7 Super Things Parents & Caregivers Can Do

1. Talk often with your children from the day they are born.

2. Hug them, hold them, and respond to their needs and interests.

3. Listen carefully as your children communicate with you.

4. Read aloud to your children every day, even when they are babies. 
    Play and sing with them often.

5. Say "yes" and "I love you" as much as you say "no" and "don't".

6. Ensure a safe, orderly, and predicatable environment, wherever they are.

7. Set limits on their behavior and discipline them calmly, not harshly.

Early Childhood-Head Start Task Force
U.S. Departments of Education and Health & Human Services.

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H.E.A.R.T.S. Connection
Family Resource Center
3101 N. Sillect Ave, Ste. 115
Bakersfield, CA 93308
(661) 328-9055 ex 282
Within Kern County
(800) 210-7633 ex 282
Supporting people with needs in Kern County.
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Community Action Partnership of Kern
300 19th Street
Bakersfield, CA 93301
Phone: 661.336.5236 Fax: 661.322.2237
www.capk.org

Listing of Program Services:

Child Education & Development Services
Phone: 1.800.701.7060

Food Bank
Phone: 661.634.1075

Home Program
Phone: 661.336.5236

Women, Infants & Children Program (WIC)
Phone: 661.327.3074

Family Health Center
Phone: 661.336.5300

Migrant Childcare Alternative Payment Program
Phone: 1.800.259.8866

Weatherization Program
Phone: 661.336.5203

Home Energy Assistance Program
Provides utility payment assistance to eligible low-income residents living in Kern County.
Phone: 661.336.5203

HIV/AIDS Education & Prevention Program
Provides AIDS education to at-risk men and women.
Phone: 336.5236

HelpLine -
Provides comprehensive computerized information and referral services to individuals seeking assitance by linking them to appropriate service providers.
Phone: 1.800.273.2275

Kern Parent Child Center (KPCC)
Provides child abuse prevention services to families and assists them in developing a family success plan.
Phone: 661.336.5272


South Chester Partnership
Provides case management, family needs assessments and health and social services referrals for children and their families. The goal of the partnership is to provide a safe and nurturing environment for children and their families living in the South Chester area.
Phone: 661.336.5236

Supportive Housing Program (SHP)
Provides a variety of services for homeless individuals and families in Kern County. The goal of SHP is to move homeless families and indivduals to permanent housing environments.
Phone: 661.336.5236

Family to Family Mentoring
Helps grow healthy families by providing personal mentors to guide and encourage those who are grappling with the many challenges that face families trying to overcome poverty and at-risk conditions. Participants include families in CalWORKs and child protective services programs, as well as traunt youth, emancipating and emancipated foster youth, and pregnant and parenting youth.
Phone:(661) 663.9133

Henrietta Weill Memorial
Child Guidance Clinic
The mission of the Early Intervention Program is to help parents and their young children form healthy, happy relationships.
Phone: (661) 322-1021

Bakersfield Big Brothers
(661) 281-2130
Provides young fatherless boys with positive influence from mature and stable men. for location, please phone and request.

Boys Scouts of America
(661) 325-9036
Recreational services for adolescents. For location, please phone and request.

California Kids Health Foundation
(800) 234-8848
Insurance program for undocument children who reside in California who do not have medical insurance and are not eligible for other types of medical insurance programs. 

California Missing Children Hotline
(800) 222-3463
Referral Services

California Youth Crisis Line
(800) 843-5200
24Hour Crisis Line
Spanish
Services youth under 24. Crisis intervention, counseling and referrals about suicide, sexual assault, substance, abuse, gang activity, HIV/AIDS, sexual identity issues, teen pregnancy and emergency food or shelter. Fees: Free.

Child Care Centralized Eligibility List of Kern County
The cost for paying for child care is a major consideration for many Kern County families. Kern County families eligible for financial assistance to cover part or all of their child care costs now have a new source of help to locate child care assistance with the Child Care Centralized List of Kern County (CEL)!
The Kern County CEL maintains a county-wide eligibility ("waiting") list for all participating subsidized child care programs allowing families to sign up for all child care subsidy programs at one time and in one place!
For more information go to: http://kcsos.kern.org/cel/

Childrens Wish Foundation
(800) 323-9474
Provides wishes to terminally ill children.

Girl Scouts Joshua Tree Council
1831 Brundage Lane
Bakersfield, CA 93304
(661) 327-1409

Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International
(800) 223-1138

Kern Child Abuse Prevention Council
730 Chester Avenue
Bakersfield, CA 93301
(661) 327-4711

National Information Center/Children/Youth With Disabilities
(800) 695-0285
Information and referral

National Runaway Hotline
(800) 621-4000

The La Cresta Foundation
4101 Union Ave # 3
Bakersfield, CA 93305
(661) 323-3531
Services to families with children. Normal concerns of parenting. Warmline for pre-school parents.

