NOAH'S HEALTHY FAMILIES PROGRAM IS EXPANDED

NOAH entered into a new covenant with The Children's Services Council, and the doors of the Ark opened for nearly 50 more families.

NOAH was selected by the council to be the sole provider of services for the Healthy Families programs in the Glades. The contract had to be won over competing agencies and is a testament to the dedication and hard work of the NOAH Staff.

The program offers education and support services to families in Belle Glade, South-Bay and Pahokee for the Children's Services Council. It includes the Healthy Start/Care Coordination program, which provides in-home services to promote strong families and healthy birth and developmental outcomes. Plans and goals are developed with families to help them cope with daily problems, breaking cycles of poverty.

NOAH already was serving about 100 families with this program, and the new agreement means it will serve 48 more, according to Claudia Garrison who directs the program for NOAH.

The selection included onsite reviews and evaluations and NOAH operations were found to be exceptional. The Healthy Families program recently closed the books on an outstanding quarter, demonstrating the kind of excellence that has become the norm.

"In the past quarter, we had 17 outcomes to meet and criteria we had to follow and we met all 17 of them," Garrison said. For example: 90 percent of all 2-year-olds in the program had to be up to date with their immunizations; 90 percent of them had to be linked to a medical provider; and 75 percent of all participants must have recorded weekly home visits.

It’s not easy keeping track of 100 families. Each family has to be called and contacted for appointments and many of the meetings have to take place in the evenings or on weekends because of parent work schedules. It requires an extra effort that only grows with the expansion.

NOAH will hire two family support workers, one family assessment worker and a supervisor to help manage the larger load, Garrison said. That will bring the program staff to 11.

"We were contracted to offer more services, and therefore we had to hire more staff," Garrison said. "These workers have to come on board with bachelor degrees because the current staffing we have only needed high school diplomas. Some our families are coming with more complex issues like substance abuse and mental illness, so we need people more equipped to handle those types of issues.

"Because of the population we serve, we have to make sure we get workers who speak Spanish and Creole," Garrison said. One worker who lives in Wellington already was hired, and interviews are being held for the other positions.

"The work we do is very rewarding," Garrison said. "It's a close-knit community out here. Basically, everybody knows everybody and I see the moms with the babies and the toddlers and you just watch them and see there's such a need for parenting skills. And you know, some of the moms are just different. They just need someone to perhaps guide them and give them skills to work with their children. And the fact that I can see the need first hand, I actually have a hand in trying to better some of these lives."

NOAH began participating in the program in January 1999 and Garrison was brought in three months later to run it. Garrison is from Pahokee and was working at the mental health center in Belle Glade when she ran into Gladys Givens-Barber one day who told her about the position for the program, which required someone with a Master’s degree. Garrison took on the program, hired staff and has been going strong ever since.

In 2003, Garrison was selected as supervisor of the year for Healthy Families Florida and went to Tallahassee to be honored. There are about 40 Healthy families’ sites from Jacksonville to Miami. She was recognized for the high outcomes and requirements met by her staff. On Dec. 5, NOAH Executive Director Thomas Roberts took Garrison and her staff to lunch to show appreciation for the hard work of everyone involved.

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