Early Childhood Collaborative

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EVERY STEP COUNTS: A guide for parents and caregivers of young children in Pennsylvania

Child Watch is leading a group of early childhood organizations exploring ways to work together to improve service provision and the distribution of information to more families and people who care for young children in the community.

The group's first project will provide every Allegheny County parent of a newborn, as well as every provider of services to children 0-5 and their families, with a guidebook and local resource reference that cover a wide range of subjects pertinent to the early years of a child's life.

We intend that every family, regardless of age, race or socio-economic status, be included in the rich resources available in this area, and that every newborn is wrapped in the warmth of a community that welcomes him with open arms, love and hope. We are creating an innovative partnership across as many different types of organizations as possible to address community problems that begin when newborns do not start life out in a loving, caring and nurturing environment, and when families find themselves isolated and struggling to connect to their neighbors and community.

We want everyone to collaborate and cooperate to fully realize the richness of our region, found in the diversity of its citizens, and we are demanding the inclusion of everyone at the table. We have and continue to invite a vast array of individuals and organizations to join with us to lift up the children in our community to lives of promise realized. By joining together, we will make their lives, and our own, safe and healthy, happy and strong.

Snack & Story Program
Child Watch provides snacks, arts & crafts and story time, as well as baby food, to over 10,000 children each year as they wait for their court hearing in the Allegheny County Children's Court. With food provided by Whole Foods; baby food, books and art supplies from corporate and private donors; and staffing from the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, Child Watch supplies snacks to each visitor to the playrooms supervised by the National Council of Jewish Women, and staffs an activities cart in the court waiting rooms on dependency hearing days. With the cooperation of the Sheriff's Office, we have recently initiated a program with the court's playroom staff to provide parents whose glass baby food jars are confiscated upon entry to the court with baby food in plastic containers.

Operation Safe Surf
Child Watch is working with the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to present Operation Safe Surf, an internet safety program for parents, children and young adults. In July 2007, Child Watch received a grant from the PPG Foundation to expand these efforts throughout the county, with a special emphasis on reaching parents and other community members.

Children's Court Videoconferencing Project
Child Watch is leading the community effort to obtain videoconferencing equipment for use in child abuse and neglect cases in Allegheny County Family Court, to protect children, help judges to obtain better information in their cases, and increase the time caseworkers can spend with families.

This project is the first in the nation to include community partners outside of the justice system, and is bringing together sites across the community, including several hospitals, mental health offices, and Children Youth & Family locations.

In addition to county support, we have obtained funding from the Maurice Falk Fund, the Birmingham Foundation and Children's Hospital to support this project. Equipment is currently being installed at the Family Court, Hearing and CYF Offices, Children's Hospital, Allegheny County Jail and Shuman Center.

We continue to seek other partners and funders for this important project.

Children's Court Adoption Celebrations
Child Watch ensures that, throughout the year, every adopted child in the county through Children's Court receives a gift bag on the day they join their "Forever Families", and helps to celebrate these new families on National Adoption Day each November.

Home Alone
Child Watch is partnering with the Allegheny County Department of Human Services Office of Children, Youth & Families to assist parents with finding appropriate child care, and with determining whether or not their children are old enough to be left "Home Alone". More information can be found at the DHS website, http://www.alleghenycounty.us/dhs/homealone.aspx.