Vanished Children's Alliance
(800) 826-4743

Youth Crisis/Runaway - Child Quest
(800) 248-8020
Organization searches for missing children or at risk adults

Youth Crisis/Runaway - Children of the Night
(800) 551-1300
Hotline number

Kern County Resources

Kern County’s diverse communities have set the pace for California in developing community strength through local collaboration. Neighborhood-based coalitions identify and address local issues ranging from joblessness to gang violence to graffiti removal. Many communities have brought together health and social service agencies to offer locally based family-centered services.
Note: In the following list, FRC = Family Resource Center.

Oildale Community Collaborative
Standard Healthy Start
1200 N. Chester Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93308
Shelley Furtak(661) 392-2163
Community Meeting 3rd Wednesday bi-monthly, call for day & time

Rosedale Collaborative
Independence SChool, 2345 Old Farm Road, Bakersfield, CA 93312
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 511, Bakersfield, CA 93302
Kristie Esquivel (661) 633-7197
Community meeting, last Tuesday monthly, 8:30 a.m..

East Bakersfield Community Health Center
815 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Bakersfield, CA 93307
Direct Services: Daaiyah Islam (661) 322-3276
Andrea Caldwell, Chair (661) 336-6723
Tony Martinez, Co-Chair (661) 326-3922
Collaborative Meetings: Last Monday at 5:30 p.m., at SE Career Services Center

• Adoption – full service adoption agency
• Foster Family Licensing – recruitment, training and licensing of foster families
• Give the Secret a Voice – Child abuse and neglect reporting and prevention
• Jamison Children’s Center – emergency shelter and protection for children
• Into Save Arms – program to safely surrender newborns
• CalWORKs – California Work Opportunity & Responsibility to Kids program
• Food Stamp Program – food stamp benefits to eligible families
• Medi-Cal Program – health care benefits to eligible families
• Welfare to Work – services provided to CalWORKs adults to assist them in becoming self-sufficient
• Stop Domestic Violence – reporting and prevention services for victims of domestic violence

• California Children Services (CCS) - Case management and medical treatment for physically handicapped children and ones with catastrophic illnesses

• Child Health Disability Prevention (CHDP) - CHDP Providers offer free health examinations for children to find and correct health problems early in life. Well child checkups given at no cost to the eligible child.

• Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health (MCAH) - Four major goals:

• All children born healthy to healthy mothers
• No health status disparities among racial/ethnic, gender, economic, and regional groups.
• A safe and healthy environment for women, children, and their families.
• Equal access for all women, children, and their families to appropriate and needed care within an integrated and seamless system.

Children’s Services

Healthy Families
661-868-6718 or 661-868-6738

• Low-Cost Health Coverage for Children Age 1 through Age 18
• Low-cost comphrehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
• Low monthly premiums from $4 a child to a maximum of $27 per family
• No copayments for preventative services(such as immunizations). $5 copayment for non-preventative services(such as going to the doctor due to illness)
• Choice of health, dental, and vision insurance plans
• Family property(such as savings or cars) does not count for eligibility
• For children without health insurance and children on Medi-Cal with a cost
• Available for children of single or two-parent working families
• Mail in application. Does not require a visit to the welfare office to apply

Online Information

National Association of Family Child Care Radio
This media resource will give family child care professionals access to the latest insights in child care management and child development.  Audio programs will be offered with experts in family child care business practices, child development and other areas of interest to providers and parents.
The program is available 24x7 at http://www.nafcc.org, and the broadcasts can be listened to any computer.  Click on NAFCC Radio. 

Child Care Aware links parents to their local child care resource and referral agency (CCR&R). CCR&Rs help parents locate quality child care resources in their community. The Child Care Aware website includes, "5 Steps to Choosing Quality Child Care" and other helpful materials on early care and education.

I Am Your Child is a national non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of early childhood development and school readiness. IAYC develops a wide variety of resources for parents, early childhood professionals, child advocates, health care providers, policymakers and the media including instructional videos.

Ready to Learn provides extensive outreach services to communities, including workshops for parents, child care providers, and other early childhood professionals as well as the distribution of children’s books.

The mission of Zero to Three is to promote the healthy development of infants and toddlers by supporting and strengthening families and communities. Zero to Three’s "Healthy Minds" child development brochures for parents are available at their web site.