Our Program

Program Description

Wholehearted Kids will provide child developmental assessments. They will also develop individualized services to children ages birth to three who are referred to the Early Start Program in Merced County. Services will be provided in the home and other natural environments as determined by the Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) process.

Assessments will be completed in the family home or other natural environment. Parents will also be presented with their child’s present level of development as determined in the assessment.

Goal of the Program

To provide a high-quality, comprehensive program for infants, toddlers, and their families to meet each child's and family’s needs. Wholehearted Kids will provide high-quality, on-going assessments to each infant, toddler, and their family.

Purpose & Philosophy of the Program Including Family Involvement

Our philosophy is that all children can learn, and the experts on each child is the parent, guardian, and/or caregiver. The role of the service providers in our program will be to facilitate opportunities in which the family can grow, learn, and understand each child’s unique abilities and to reflect upon the stages of development as they pertain to their child. Our team will honor the child-family relationship as the center of all learning.

The purpose of the program is to facilitate learning for each child through the relationship with a parent, guardian, or caregiver by supporting the Social Emotional Development of the child and any other area of need.

In addition, staff members will include Speech Language Pathologists (SLP), Infant Development Specialist (IDS), Nurse, Early Interventionists (EI), which will allow Wholehearted Kids to offer a full range of family centered activities, as well as consultation and direct instruction to children with developmental disabilities and to support their families/caregivers through the reflective practice process while keeping the needs of the family at the forefront of the relationship.

These specialists will be able to provide developmental assessments in the home or other natural environment, along with their parents, to determine each child’s specific needs. The assessments will respect social, economic, and cultural differences.

The overall focus is to determine individual abilities, as compared to chronological age expectations, using a family centered philosophy.

Parents will be encouraged to reflect positively on their child’s abilities as they gain an understanding of their child’s needs. The purpose is to enrich the parent’s knowledge so they can become advocates for their child and have an understanding of the educational and community resources available. This training is necessary in the transition from early start services to a preschool program.