Episcopal Community Services

Programs: Head start and early head start: head start promotes the school readiness of young children from low-income families through agencies in their local community. Head start and early head start programs support the mental, social, and emotional development of children from birth to age 5. In addition to education services, programs provide children and their families with health, nutrition, social, and other services. Head start services are responsive to each child and family's ethnic, cultural, and linguistic heritage. Ecs head start and early head start programs provide early childhood development, healthy nutritious meals and education services to over 2000 low income preschool children and their families. Services are delivered in a variety of settings including 14 centers, 9 public school settings (in partnership with the chula vista and south bay elementary school districts) as well as in 22 family child care centers and over 400 homes. Ecs partners with the juvenile court and community schools to operate a head start program for children of pregnant and parenting teens while they pursue their education.

housing & clinical services:1. Ecs accord empowers adults to stop driving under the influence of alcohol and / or drugs. It is a fee-based, state licensed dui treatment program providing drug and alcohol education and counseling services. Over 75% of the approximately 4,500 clients successfully complete the program, which is higher than the statewide average. 2. Ecs para las familias empowers families with children struggling with the adverse effects of complex trauma; a significant number of the children are in foster care. The services (provided to approximately 300 low income families (see schedule o for continued descriptions) with children aged birth to five years) are bi-lingual and include behavioral healthcare screening, assessment, family therapy and school observation. Ecs para las familias also provides behavioral health services to children and families enrolled in head start programs in the south bay and north county. 3. Ecs safe havens empower mentally ill homeless adults to transition to permanent housing. These are 'harm reduction' sites where the philosophy is to first house and stabilize the residents and then work on an individualized plan to assist them in improving their mental and physical health, income and life skills. Approximately 110 adults go through the two safe havens each year in the downtown area of san diego, the area with the highest concentration of homeless. In addition to being homeless, these adults have also been diagnosed with a mental illness and most have a substance use disorder. 4. Ecs friend to friend empowers homeless adults by providing a street -based program to over 1000 homeless, mentally ill adults with substance use disorders. Services include outreach, advocacy, referral and linkage, case management and vocational reintegration services. Friend to friend has a full-time ssi/ssdi advocate, a vocational rehab specialist, a peer counselor, a computer lab and many classes and discussion groups such as music, art and writing therapy; wellness and recovery, medication for success, roadmap to recovery, vocational interviewing and job search as well as social activities. 5. Ecs central east regional recovery center provides substance use disorder treatment to more than 400 clients annually in the central region of san diego. On site mental health services, case management and vocational assistance are also provided.

ecs nutrition services programs provides over 625,000 high quality, balanced meals and snacks annually to the children enrolled in ecs head start and early head start programs and the adults served in ecs safe haven programs.