Early Head Start services soon will be available in some neighborhoods of southern, northern and western Allegheny County because of a $720,000 federal stimulus grant received by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.

The funds were awarded to the Family and Community Education Services department of the AIU and will be used to serve 72 families in the Bethel Park/South Park area, Carnegie area and Bellevue/West View area, said Dina Stipetic, program director for the AIU's Early Head Start program.

The AIU hopes to recruit 24 families from each of the areas and to start providing services in August.

The areas were chosen because they currently have no Early Head Start programs. Much of eastern Allegheny County already is served by other programs, Ms. Stipetic said.

Head Start is a national program that promotes school readiness for low-income children by enhancing their social, cognitive and academic skills and finding nutritional and health services for families that need those services.

Early Head Start begins with prenatal services for pregnant women and continues working with the family until children are eligible for Head Start, usually at age 3.

When the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was approved in 2009, it included $1.1 billion for Early Head Start programs, allowing agencies to expand their services to new communities.

The AIU applied for some of those funds and will match the $720,000 with $176,210 in local funds.

"In some of these communities, we've had Head Start services for a while. Early Head Start is different in that we work [with] pregnant moms and children through 2-3 years of age," Ms. Stipetic said.

Most of the families served will receive in-home services consisting of weekly 90-minute sessions. In addition, parent-child playgroup sessions will be held twice at month in the areas where the programs are offered.

The program will provide pregnant mothers with information about prenatal health, nutrition and exercise.

"We will be sure they are seeing doctors and will provide them with transportation to doctor's appointments, if necessary. Once the children are born, we will continue to work with them on child care issues," Ms. Stipetic said.

For families with toddlers, the 90-minute sessions will include parent and child activities and educational time for parents.

"We will also do general screenings for hearing and vision," Ms. Stipetic said.

Ms. Stipetic said she hopes to be able to partner with dentists and pediatricians who may be willing to provide services to the families and with community organizations that can help the parents find jobs.

The AIU will use federal poverty guidelines to determine whether families are eligible for the program.

To participate, call the AIU at 412-394-5880 or Allegheny Early Childhood Center's enrollment line at 866-214-5437. Or go to the AIU's website, www.aiu3.net.

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