First Steps, Inc.
Programs
Budget
$1,738,010.00
Description
The First Steps Community Outreach Program consists of 15 Developmental Therapists that travel to a child's home, childcare center, or other natural setting to spend time each week in play-based interventions geared towards the child's goals. Mentoring with parents and other caregivers in these natural settings and preparing them with tools to continue these techniques is an important part of this program. The Ayundando Ninos (Helping Children) program is a part of the Community Outreach Program that works with children from multi-cultural families, offering interpreters to assist in communication and other cultural barriers.
Beneficiaries
Infants and Toddlers
Families
People with other disabilities and/or are neurodivergent
Program Areas Served
Nashville, TN
$1,738,010.00
Description
The First Steps Community Outreach Program consists of 15 Developmental Therapists that travel to a child's home, childcare center, or other natural setting to spend time each week in play-based interventions geared towards the child's goals. Mentoring with parents and other caregivers in these natural settings and preparing them with tools to continue these techniques is an important part of this program. The Ayundando Ninos (Helping Children) program is a part of the Community Outreach Program that works with children from multi-cultural families, offering interpreters to assist in communication and other cultural barriers.
Beneficiaries
Infants and Toddlers
Families
People with other disabilities and/or are neurodivergent
Program Areas Served
Nashville, TN
Budget
$624,281.00
Description
The First Steps Pediatric Therapy program offers occupational, speech/language, physical, and feeding therapies to children, birth to age 12, in the McWhorter Family Children's Center. First Steps provides an integrated, team approach to Pediatric Therapy, with individualized goal-setting customized to each family's needs.
Beneficiaries
People with physical disabilities
Children and Youth (0 - 19 years)
People/Families with of People with Disabilities
Program Areas Served
Nashville, TN
$624,281.00
Description
The First Steps Pediatric Therapy program offers occupational, speech/language, physical, and feeding therapies to children, birth to age 12, in the McWhorter Family Children's Center. First Steps provides an integrated, team approach to Pediatric Therapy, with individualized goal-setting customized to each family's needs.
Beneficiaries
People with physical disabilities
Children and Youth (0 - 19 years)
People/Families with of People with Disabilities
Program Areas Served
Nashville, TN
Budget
$1,388,260.00
Description
The inclusive McWhorter Family Children's Center offers full-time care and education to children with special needs alongside their typically developing peers ages six weeks to five years. First Steps serves children who are often turned away from other programs due to the severity of their health issues, medical needs, or limited resources. The staff is highly trained and provides each child the individual attention they need, recognizing that each child has a distinct set of strengths and challenges. Staff reports daily to parents and caregivers via Teaching Strategies Gold on their child's progress, while providing tools to continue these techniques in their home environment. First Steps provides children with a curriculum rich in literacy and developmental skills while encouraging healthy lifestyles.
Beneficiaries
Infants and Toddlers
People with other disabilities and/or are neurodivergent
People with physical disabilities
Program Areas Served
Nashville, TN
$1,388,260.00
Description
The inclusive McWhorter Family Children's Center offers full-time care and education to children with special needs alongside their typically developing peers ages six weeks to five years. First Steps serves children who are often turned away from other programs due to the severity of their health issues, medical needs, or limited resources. The staff is highly trained and provides each child the individual attention they need, recognizing that each child has a distinct set of strengths and challenges. Staff reports daily to parents and caregivers via Teaching Strategies Gold on their child's progress, while providing tools to continue these techniques in their home environment. First Steps provides children with a curriculum rich in literacy and developmental skills while encouraging healthy lifestyles.
Beneficiaries
Infants and Toddlers
People with other disabilities and/or are neurodivergent
People with physical disabilities
Program Areas Served
Nashville, TN
CEO/Executive Director/Board Comments
| All children enrolled in programs at First Steps are working toward individualized goals designed to enhance their development whether they are a child with developmental disabilities or one who is developing typically. We partner with families, on an on-going basis, to ensure their needs and concerns are addressed as they relate to the health and development of their child. Over 950 children and their families are served annually. The vast majority, 94%, of the children have a disability or delay of some type. Each year, approximately 90% of children enrolled make measurable progress toward their goals in the areas of communication, cognition, motor, adaptive, and social development. The First Steps Child Development Center serves children with disabilities in an inclusive environment. Inclusion means that the education and care of all children, with and without disabilities, takes place within the routines and activities of everyday life. All children benefit from this approach. Children with disabilities are provided with realistic life experiences that prepare them to live in the community. They are also able to interact with peers, thereby learning social or communicative skills. Typically developing children benefit from this environment as well. They are provided with models of people who achieve despite challenges and develop healthy and positive attitudes about the uniqueness of others. The Community Outreach Program is able to meet the needs of children with disabilities by serving those who are too medically fragile to enroll in a childcare center, those whose parents choose the home environment, and those who are enrolled in another community childcare center but need some educational support. The Pediatric Therapy Program offers occupational, speech/language, physical, and feeding therapies. Pediatric Therapy is part of our integrated, team approach to offering children and families the best options to support their needs. |
