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Children & Family Resource Services
Welcome Every Baby nurses made 900 maternal-infant home visits last year. Health Linkages provided 850 preschoolers with health screenings, 4,200 students had dental screenings and 200 children received braces. Promotores helped 7,000 individuals.
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Children's Creative Project
The Children’s Creative Project (CCP) supports arts education in Santa Barbara County’s schools. In 2019-2020, this included 400 performances for 50,000 children at 90 school sites along with performing arts workshops at school sites, and large events with touring national and international artists. CCP also hosts the annual I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival which was held online in 2020.
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Partners in Education
26,030 volunteer hours served at 77 school and non-profit sites 58 high schoolers received paid work experience at 33 businesses 371 computers distributed to local families - this is the tremendous impact of Partners in Education. Will you partner with us?
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The state of in-person instruction for students in Santa Barbara County; vaccines for education and child care staffThousands of students in Santa Barbara County have not been on a campus since March 2020, and too many families are weary with concern for their children’s well-being. All youth deserve equitable opportunities to thrive; they need routines that involve peers, interaction, play, and belonging. They need their talented teachers to foster those in-class relationships that bring joy, inspiration, and motivation for students and teachers alike. Online learning, which has proven to be successful for many, does not fulfill our collective mission to guarantee equity and access for all.
The path to reopening schools for in-person instruction has been steeped in the most dynamic challenges imaginable. Despite the hurdles, many smaller schools and districts in Santa Barbara County reopened in-person instruction as early as last fall. Smaller should not be confused with simple, as these school teams worked tirelessly to address innumerable details and implement all safety practices and protocols in order to reopen and remain open. However, reopening a school for 100 students is considerably different than reopening a district with 20 schools of more than 16,000 students. The larger the schools and districts, the more time, staff, and financial resources are needed to meet the requirements necessary to reopen.
Several school districts in Santa Barbara County are ready to open now, or as soon as they get permission to do so. Others are pursuing additional state or federal funding to secure required resources for reopening and/or are awaiting improved local health and safety data to reflect their community’s readiness for reopening.
