Diane Flanagan (center) Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin’s Senior Project Manager for Oral Health, presents CAP Services’ Rachel Smola (left) and Deana Hirte (right) with the Alliance’s Outstanding Partner Award at its recent Oral Health Conference in Stevens Point.
CAP Services’ Early Head Start (EHS) program received an Outstanding Partner Award from Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin during the Alliance’s 2016 Oral Health Conference September 27-28 in Stevens Point.
The award recognizes CAP’s four-year relationship with Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin’s Earlier Is Better (EIB) program, a parent oral health education program for pregnant women and families with children younger than age 3 enrolled in EHS. Home visitors/parent educators are trained by EIB staff to use the Parent Oral Health Education Toolkit to support families with knowledge that informs and guides oral health decision-making.
“Our staff are always providing the Early Head Start families with the necessary toothbrushes, toothpaste and family educational magnets needed to continue to make the family’s oral health care important,” said Rachel Smola, CAP’s Early Childhood Development Health Services Coordinator. “Good communication has been a big part of our success with this program.”
CAP’s EHS staff has been exceptional in completing the EIB training and research. Over the last research year, CAP returned 43 percent of all the research surveys turned in through EIB. CAP also is the first program to participate in a parent focus group meeting.
CAP Services, Inc. is a private, nonprofit community action agency that has been advancing social and economic justice for low-income people in Marquette, Outagamie, Portage, Waupaca and Waushara counties since 1966. CAP’s EHS program is a federally funded program, locally designed and implemented, providing quality prenatal and early childhood development services to low-income children and their families. For more information, visit capservices.org.
Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin is a statewide voice for children’s health. It raises awareness, mobilizes leaders, impacts public health and implements programs proven to work and is affiliated with Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. Its key initiatives are asthma, early literacy, emergency care, grief and bereavement, injury prevention and death review, medical home, and oral health. Learn more at chawisconsin.org.