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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACTS
Ted DeAdwyler
SFSU Office of Public Affairs
(415) 338-1665
pubcom@sfsu.edu
Press Release published by the Office of Public Affairs
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WHAT:
The
San Francisco Head Start Program celebrates on Wednesday,
October 1, its fifth year of successful partnerships with
government and community agencies in San Francisco that deliver
vital services for children and their families.
WHEN AND WHERE:
Wednesday, Oct. 1 from 9 a.m. to noon at the
Holiday Inn, 1500 Van Ness Ave. in S.F. Officials, agency
representatives, members of the Head Start Policy Council,
the Head Start Board
of Directors and staff will celebrate the success of Head
Start services made possible through community agency partnerships
and collaboration. Key speakers include San Francisco University
President Robert Corrigan, Brian Murphy, executive director
of the San Francisco Urban Institute and Dr. Jean E. van
Keulen,
professor and executive director of San Francisco Head Start.
San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, also is scheduled to attend.
At noon the event continues with tours of Head Start centers.
BACKGROUND:
Before San Francisco State University and its
San Francisco Urban Institute won federal designation in 1999
to manage Head Start operations in San Francisco, the program
had faced widespread criticism after being cited for deficiencies.
Now, the success of the program in creating successful partnerships
under SFSU's direction has led to its expansion. Currently,
the program assists 1,404 low-income children and their families,
up from the 1,160 enrolled in 1999. The Early Head Start Program,
which assists pregnant women, infants and toddlers, includes
slots for 64 children. Through contracts with 18 San Francisco
childcare agencies and providers, Head Start children, who
are ages 3-5, receive full-day, year-round services. The arrangement
allows parents who are moving from welfare to work attend school
or job training knowing that their children are in safe, nurturing
environments preparing them for school. In all, Head Start
children and their families are now served at 53 locations
around San Francisco.
DETAILS:
The Oct. 1 event salutes the work of 30 agencies
that have partnerships with Head Start to provide services
meeting the health, social, nutritional and educational needs
of children.
Here
is a sampling of the partnerships that help make Head
Start work in San Francisco:
- San
Francisco Department of Public Health delivers Head
Start mental health services
- The
Maternal and Child Health program provides the Early
Head Start Program
with a public health nurse
to oversee
health
and nutrition services;
- Asian
Prenatal Advocates serves 20 pregnant women and women
with infants, toddlers
in their homes;
- Wu
Yee Child Development Center provides full-day and
full-year services to 77 children; Glide
Memorial,
24 children; Visitacion
Valley Child Development, 44 children; Good Samaritan,
24 children; Catholic Charities, 24 children;
FranDelja, 15
children; San
Francisco Unified School District, 238 children,
as well as licensed family child care providers
in San
Francisco
who serve
30 children;
- Two
delegate agencies -- Mission Neighborhood Centers,
Inc. and Kai Ming, Inc. -- serve
a combined
total 640 Head Start
children and their families.
- SFSU
students help, too -- Through SFSU's graduate
nursing and social work programs interns
work with children
and their families in the Early Head Start and
Head Start program in
San Francisco. Agency partnerships also exist
with SFSU's Marian Wright Edelman Institute,
Valencia Health Center
and
the University
of San Francisco.
For more information, call the SFSU Office of Public Affairs
at (415) 338-1665.
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