seat checks. To sign up for a Car Seats Basic Workshop, click here.
For more information about Safe Kids, contact Mark Box at (417)-782-9899 ext 21, or mbox@theallianceofswmo.org
Child-Parent Relationship Training (CPRT) is a free, 10-week course designed to help prepare and train parents and guardians with children or teens. This program helps grown-ups engage with children through play — making it fun for everyone involved. Throughout this program, you also learn about topics like:
- Regaining control as a parent
- Helping your child develop self-control
- Effectively disciplining and limiting inappropriate behavior
- Understanding your child’s emotional needs
- Communicating more effectively with your child
This course is currently full.
For more information about Child-Parent Relationship Training or Education, please contact Peggy Lentz at (417)-782-9899 ext 22, or plentz@theallianceofswmo.org.
Good Dads is the only organization in Southern Missouri focused on helping all dads be more engaged with their children. It began when business leaders in Springfield, Missouri recognized the impact of father absence on child well-being and came together for the purpose of supporting father engagement.
Good Dads aims to encourage fathers by providing inspiration, resources and events to help dads be the best they can be. We believe:
- Every child benefits from an engaged father
- Relationships are important
- Businesses and our community benefit from engaged fathers
- We are all in this together!
For more information about our Good Dads program, contact Marlissa Diggs at (417)-782-9899 ext 11, or mdiggs@theallianceofswmo.org
Parent Cafés are designed to strengthen families from the inside out. The process relies on parent facilitators who lead peer-to-peer learning using several simple activities including building a sense of community, a theme targeted around the five Strengthening Families™ protective factors: one-on-one discussions to practice listening skills, café conversations, commitments made to ourselves, debriefing on what we learned, and reflection on the method and manner of delivery.
Parent Cafés are three rounds of two and one half hour sessions with one half hour meal or snack, followed by two hours of parent activities built around a comfortable, non-instructional format that is open, non-judgmental, and uses a strengths-based approach to networking and sharing. Parent Cafés include child care in a separate area. After three sessions, parents attending will have a comprehensive understanding of the resiliency and protective factors needed to be the best parent they can be.
For more information about Parent Cafes, please contact Peggy Lentz at (417)-782-9899 ext 22, or plentz@theallianceofswmo.org.
By partnering with the Division of Youth Services, the youth mentoring program matches at-risk teens with qualified mentors who can assist them in making good decisions that lead to positive outcomes. Our mentors engage their mentees in a variety of structured activities to provide safe and healthy alternatives to unsafe and risky behaviors.
For more information about our Youth Mentoring program, contact Marlissa Diggs at (417)-782-9899 or mdiggs@theallianceofswmo.org