Child Guidance Honors 65 Years of Prevention, Intervention and Education
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma State Department of Health, this November, will commemorate the 65th anniversary of Child Guidance, a statewide program that promotes and supports healthy family relationships and child development through prevention, education, screenings, treatment, and consultation services for families and caregivers of children from birth to age 13 in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma’s first Child Guidance clinics opened in Muskogee and Pittsburg Counties in 1956. Today, Child Guidance services are available through local county health departments located in regional hubs statewide, and through contracts with the Child Study Center in Oklahoma County and the Tulsa Health Department.
Child Guidance staff – including behavioral health clinicians, child development specialists, speech language pathologists and social workers – offer emotional support and practical solutions to handle family life through prevention, intervention and education.
“Child Guidance services are relationship-based, family-centric, trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive,” said Beth Martin, Family Support & Prevention Service director. “Our goal is to encourage healthy behaviors that strengthen family bonds, and to help families deal with life challenges that may seem daunting or impossible to overcome.”
Program services include parent-child relationships; challenging behaviors; positive discipline; child development; increasing communication skills; children and divorce; infant/toddler mental health; foster care and adoption; children with special needs; sleep and bedtime routines; grandparenting; teen parenting; and helping children cope with trauma, grief and loss.
Child Guidance services are provided on a sliding fee scale, based on income and number of people in the family. Services are covered under SoonerCare. Free phone consultation is available for childcare providers and parents via the Oklahoma Warmline at 1-888-574-5437. The Warmline is answered Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can also reach the Warmline at warmline@health.ok.gov.
For more information about the Child Guidance program, visit oklahoma.gov/health/family-health/child-guidance-program, email ChildGuidance@health.ok.gov, or call your local county health department.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) protects and improves public health through its system of local health services and strategies focused on preventing disease. OSDH provides technical support and guidance to 68 county health departments in Oklahoma, as well as guidance and consultation to the two independent city-county health departments in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Learn more at Oklahoma.gov/health.
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