Allies for Every Child Inc

Early Childhood Education Services:Recognized by experts as an effective child abuse and neglect prevention strategy, Allies provides comprehensive, trauma-informed, culturally responsive early education programming focused on social-emotional development, designed to prepare children and their families who face a range of stressors (poverty, child welfare system involvement, special needs and disabilities) for kindergarten and beyond. Research consistently shows that high-quality early education is among the most effective strategies for preventing child abuse and neglect. Allies serves more than 300 children (ages 0-5) every year in nurturing environments at our Early Education Center, through our network of licensed home-based education providers, and in enrolled families' homes, with priority placement for children in foster care and families experiencing homelessness.Allies maintains a low staff-to-child ratio in our inclusive, bilingual classrooms to ensure every child's healthy social-emotional, cognitive, and physical development. Allies' programs are data-driven and designed with the flexibility to be responsive to individual child and family needs, exceeding requirements set by funders and oversight bodies.And because Allies knows parent/caregiver engagement is imperative to children's long-term success, Allies nurtures relationships with families, partnering with them to support their children's healthy development through home visits, parent-teacher conferences, parenting groups, and volunteer opportunities.Children and families enrolled in Allies' Early Education programs also have access to extensive individualized supports, including early childhood mental health services, pediatric health consultations, disability screenings and advocacy, community events, and more.Allies is able to provide this level of quality by strategically layering and combining private dollars and government contracts, including Early Head Start, the California Department of Social Services, and the USDA's Child and Adult Care Food Program.

Comprehensive, Integrated Services:Because every child and family's circumstances are unique, Allies invests in providing an array of vital, multidisciplinary supports tailored to meet the individual needs of children and families across all programs. Because of Allies' extensive experience working with children who have experienced trauma and the knowledge that birth through age five is a crucial window of brain development-Allies' team of social workers and therapists provides infant and early childhood mental health services to hundreds of children and their families each year, helping heal the wounds of childhood trauma and allowing children to build trusting relationships with nurturing adults.Through this integrated early childhood mental health model, Allies provides trauma screenings and mental health services, including dyadic therapy, psychoeducation groups, mental health consultation, and client-centered advocacy. We aim to help caregivers regulate their emotional state so they can form a secure attachment with their child and buffer the impact of trauma.Additionally, Allies provides children and families with semiannual disabilities screenings and year-round advocacy, pediatric health consultations, dental and vision screenings, nutrition education, parenting groups, and more. We work closely with a network of community partner agencies (including Upward Bound House, Safe Place for Youth, Good Shepherd Shelter, Venice Family Clinic, St. Joseph Center, Harvest Home, Claris Health, A Child's Dream, and Miriam's House) to ensure families are connected to stable housing, medical care, and other essential supports.