By Brian McVicar LaQuanda Murphy is counting down the months until September. That's when her four-year-old son, Kaycen, will qualify for free preschool through the state's Great Start Readiness Program. It's a big deal to the Saginaw area single mother for two reasons: her son will get a high-quality education, and her $500 monthly bill for childcare will disappear. "I definitely feel it in my pocketbook," said Murphy, 29, who works for the U.S. Postal Service. "It all just boils down to readjusting, because I have to do it." While Michigan provides free, state-funded preschool for 4-year-olds from low-to-moderate-income families, it offers little financial help for families with children ages three and younger. Research has shown that children's brains develop rapidly from birth to age three - making early childhood learning an important stepping stone. High-quality childcare promotes strong social, emotional and language development, putting children on the path to … [Read more...]

Download Full Press Release (PDF) INKSTER, MICH. (Dec. 4, 2017) –Starfish Family Services has received a $76,000 grant from the Dresner Foundation in support of launching Phase II of Starfish Family Services’ Building Resilient Communities (BRC) initiative. Starfish launched BRC in response to one of our most serious public health threats- childhood trauma, which can harm social-emotional development and eventually physical health. Studies show 1 in 4 children experience trauma by preschool, but key adults in a child’s life can be trained to be a buffer against traumatic experiences. Thus, Phase I of BRC consisted of, embedding trained trauma therapists into preschool classrooms, screening all Starfish preschoolers for trauma, and implementing a ten-month Trauma Smart© training program for the first wave of 140 staff persons. Developed by experts at Crittenton Children’s Center, Trauma Smart©, is an evidence-based intervention model, recognized, by the U.S. Department of Health and … [Read more...]