LOCAL
Wallowa.com
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
A15
Groups off er benefi ts for Wallowa County families
Head Start, WIC
and Healthy
Families Oregon
all there to help
By ANN BLOOM
For the Wallowa County
Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — A trio
of programs exist in Wal-
lowa County to help fami-
lies manage the hurdles of
parenting without feeling as
if they must go it alone, or
know everything there is to
know about being a parent.
Healthy Families
Linda Middaugh, family
support specialist for Blue
Mountain Healthy Families
Oregon under the umbrella
of Umatilla Morrow County
Head Start, visits fami-
lies with children prena-
tal to 3 years old. A refer-
ral is required and can come
from a private individual,
clinic, hospital, primary
care provider, or other com-
munity partner. Middaugh
explained that the screen-
ing helps families to iden-
tify what areas of parenting
they would like to focus on
during the home visits.
As a family support spe-
cialist, she can provide extra
support to parents with day-
to-day challenges and infor-
mation about parenting and
child development. She
added that she answers all
sorts of questions and wants
parents to know, “It’s OK to
have questions.”
The initial intake screen-
ing takes about 30-45 min-
utes and she said if the per-
son decides the program
isn’t for them, then she
can still refer them to other
services.
With current coronavi-
rus restrictions, Middaugh
cannot do home visits, but
she can meet families in an
offi ce or outside.
“If they decide the pro-
gram isn’t for them, we can
still refer them for other ser-
vices,” she said.
The program is off ered
nationwide through Healthy
Families, though not in
every state. Healthy Fami-
lies is a free and voluntary
program.
During visits, Healthy
Families promotes early
learning through talking,
singing, reading, and play-
Ann Bloom/For the Wallowa County Chieftain
From left to right are Noel Bayles, WIC certifi er and family
advocate for Wallowa and Union counties; Kris Fraser, head
teacher for Umatilla-Morrow County Head Start; and Linda
Middaugh, family support specialist for Healthy Families
Oregon.
ing with your baby. Most of
the activities require com-
mon household items and
are at no extra cost for par-
ents. If parents do not have
the needed supplies for
activities, Middaugh can
provide parents with sup-
plies. One of the primary
goals with Healthy Fami-
lies is to strengthen and cul-
tivate positive parent-child
relationships.
“If parents are curious
at all and think they might
benefi t (from the program)
give me a call. The purpose
is to make sure we cover the
things they’re concerned
about in parenting. We ask
them what they want to
focus on and what are their
goals,” she said.
To reach Middaugh, for
more information, or to
schedule an appointment,
call 541-571-4968.
WIC
Women, Infants and Chil-
dren is a federal program
for pregnant women and
children birth to 5 years
old. Noel Bayles is the WIC
certifi er and family advo-
cate for Wallowa and Union
counties which includes
Early Head Start. Early
Head Start, through Build-
ing Healthy Families, is for
ages six weeks to 3 years.
Bayles has been in her posi-
tion for eight months.
WIC provides nutri-
tional education and sup-
plemental food vouchers
for pregnant and breast-
feeding women, and chil-
dren under the age of 5.
Screening for WIC, she
said, involves, “a whole
list of things.” WIC con-
siders “what family meal-
time looks like, variety of
foods, vitamins, smoke
in the home, whether the
family has insurance, if
family members are safe
in the home. Most impor-
tantly, that families have
continual support in all
aspects of their family
dynamics. My responsibil-
ity is to refer them to ser-
vices and be a support per-
son,” she said.
WIC foods now include
fresh, frozen and canned;
there are fewer restrictions.
She said now it is more
mainstream and there are
“more options, “and many
more brands accepted. WIC
is also accepted by some of
the Wallowa County Farm-
er’s Market vendors.
WIC participants get
what is described as a
“food package.” It lists
all the foods approved
for their household which
they can buy at the grocery
store anywhere in the state
of Oregon. A catalog style
book exists which lists
what is approved by WIC.
Bayles asks questions
to best determine what
the needs of the children
and family members are
to determine which foods
would best support and
supplement meals. She
said a family’s package can
even be modifi ed if a per-
son in the qualifying fam-
ily has a medical concern.
She said there is also an app
that can be downloaded to
one’s phone which will tell
the person, simply by scan-
ning a bar code, whether
what they want to pur-
chase is approved or not
approved by WIC and will
also tell them their remain-
ing benefi ts.
WIC not only assists
with nutrition counseling,
but also breastfeeding edu-
cation and assistance.
