Early Head Start reaches out to homebound children

SOMERTON — In a new pilot program, Chicanos Por La Causa will take its Early Head Start child education program to toddlers in Yuma County who can't come to the organization's day care centers.

In the Phoenix-based nonprofit organization's Family Child Care project, state-certified Chicanos personnel will go into homes to provide early childhood and education services, said Artuno Magana, Chicanos' regional manager for operations in Somerton.

At present, Chicanos only provides Early Head Start services at its centers around Yuma County, but the new program will allow it to reach children who, because of health or physical reasons, are better served in a home environment, he said.

Early Head Start is a federally funded program that provides early education, health and nutrition and other services for children of up to 3 years in age from low-income families.

The FCC projects will initially bring those same services into the homes of 20 of a total 854 children in the county who receive Early Head Start care, Magana said.

Yuma County becomes the first place in Arizona where Chicanos will put the pilot program in effect, Magana said.