The children that attend New Beginnings and, we suspect, children from the neighborhoods that we serve experience significant risks including trauma, poverty, disability, non-traditional (mostly single parent) households, delayed reading and poverty.  We understand that many of our families need support in addition to a safe and welcoming childcare Center.   They need mental health, academic intervention and support navigating the complex systems established to help them.   

 

To this end, New Beginnings welcomed its first psychological and social work interns in 2018.  Our Executive Director is a licensed Clinical Psychologist with deep experience in child and family mental health issues.  We can help our parents identify and understand challenges and help them seek services as necessary.  Beyond this, we are partnering with Lutheran Social Services and other mental health service providers who work with children and families.  Our idea is to leverage our interns as direct support to the families in identifying needs, connecting to services and navigating the process; in essence, they serve as our families’ front line.  LSS has agreed to provide onsite service to our families whenever possible to eliminate the travel to and from work, the Center and the service provider.  They are also serving as a valuable resource for therapeutic recreation and other community social services.   

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