Referrals for WIC ser-
vices come from a variety
of sources including doc-
tors, clinics and hospitals.
She said it is easier to reach
her on her offi ce cell phone,
or by text.
“It’s important for fam-
ilies in Wallowa County to
know that WIC days are
Fridays,” she said, from
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. At
this time people can come
in, but most screenings
are done over the phone
due to COVID. The num-
ber to contact Bayles is
541-398-2397.
Work crews do community service
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — We often
hear of people sentenced
to “community service”
for convictions of minor
off enses. But just what does
that look like?
On Saturday, Aug. 14, a
crew of a half-dozen work-
ers did their community ser-
vice by helping clean up
downtown Joseph and weed-
ing the fl ower beds there.
“They’re paying back the
community,” said Deputy
Eric Madsen, of the Parole
and Probation Division of
Wallowa County Commu-
nity Corrections, who was
supervising the crew.
He said the work crew
members aren’t “hardened
criminals,” just people who
“just made a bad choice”
and the community service
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Deputy Eric Madsen, of Wallowa County Parole and Probation,
right, works alongside a work crew member doing community
service Aug. 14, 2021, cleaning up downtown Joseph.
was their sentence.
Work crews help doing
a variety of jobs around
communities in the county.
They can be found doing
things like picking up trash
along the highways and ear-
lier this year helped rebuild
the bleachers in the Wal-
lowa County Fairgrounds
grandstand.
“We’re not trying to
demean them,” Madsen
said, as he got down on his
knees working alongside a
crew member.
Dennis Welch, Parks
Department lead for Joseph,
said the labor of the work
crew comes in particularly
handy, as it’s been diffi cult
getting people to either vol-
unteer or to take advantage
of a paid job for which he
has funds in his budget.
“We just can’t get them”
to come to work, he said.
“Unemployment’s just too
good.”
Welch said it’s been
about fi ve years since he’s
had county work crews
helping. At one point, sev-
eral business owners com-
plained about having “con-
victs” working outside
their businesses, which he
understands, but believes it
shouldn’t be a problem.
“I’m really glad they’re
back,” Welch said. “I’m
lacking employees and they
really help.”
“I’m here to help, just
give me a call,” she said.
Head Start
The third program in the
trio of services available to
families is Umatilla-Mor-
row County Head Start. All
programs are in the same
building, off the Lewiston
Highway, across the park-
ing lot from Cloverleaf
Hall.
Head Start is a feder-
ally funded program begun
in 1961. It started in Wal-
lowa County 31 years ago.
There are two locations:
Enterprise and Wallowa.
According to Kris Fraser,
head teacher, Head Start is
a “free preschool program
for children ages 3 to 5
years, who are low income
or who have special needs.”
Special needs can mean
physical disabilities, men-
tal, emotional or develop-
mental challenges.
Head Start is quite inter-
active according to Fraser.
“We off er a lot of sci-
ence, math, literacy, social
studies, nutrition and social
emotional activities. These
are all hands-on learning,
age-appropriate classroom
activities,” she said.
She added that Head
Start works with parents to
identify the strengths and
needs of each child. Each
child has his or her own
goal to work on and the
goals are updated monthly.
The program works
closely with parents on the
education of their child.
“We work with parents
to answer their questions
about what’s developmen-
tally appropriate. We pro-
vide prosocial guidance,”
she said, which includes
learning to take turns, lin-
ing up and following
directions.
Head Start off ers a hybrid
model. This means there
are two styles of classes to
choose from — a half-day
program or a longer day.
The shorter day runs from
9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and is
provided for younger chil-
dren. Transportation is pro-
vided. The extended day
program runs from 9 a.m.
to 3:30 p.m. and is intended
for children 4 to 5 years old
and is a program, “to pre-
pare children for kindergar-
ten,” said Fraser.
Meals are included and
are prepared using U.S.
Department of Agriculture
dietary guidelines. Head
Start has a maximum of
10 students in each class.
The program is currently
accepting students for the
2021-22 school year.
“It’s (Head Start) a great
way for kids to start their
in-school education,” said
Fraser.
For information on Head
Start, call 541-426-4225.
Wallowa County
FREE
Chess Club
No meeting until further notice
but look forward to seeing you soon!
Black to play and win.
“Play golf for your body. Play chess for your mind.”
JOSEPHY CENTER FOR
THE ARTS AND CULTURE
403 Main Street Joseph, Oregon
8/25 Solution
RxN