Committee Purpose Statement | Current Projects | Community Partners | Training Opportunities

Current Projects

Parents As Teachers (PAT)

Program Information | PAT Brochure | History and Background | Quotes from Families | FAQ's

Parents As Teachers is a free, voluntary, confidential family education and support program serving families with kids pre-natal to kindergarten entry in Dubuque County. It is administered through Four Oaks in Dubuque. Parents are their children's first and best teachers. PAT is based on helping parents become more involved with their children. PAT families participate in parent-child activities to learn and receive valuable handouts on child development. PAT helps children score higher on school readiness tests and helps parents gain more confidence in their skills and get support in dealing with key issues of raising children. Once signed up with the program, parents receive the following free services - two home visits per month; group meetings on parenting topics; screenings such as vision, hearing, dental, lead, immunizations, and Denver II; and connections with community resources. For more information, contact Parents As Teachers at (563) 557-3100 or 205 Bluff Street, Third Floor, Dubuque, IA 52001.

Kindergarten Assessment and Survey - At the direction of the Dubuque County Empowerment Board, the kindergarten survey was developed by Kindergarten and Early Childhood staff in Dubuque County as a means of measuring readiness for school. Kindergarten teachers survey students during the month of September in all areas of development and readiness including Self Management, Social/Emotional, Motor, Communication, and Cognitive Skills. The results are then tabulated and shared with the Empowerment Board and with all schools in Dubuque County. Each school also receives a synopsis of their own school's data.

This data will be utilized to identify gaps in service to preschool aged children, to identify preschool programs that may benefit from assistance from the Empowerment Area, to identify geographic areas in Dubuque County where resources are needed, and to monitor the quality of our preschool and child care programs. After the first survey, the area of "Reading" was added to help us identify educational needs related to Literacy. We ask how often children are read to and at what age parents began reading to their children. This information will be used to direct our literacy campaign for children in Dubuque County.

VNA Acute Care - Through the Visiting Nurses Association (VNA), Empowerment helps to fund acute medical visits for uninsured children aged 0-5 years. The grant provides emergent medical and dental care as well as physical examinations needed for school entry.

Clarke College - Through the nursing program at Clarke College, Empowerment helps to fund infant and medical supplies (e.g., formula, diapers, over-the-counter medicine) to be distributed through home visits. Nursing students go on visits to high-risk families who were referred to the program. The emphasis of the home visits is to promote optimal health and development of all family members. In addition, interventions help to improve family coping skills and functioning, promote positive parenting to help prevent child abuse and neglect, and to reduce morbidity and mortality. Students also link families to medical providers, Medicaid, and/or HAWK-I to ensure timely immunizations and well-child care.