Mental Health and Disabilities Service

The Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County Migrant and Seasonal Head Start program works with children and their families in a variety of ways. Mental wellness services are a very unique and important part of this program and serve to build a solid foundation for strong social skills and positive self-esteem later in life.

Migrant and Seasonal Head Start makes special efforts to ensure that children with special needs are able to participate in all aspects of the program in an inclusive classroom environment. The program reserves at least 10 % of its enrollment slots for children with disabilities and no child will be denied enrollment because of a disability.

The Migrant and Seasonal Head Start program works in conjunction with community resources and contracts with private agencies to provide needed services for our children and families. This makes the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start program an integral part of the system of early identification, referral, and therapeutic interventions.

CAPSLO’s Migrant and Seasonal Head Start uses a family-centered approach to address the needs of all children and their families, including children with disabilities. CAPSLO recognizes that parents are the experts regarding their own families and believes that parents have the right to determine what is most important for their children. To help adults help their children, Child Development training and parenting skill-building are regularly provided to staff and parents throughout the season.

And, as our children approach “graduation” from the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start program, the staff helps families to prepare for this change and works with local school districts in a cooperative effort to ensure a smooth transition into the public school system.