Luzerne County Head Start (LCHS) recently started its Parent Café program as a way to build lasting connections and establish a safe and supportive environment for parents/caregivers of the children LCHS serves.  The program is offered through “Be Strong Families” a nonprofit organization that works to nurture the spirit of family, promote well-being and prevent violence. Parent Cafes are physically and emotionally safe spaces where parents and caregivers talk about the challenges and victories of raising a family.  Participants explore their strengths, learn about Protective Factors, and create strategies from their own wisdom and experiences to help strengthen their families. 

A team of six including LCHS’s family engagement team, assistant executive director and one parent participated in a 3-day training in August of 2020 to be certified to conduct Parent Cafés within Luzerne County Head Start.  Since August, LCHS has held four cafés with families from our Edwardsville center.  Three more cafés are planned for the spring at another location within the agency. Another team of five from LCHS, including three family workers, two family educators and one parent recently received training.  They, too, are now able to facilitate Parent Cafés across the agency.

The Parent Café program falls in line with LCHS’s vision, which supports children growing and thriving in a nurturing environment of parents, family, neighborhood, and community where they and their families have options and opportunities for optimum growth, development, and learning.

(Article from the Citizen’s Voice – 12/16/20) The air inside Luzerne County Head Start facilities is now cleaner after the organization invested in high-end air purifiers designed to mitigate the risk of COVID-19.

Head Start used federal pandemic relief grants to purchase 77 EnviroKlenz Air System Plus machines for its 26 facilities in Luzerne and Wyoming counties.

“Not all of our classrooms and offices have windows,” said Dawn Smith, director of operations for the local Head Start and chief of its COVID-19 reopening task force.

Children who attend Head Start are currently getting their instruction remotely, but staff members are reporting to the office.

While the organization has followed social distancing and cleaning guidelines, the air purifiers are an added level of protection, Smith said.

“I can’t say I noticed a big difference, but it makes us feel more confident and comfortable,” Smith said.

The devices, which cost $799 each, use advanced technology to capture and destroy airborne particulates, allergens, bacteria, and viruses. After the particles are trapped, an ultraviolet light kills them, according to the manufacturer Timilon Technology.

Smith said she did a lot of research about air quality since the pandemic struck. Since Head Start only owns two of the 26 facilities it operates, leaders figured the portable devices would be of good use.

“We purchased them to help with COVID when the children and families do come back to make them feel comfortable and safe,” Smith said. “But there’s always flu, there’s always other types of viruses happening. It’s just to have better air quality. It’s an investment now but it’s going to continue to be used forever.”