A new online resource launched this week to help Lawrence and Douglas County parents, families, caregivers and early childhood professionals support kids from birth to age 5.
TYKES Douglas County (Tiny Kansans Early Supports) is a project of the Community Children’s Center, in collaboration with numerous partners. The website, tykesdc.org, aims to be a one-stop shop for education and connections to support the littlest littles.
The resource aims to help families with young children navigate the early years “when there is no formal infrastructure such as what is found at public elementary and secondary schools,” according to a news release.
Here’s how it works, according to the release:
Users can navigate the site by topic or by the child’s age and stage “to locate those resources that best reflect their child’s developmental level.”
In addition, “Site visitors can self-refer for support services via a form found in the website’s footer. Requests are triaged by Community Children’s Center staff through a referral platform which allows the organization to track and close the referral loop.”
Kim Polson, executive director of the Community Children’s Center, said in the release that “We want to drive that mom or dad who is surfing the internet after a late night feeding, to not only information, but also to an opportunity for human connection, right here in Douglas County. We view TYKES Douglas County’s role as an additional access point for parents and caregivers to our amazing collaborative partners.”
If the filtered search doesn’t find what you’re looking for, there are also links to dozens of other ways to get help and information in Lawrence and Douglas County.
The lengthy list of contributors who helped put the resources together includes Child Care Aware of Eastern Kansas; the Lawrence Public Library; Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health; Googols of Learning Child Development Center; Hilltop Child Development Center; Positive Bright Start; Clayton Wealth Partners and All In For Kansas Kids, according to the website.
Those who are interested can also follow TYKES Douglas County on Facebook and Twitter.
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Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
