MIGRANT AND SEASONAL HEAD START (MSHS)
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MSHS is dually funded creating the program as not only a grantee but as a
delegate. Our grantee is comprised of four centers in Wisconsin: Rice Lake,
Montello, Plymouth and Palmyra and two centers in Missouri: Lexington and Mt.
Vernon. Through our grantee, UMOS is funded to provide services for 255
children. Teaching and Mentoring Communities (TMC) is the funding source that allows
UMOS to provide services to our Delegate program. TMC provides funds to serve
275 children. Our four centers are located in Beaver Dam, Plainfield, Spring
Lake and Berlin, Wisconsin.
During 2007, UMOS exceeded its funded enrollment in both Migrant Head Start
programs by extending services to a total of 541 children and 349 families. The
majority of the children served by the program were children under the age of
three.
All 541 children enrolled in the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Program receive
an array of services, including health, nutrition, Mental Wellness,
transportation and family support services, as well as services for children
with disabilities. Through the various partnerships established throughout
Wisconsin and Missouri, children in the program receive physical and dental
exams, immunizations, hearing and vision screenings, developmental screenings,
three nutritious meals, and transportation to and from the center. Families
receive support services, including but not limited to: ESL classes, referrals
for emergency food and gas vouchers, shelter, and referrals to other providers
as needs are identified. Some of the highlights of the services received by the
children are:
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Physicals completed: 93%
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Dentals: 85%
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Immunizations: 96%
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Hearing Screenings: 89%
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Vision Screenings: 85% (over 3 only)
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UMOS continues to utilize the Colcha (the Quilt) as the program's curriculum
that represents many ideas, thoughts, values, and traditions of our families.
These values are firmly supported and strengthened by the Head Start
Performance Standards, Positive Outcomes Framework, and Educational Resources.
This curriculum was developed with the assistance of parents, staff and
consultants in order to meet the unique needs of migrant children.
This agency driven curriculum is supported and enhanced with additional resource
books, guides and materials including the Creative Curriculum. During 2007 the
Curriculum Advisory Committee was re-established. The committee looked at
curriculum resources that needed replacement or that would fill a need. The
resources identified by the committee were presented to the parent policy
groups for approval. These five new resources were approved and provided to the
centers. Training on these resources was provided at the staff pre-service
training. The new resources are: The Peaceful Classroom which provides
activities to promote friendships, cooperation with others and respect for
feelings and differences; With Respect for Others is a resource for activities
that recognizes and gains appreciation of human differences and cultural
distinctions; Activities for physical health are in the resources Music &
Movement in the Classroom and Kids in Action; dental health resource is the
Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Future's.
UMOS continues to utilize the web-based
developmental assessment tool: The Developmental Continuum for Ages 3-5 from
Creative Curriculum. The tool is used to gather and analyze children's growth.
In analyzing the data from the 2007 on-going preschool assessments, both the
Grantee and Delegate programs Child Outcomes Report indicated that each skill
area of language development, literacy, math and science, over 60% of the
children were assessed as progressing one or more steps, with 40% remaining
constant in their skill level. No child regressed in their skill levels. This
meets the expectation of a 3-4 month program to assist the children's school
readiness skills by maintaining the children's skills at one level or to
progress forward.
The Child Development program conducts
a developmental screening on every child that enters the program. A
developmental screening demonstrates to the teaching staff the child's
developmental skills, areas of strength and areas to be targeted in activity
planning. Teachers are able to use this information to individualize classroom
activities for each child. This screening is also a valuable tool to identify
children with delays for follow-up assessment or further formal evaluations.
The charts below indicate the number of screenings conducted throughout the
program. UMOS continues to strive to increase screening efforts given the
nature of the migration patterns for the program's children.

UMOS Special Services Program consists
of disabilities and Mental Wellness services. At least 10 % of funded
enrollment slots are allocated for children with disabilities. Close
coordination and combined staffing efforts between the Health Services
Manager, the Special Services
Specialist and Child Development Manager ensures early identification and
immediate services to high risk children. As the program operates during the
summer months identifying service providers is one of the program challenges as
disability services continue to be needed by UMOS Head Start Children during
these months.
The majority of diagnoses for UMOS
Migrant Head Start Children continue to be in the area of speech/language
development, which was 95% in 2007. Our grantee program's disability rate for
2007 was noted at 8.6% up from 6.7% the previous year. Our total disability
rate for the delegate program in 2007 was 7% a noted increase from 5.6 % for
2006. This finding is not unlike other programs serving children in this age
group.
Since mental health conveyed a negative
connotation, the Mental Wellness name was derived from the need to ensure that
the service was viewed positively. Mental Wellness embraces both cultural and
individual differences while assessing environmental influences and family
stresses in identifying underlining problems for behavioral concerns. Services
under Mental Wellness include general observations, individual and group
consultation, platicas for parents and personnel, assessments and ongoing
therapy. In addition to Mental Wellness services, UMOS has successfully
continued to implement the feelings and friendship group for children. This
occurs in the classroom which involves all children and focuses on positive
expression and identification of feelings.
UMOS Migrant Head Start took the
wellness program even further and continues to offer assistance for staff by
providing staff with the opportunity to speak with the wellness consultant when
warranted. The consultant was able to meet with staff members and resolve
concerns, or refer to an appropriate place. Presented topics are selected
through staff surveys collected at the staff pre-service training