Special Programs

 

Stars:
With 21st Century Community Learning Center grants from the Department of Education, we added academic enrichment to our four Randolph Extended Day Centers.  This program is the result of a very strong partnership with the Randolph Public Schools.  Each of our students participate in a literacy or math club for an hour four afternoons a week.  Children work on grade appropriate skills through fun projects and exhibit their work three times a year.

 

Family Support Clinician:
Beginning with SSDCS efforts aimed at increasing state resources for children with serious emotional and behavioral problems, we helped design the Department of Early Education and Care’s Comprehensive Mental Health Services Program in 2001.  As this initiatives first pilot, we formed a partnership with South Shore Mental Health to provide a full-time Family Support Clinician, who works intensively, long-term with SSDCS staff and our most troubled families.

 

Girlfriends:
Fourty fourth through eight grade Randolph girls gain the self knowledge, positive values, and problem solving skills which are vital to academic achievement.  Funded with a United Way of Massachusetts Bay “Today’s Girls…Tomorrows Leaders” grant, three Girlfriends groups are co-facilitated by two social workers.  The social workers also lead a series of workshops for parents, aimed at supporting the development of better communication and stronger relationships with their daughters.

 

RISE (Reading Is So Exciting):
Three decades of research concludes that regularly reading out loud to their children is the most important way that parents can help them start school ready to succeed.  With support from several foundations (particularly the JJill Compassion Fund), we initiated RISE in FY ’05, in our four preschool centers, with the goal of encouraging and supporting our parents to regularly read to their children. 

Partnering with Houghton Mifflin Company and United Way of Massachusetts Bay we have brought RISE to the greater community.  We are hosting a series of family literacy events for preschool parents and their children in Weymouth, Quincy, and Randolph.

 

The Special Fund and The Virtual Gateway:
United Way of Massachusetts Bay approached South Shore Day Care Services in 2001, requesting that the agency administer the Special Fund for Emergency Financial Assistance on the South Shore.  SSDCS now annually helps over 500 individuals and families confronting hunger, homelessness, or a utility shut off.

With a grant from the Harold Books Foundation, we created a Community Resource Specialist position.  We are able to provide outreach to the community about the availability of the Special Fund, as well as, referrals to our network of community agencies, with the goal of helping the South Shore’s most needy individuals and families.