Park Center News

Early Childhood Day Treatment Success!

About 10 years ago, the Family Education Center (FEC) program was established together with Fort Wayne Community Schools to better serve the emotional and behavioral needs of the special education population.  Prior to the inception of this program, those students in the Fort Wayne Community School system were either sent to a residential placement or served through home-bound education.  The FEC had become so successful that the manager of that program, Linda Hartley, began to address the emotional and behavioral concerns of preschoolers.  Linda knew that children affected with autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, and issues of abuse and neglect lose precious time and educational opportunity if early intervention is not addressed.  Thus, the THREE WISHES EARLY CHILDHOOD DAY TREATMENT program was established and serves children who cannot atend a typical daycare or pre-school due to their negative behaviors.  This therapeutic program, based on clinical need, is reimburseable through Medicaid.  Parent involvement, case mamnegement, and home visits are mainstays of the program.

During Park Center's last accreditation visit, site surveyors from the Comminssion on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) gave the program an exemplary rating.  CARF surveys over 1,500 accredited programs on an annual basis.  Their comments were, "The Three Wishes program serves children (ages 3 to 6) with the most challenging issues, and the positive outcomes have exceeded expectations of referral sources.  It's stellar reputation is well-deserved, and the program could serve as a model of best practice."  Creativity; flexibility; and collaboration between staff, children and parents have led to client change in so many positive directions. 

This program has been so successful, a similar preschool program was established several years ago  in Bluffton as a part of Park Center’s Bluffton Counseling Services, called BRIGHT BEGINNINGS.  

Read on for some great customer feedback about these two programs:

“My wife and I would like to express our deepest appreciation for the services provided by your organization (Three Wishes).  Becky Heffernan has continually shown a genuine concern for your son’s welfare.  At times when we felt like we were the only ones going through the obstacles facing us with our son’s ADHD, she made us feel comfortable in that we were not in this alone.  Her frequent phone calls regarding his progress were a true comfort to us as a family.  She has constantly shown continued support for the decisions we have made for our son.  We never felt like were just another case to her.  We now consider her as part of our extended family.  Her ideas for his treatment plan were always well-founded and supported by her unwavering commitment to us as a family unit.  Thank you so much for allowing Ms. Heffernan to play such a vital role in our lives.  Her input and recommendations will no doubt affect this family for the rest of our lives! "                             
                                                                                 - - family member comment received

“Our foster daughter graduated from your Three Wishes program recently.  We wanted to make you aware of how pleased we were with the program and how thankful we are that it was available to us.  The program helped our daughter learn to identify and express her feelings.  It taught her social skills and coping skills.  The staff was outstanding.  They were mature, patient, understanding and caring. We especially wanted to acknowledge the work of Ms. Clements.  She was always professional, insightful, well-informed and enthusiastic.  Her work with our family was invaluable. “

                                                                                     - - family member comment received

We had a client referred to the Bright Beginnings Summer Treatment Program. The client, age 4, had presented with typical development until age 2 when he began to slow down in reaching the developmental milestones. He began to engage in temper tantrums everyday with family when not getting his way. He had begun to engage in repetitive noises and hand movements at this time.

During the beginning of the summer program the client presented with atypical social skills for his age and had immense difficulty maintaining attention. The client was hyperactive and anxious using repetitive speech during interaction, continuously stating “I want to go home” and “I want my mom” to staff and even quietly to himself when working on a project. The client had persistent difficulty maintaining eye contact and did not actively participate with peers even with redirection. The client was tearful and withdrawn, requiring constant reassurance that he would be able to go home after the program.

Throughout the summer program we saw significant changes in the client. He began to improve with following instruction and redirection. He was able to focus more on activities to be able to better participate. He was able to make his needs known in a more appropriate manner instead of shouting or crying. He was more willing to participate in activities that involved cooperation with peers and even activities where physical touch was involved, such as sharing musical chairs and partner Simon Says. We began to see the client express less frequently that he wanted his mom and wanted to go home. Even though he still engaged in repetitive speech and hand movements, he had become less overt with the displays. The client’s mother expressed to staff at Bright Beginnings how much of a positive change she had seen in her son and has enrolled him Bright Beginnings Pre-School for the fall.

                                                                                                            - - information used with permission from parent

To find out more regarding:
 

FEC or Three Wishes, call:  (260) 969-4814

For the Bluffton program, call:  (260) 824-1071