Draft Child Guidance Program

• Ensure children thrive within relationships through relationship-based strategies that strengthen infants, toddlers, school age children & their caregivers.
• Provide individual, family and group therapy and interventions for trauma, behavior change and promotion of healthy relationships that impact health and well-being across the lifespan.
• Provide infant mental health assessment and treatment to support early childhood and family well-being.
• Administer psychosocial and behavioral screenings, assessments, and evaluations of children.
• Provide consultation to childcare centers via Early Childhood Mental Health Consultations to build, strengthen, and enhance childcare professionals through programmatic consultation.
• Provide evidence-based psycho-educational programs including facilitation of parenting and children’s groups.
• Collaborate with community organizations to ensure systems are in place to meet families’ social emotional needs
• Identify and reduce risk factors, increase protective factors that provide a buffer against negative outcomes for children and prevent and/or lessen the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).
• Provide trauma informed strategies to enhance families’ ability to provide safe, stable and nurturing relationships and protective environments.
• Consult with community agencies and school systems on behalf of clients and provide special programs as requested.
• Provide treatment services that are trauma informed and developmentally appropriate to support child and family wellbeing.
• Provides training and consultation to community professionals including but not limited to school personnel, Department of Human Service caseworkers, other mental health professionals, public school and Head Start teachers.

Behavioral Health services are provided by licensed mental health professionals.

Speech Language Pathology staff:

• Facilitate the early identification of children with a communication delay.
• Refer children who are eligible for services to the appropriate resource.
• Train, educate and consult with parents and professionals on techniques to promote optimal communication development.
• Treat children who may not be eligible for public school or Sooner Start early intervention programs.
• Promote health habits which decrease the likelihood that children will be born with, or acquire, a communication disorder.
• Speech/language evaluation and treatment

Speech, Language Pathology Services are provided by licensed Speech-Language Pathologists. Target Population: Families with children from birth to 12.

For more information about available speech-language services and programs, contact your local Child Guidance clinic. 

Child Development services are provided by a Child Development Specialist who holds a master’s degree and a certificate of Certified Child and Parenting Specialist through the Oklahoma Family Resource Coalition. 

A Child Development Specialist can help you: 

• Enhance parent-child relationships and the development of young children by providing information and teaching parenting skills to parents of infants, toddlers, and pre-school children.
• Prevent or reduce developmental problems in young children.
• Assist with coping strategies and resiliency for families and children under stress.
• Screen children’s development while providing information to parents regarding developmental strengths and milestones.
• Assess children’s development by gathering information about the child to provide an ecological approach consisting of behavior observations, environmental, medical and developmental history, parent-child relationship measures and developmental assessment utilizing standardized tests. 
• Provide parent consultation and intervention regarding the child’s development and behavior through individual services, which may include coaching, modeling, providing in-depth information, using reflective practice and training specific parenting skills.
• Teach evidence-based parent education groups and providing workshops to promote positive parenting, enhance child development and strengthen family interactions.
• Provide consultation with Early Head Start/Head Start and preschool programs (public and private).
• Provide various contracted services to Early Head Start/Head Start (where applicable per each county health department).
• Provide child development trainings that focus on children's social-emotional cognitive, communication and motor development to childcrae programs, Early Head Start/Head Start programs, and preschool programs (public and private).
• Participate with other health department programs or community organizations to ensure systems are in place to meet families' needs; and
• Consult regarding children's behavior and development, and parenting issues with professionals inside and outside of the health department.

Target Population: Families with children from birth through 8 years of age.