Santa Cruz County Part Two

It is gorgeous today in Portal.  We are going up Cave Creek Canyon today with Barbara and will see amazing things - birds, wildlife, views that people come from around the world to see.  I am excited.

I wanted to give a second glimpse into what I saw and heard in Santa Cruz County.  Yesterday I focused on the issue of teens having children and the concerns and norms in the community around these young moms and their children.  Interestingly, no one spoke to the issues of the fathers of these children except Delia who said that the father of her grandchild has now impregnated a second young woman whose parents have delivered her and her belongings to his door.  A different reaction to Delia's.

I want to focus this post on some of the things that are going well in the programs offered by Santa Cruz Cooperative Extension (I do not have the time or space to document all of them).

Family Resource Centers

Darcy Dixon has done a superb job of securing partnerships and funding to support early childhood initiatives.  Arizona funds these programs through a tax on tobacco products.  The First Things First Initiative funds all three Family Resource Centers in Santa Cruz County.  Two of the centers are full centers and the third is a "part-time center" in a remote area of the county.  Each Resource Center is staffed in partnership with the school district and hosts a number of options for families with young children.  I visited the Rio Rico Family Resource Center and the Nogales Family Resource Center.  I saw two programs in action and had an opportunity to interview parents and staff at both centers.

Family Resource Center Logo, so bright and welcoming!

The first program I visited was the Strengthening Families Program for parents and 3-5 year old children.  It was held at night at the Rio Rico Center, just down the hill from where we were staying.  I spend some time interviewing staff and parents earlier in the afternoon and I will share some of those impressions later in this post.  Mike and I both went to the SFP program and were treated to a delicious taco dinner with the families.  We sat with Victor, his mom and baby sister.  Victor, aged 4, was very  happy to have his picture taken eating beans, his favorite food.  He was a pleasure to meet as was his mom and infant sister, Victoria.

Victor eating his beans!

We were part of the parents' program.  Thanks to Vanessa, Yada and the whole team who graciously allowed us to participate with the 13 parents who attended that night.  I added a little piece of parenting education in response to a parent who was concerned because time out did not work with her four year old.  I had the same experience with our son.  I highly recommend the book, Time In, When Time Out Doesn't Work by Jean Illsley Clarke. Sometimes, I just can't help myself.  I guess that is what comes of being involved in the parenting education field for so many years.

Rio Rico families at their SFP class

Some of the other programs the centers offer are Positive Discipline, Kinder Readiness, Play and Learn, Partners in Parent Education (PIPE), Strengthening Families and more.  They have two tracks, a parent support track and a child development track.  I was awed.  And more than a little envious.  I wish there were resources this comprehensive for the families in my community.  I think there are some but not to this extent.

I visited the PIPE class in Nogales the following day where I met with Arlene, Delia, Armida, teacher Maria and Darcy after the class ended.

Maria demonstrating how to be playful with toddlers!  Play and learn!

I spend time with parents and staff in Rio Rico talking about their experiences at the Center and what the successes are.  These are some of my summaries of the comments from that interview.

• It helped my second child have a healthier adjustment to Head Start.  
• My children are socialized and comfortable and he/she is able to separate easily from me when we are here.
• I have taken all the classes and I am waiting for more.

When I asked them about their hopes and dreams for their children they shared:

• I want my children to grow up to respect others, to earn respect and to respect and get an education.
• I want them to be healthy, productive members of society.
• My (older) son has role models in the community.  I want him to have deep roots here in Santa Cruz County and to have hopes and dreams here for his future (even if he leaves for college).  I want them to contribute to the community.

When I asked them to talk about their relationship to the community and the center parents and staff shared the following:

• They hope the programs continue.
• They like being relevant to community needs.
• They hope they are making a difference and will continue to do so.
• They notice the ripple effect - that what they are teaching and learning goes beyond themselves into the community.
• They enjoy having people come back for many of the programs.
• They parents know they can come for different resources. 
• SFP teaches a lot of life skills.

I asked both staff and parents and grandparents during my two days in Santa Cruz County what they would like to see added to the programming they already have.  More sessions, more time, both one on one and in groups, a second SFP (already 14 weeks long), more funds to do all the above were some of the answers that I received.  In addition, there were conversations at almost every stop about the need for sexuality education.

I am so grateful that I was able to travel from my border to another border and see the wealth of programs for families, all of which were delivered in either Spanish or a mix of Spanish and English. I have a new appreciation for family resource centers and for work that is being done through Cooperative Extension in Arizona.

Thanks for reading!