TREASURE VALLEY CHILDREN'S RELIEF NURSERY

In 2005, our community decided we needed to do more for our children. A board was formed and by the fall of 2009, two half-time interventionists were working with a handful of families and their children from a Sunday school classroom at an Ontario church. Today, as a certified Relief Nursery, we operate a therapeutic classroom focused on social-emotional skills, serving about 90 children each year. We also conduct home visits with about 70 families using the evidence-based curriculum Parents as Teachers. We help parents access basic resources as well as to better understand child development, which this helps them to better prepare their children for academic learning kindergarten. The model works! And knowing that both prolonged trauma in early childhood and going into foster care are predictive factors for myriad physical and mental health issues in adulthood, we know our interventions will have a positive impact on the future as well!