Bisita Needs Assessment Forums Held

The Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services Project Bisita I Familia, in collaboration with Guam CEDDERS, began facilitating a series of focus group meetings with parents of children birth to five years and early childhood providers to pull together data and information about home visiting services for the updated Needs Assessment. First conducted in 2010, the Needs Assessment identifies communities with concentrations of defined risk factors, assesses the quality and capacity of home visiting services in the territory, and assesses the territory’s capacity for providing substance abuse treatment and counseling services.

The purpose of updating the territory-wide needs assessment is for grantees to gather more recent information on community needs and ensure that Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) programs are being implemented in areas of high need. The 2010 Needs Assessment identified the areas of Dededo, Yigo, and Mangilao as areas of high need and as such home visiting services are offered to families residing in these villages. Updates to the needs assessment will determine if home visiting services should continue and/or expand to other villages around the island.

The focus group meetings, facilitated by Early Childhood Consultants Mary Kidd and Elaine Eclavea, provided parents and early childhood providers the opportunity to examine and assess services currently being offered in the community. Parents provided feedback on the types of questions and modes of delivery to garner feedback from families receiving early childhood services. Early Childhood providers were given the opportunity to discuss current services and gaps in training, acceptance of services, and job satisfaction. The completed 2020 Needs Assessment will be submitted in September.

On February 25, Mary Kidd, Early Childhood Conusltant, facilitated a stakeholder input session with parents enrolled in Project Bisita I Familia, Guam Early Intervention System, Early Childhood Special Education Preschool, and Head Start Program at the Dededo Farmers’ Market Complex. This group of parents provided suggestions on the types of questions necessary for garnering feedback about home visiting and early childhood services on Guam.

On February 25, Mary Kidd (standing right), Early Childhood Consultant, facilitated the first focus group meeting with parents receiving services from early childhood programs at the Dededo Farmers’ Market Complex.

Guam Early Learning Council Convenes First Meeting

by Guam CEDDERS Continuing Education Department of Public Health & Social Services Early Childhood Guam Early Intervention System Guam Launch Information Dissemination Project Kariñu

On September 4, the Guam Early Learning Council convened its first meeting under the new administration with Co-Chairperson Elaine Eclavea at the helm. New council members were provided with orientation in the development of the council and the timeline of early childhood initiatives on Guam. Early Childhood Program Administrators provided an overview of their respective programs as well as updates on services provided to families over the last eight months. Workgroup facilitators also reported on the status of the goals and activities for their focus areas as related to the Guam Early Childhood State Plan, which was last published in 2015. The next quarterly meeting will take place in December. Workgroup members spent the afternoon participating in the Karinu/Guam LAUNCH Early Childhood Evaluation Forum.

Members reviewed the progress of activities over the past year as well as data from the Wilder Survey used for Guam LAUNCH Evaluation reports and learned about the latest research in the Early Childhood field. Commitments on next steps and meeting dates were made to ensure that activities will continue.