Mission: The mission is to improve the well-being of Arizona's children and families through programs that strengthen child care, youth and families.
Programs: Child & adult care food program reimburses family child care providers for the cost of serving nutritious meals and snacks to children in their care. Cacfp also holds annual nutrition workshops. For the year ended june 30, 2014, there were 865 childcare providers who participated in the food program.
healthy families is a community-based multi-disciplinary program which provides support services to families with newborns. For the year ended june 30, 2014, there were a total of 1,853 families served in the healthy families program.
early intervention programs provide home-based intervention services for infants and toddlers who have, or are at risk for development delays. This is achieved through the development and implementation of a comprehensive, coordinated, and community based service delivery system which is family- focused and culturally appropriate. For the year ended june 30, 2014, there were a total of 3,298 children served in the early prevention programs.
provider training and enhancement programs - the arizona infant/toddler institute provides comprehensive training to infant/toddler caregivers at no cost. Training is based on a nationally recognized curriculum. The project more program partners with more than 20 early childhood centers in tucson to help improve quality, enhance early childhood literacy, and increase caregiver capacity to help children learn. Program specialists provide training, assistance and mentoring and also assist centers with certification/licensing. Quality first is arizona's voluntary quality improvement program for early care and education programs serving children birth through age 5. Child care centers receive financial incentives, professional development, access to child care health consultants and coaching.
My first experience with Child and Family Resources was as a professional. I am a pediatric physical therapist and I worked in early intervention with staff from CFR. I was very impressed with the expertise, care and support that they gave to children and their families. When I retired and was looking for a place where I could make a contribution, a board member asked me if I would be interested in joining the board of CFR.
Since becoming a board member, I have been impressed with the professionalism, expertise and organization of the program management. The great work that is so obvious when working with the staff is a reflection of the great work done by the administrative personnel and in many programs within the CFR umbrella. I have learned about many more programs than just early intervention, include work with teachers to help them deal with special needs children, programs to work with teenage mothers and programs to work within the community.
This is a great organization and I am proud to be a part of it.
Child and Family Resources is a truly special nonprofit. Under the strong and steady leadership of its CEO Eric Schindler and his leadership team, CFR continues to provide extraordinary service to all its clients and partners on a daily basis, across all service areas and across the state; maintains a workplace that truly honors its employees' skills, talents, interests and needs, and is therefore a great place to work; focuses resources effectively to meet and exceed expectations; engages in a continual process of self-evaluation and improvement... I could go on and on. On a personal note, I have now served on the Board for two years, and it is a true joy. I have served on several boards over the years, but never before have I felt such a sense of ownership and pride in the organization I've served. I am thrilled to share my knowledge of CFR with the community, I'm always impressed with what I learn from staff, and I am honored to be on a board with such amazing colleagues from various disciplines and life experiences. CFR truly is a special place.
