WDIV Local 4 recently featured our very own Lance Reed (Education, Curriculum and Disability Manager Birth to Five Program) on their What’s the Buzz segment. With kids about to head back to school, the topic appropriately was: “How Do You Get Into the School Spirit?” The burning question: What is the biggest mistake that parents make when it comes to their kids on the first day of school? According to Lance, “In early childhood development schools, we often see separation anxiety with not only the children, but the parents as well. The biggest mistake we see is the parents staying around too long. Drop the kids off so that we can begin to build that bond and build that safety net so that they can start to trust us." … [Read more...]

WDIV Local 4 aired a special segment on July 22, 2018, about the amazing partnership between Beaumont Health and Starfish Family Services and how it has been a benefit to new mothers in the community. Sandra Ali, who was the emcee at Starfish's Great Hearts Gala in May, spoke with the family featured during the event presentation. The program pairs new mothers with Infant Mental Health Therapists to guide and support them through motherhood. Watch the video below: … [Read more...]

By SHERRI WELCH Nonprofit is defining, standardizing its early child care service model Model integrates behavioral health, trauma-informed approach to more holistically serve children Effort could set the stage for other early child-care providers to replicate model Ann Kalass, CEO, Starfish Family Services Starfish Family Services is working on a "playbook" to enable other child-care providers to replicate its service model, which combines early childhood education with behavioral health, parent support and an approach that takes into account traumatic experiences and their effects on behavior. To do that, the nonprofit first is working to define and standardize the model within its own operations. Traumas, such as the loss of a parent, an unsafe living environment or family member addicted to drugs or alcohol often get in the way of children's learning, healthy development and growth, said Starfish CEO Ann … [Read more...]