MVCAA Head Start centers developing Special Quest program

Infants and toddlers with disabilities are out there playing and learning just like other children, but sometimes their special needs get overlooked.

That's where the Special Quest Program enters the scene. The Missouri Valley Community Action Agency's Head Start program is developing the program to improve the capacity of area child care programs so infants and toddlers with disabilities will have everything they need. The Special Quest curriculum is based on the belief that the most effective way to assist young children with disabilities is by learning about each child and family and viewing them as unique.

The Special Quest team consists of Head Start Program Director Pam LaFrenz, Head Start Disability Manager Linda Bilbruck, Head Start Parent Involvement/Social Services Manager Becky Webb, First Steps Intake Coordinator Erica Horman, Early Head Start Child Care Partner Center Director Penny Humphreys and Saundra Vereyken, a local parent with special needs children.

Team members are have been undergoing training to learn how to create more public awareness about how early intervention, such as Early Head Start, can help children's growth and development. They are also developing a resource library for families of children with disabilities.

"This is set up as a four-year program and each year we will set new goals and get new training," said Bilbruck, one of the team members to receive training in Denver last fall in order to begin the program. "As disability manager, my part is linking families with resources they might need."

One of the needs the Special Quest team discovered in Saline County is the availability of additional physical therapists, speech therapists and other specialists who would work with children with disabilities.

"Part of this plan is trying to locate more resources and let people in the community know there are resources out there for children with disabilities at a very young age," Bilbruck said.

Vereyken, who wants to teach other parents how to be better advocates for their children, said she has learned more about standing up for the rights of disabled children through her position with Special Quest.

"We're learning all these things and trying to develop a way to share this with the community," she said. "We're helping them find the assistance they need and helping them use it. We're being there for the parents and going with the parents if they want when they receive the assistance."

The Special Quest Team meets monthly, with the next meeting set for 12:30 p.m. Feb. 17, at the MVCAA central office at 1415 S. Odell in Marshall. For more information or to assist with the project, call at (660) 886-7476.

Contact Naomi Campbell at

marshallfaith@socket.net