Family Project

The social project that I have come up with is called the Family Project. This project is aimed towards the families who have children with disabilities or special needs. This project is not to take the children and just work with them but to also better educate the families on how to better communicate and understand their child or children who have a disability or special need.

As the years go by there are more and more families who are having children that have a handicap or some kind of special needs. After doing some research it shows that nine times out of ten the mother is a single mom trying to work and take care of their child. So with this being said the women are turning toward self employment so that they are able to meet all the needs necessary for their child or children.

"In 2006, The Catherine E. Cutler Institute for Child and Family policy released showed that one out of ten children in Maine, or 10.4 percent ahs a diagnosed disability and or chronic health condition (Gigi Guyton)." Along with this being said studies have also shown that these parents who have children with special needs are being faced with the challenges of finding child care, so that they are able to go to work.

With the number of children with special needs going up, it means that there is a higher demand for programs to help these children. Many parents are being faced with that daycares won't take these children do to the lack of education, staff, and the safety of the other children. Some of these children who have these medical conditions can be mild to severe. Meaning that these children just have a slight handicap which means that they just need help with their daily activities. Then there are children who have more severe cases, which cause stress and fear for some parents. Some of these children are capable of hurting themselves and others. So this would cause more stress for the parents to find a childcare that will take their child.

Here in my area there is a agency called the Children's Center. There are only three of these facilities in Maine; all three are about forty five miles apart from each other. So with this being said this agency does not cover all of Maine so it makes it hard for those who live in Eastern and Southern Maine. "The Children's Center has an environment and programs that are completely geared to meet the individual needs of each young child, whatever his or hers needs (Children's Center)." This agency also has childcare along with helping the kids special needs, and all of these children are intermingled in the classrooms so that those with and without special needs can learn to better understand one another and communicate. This center has a lot to offer the children and families who are coping with a disability. The only down fall is that there are only three of these centers and they only serve central and some of Southern Maine.

Why do I want to address this problem? I want to address this problem due to personal and non-personal reasons. The main problem that I want to address is having more of the same programs and organizations that are spread all over the state of Maine; to help ensure that all of the families and children are able to get the adequate help they need. Another reason why I want to forgo this program is because the numbers of children being born that are autistic, handicapped etc. And I want to ensure that these children receive the help that they need to make sure that they grow and are praised for their potential that they have. Also at the same time I want to help the parents by educating and showing them some ways on to better their child at home and also lower the stress for the parents as well. So with developing the Family Project it will cover all of Maine to ensure that all the children and families have the opportunity to grow without having to drive three hours way to get the help they need.

Timeline:

 In sixty days have a lease for the building space.

 Thirty days have the building equipped to meet the needs of the cliental.

 Ninety days start accepting a small group of cliental.

 Two hundred and seventy days start increasing the cliental along with adding more additional services.

 Two years be all settled in and continuing the services and cliental.

Who are the gainers and losers?

In this case there are no losers due to the great outreach program that our program has. Our program and staff are trained to spread the word and go into the community to seek the families and children in need, to help better educate the families so that he child can grow and develop the way that they should .

The mission of the Family Project is to meet and offer the needs of the children. By offering programs that are geared around individuals growth, and to provide educational services for the parents

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