What is Help Me Grow Yolo?
Help Me Grow Yolo is a proud program of the Northern California Children’s Therapy Center and First 5 Yolo. First 5 Yolo funds Help Me Grow Yolo and aggregate data is shared by First 5 Yolo.
Program Purpose: Provide Early Intervention for children and their families at risk of or showing early childhood mental health/behavioral challenges with culturally and linguistically appropriate trauma-sensitive support to reach their optimal development and mental health. Partner with Medi-Cal families to develop CalAIM Enhanced Care Management (ECM) shared care plans and coordinate with the family’s providers and support system, to fill gaps, address barriers to care and reduce service duplication.
The mission of Help Me Grow Yolo is to promote healthy development for every child in our community. We offer free and confidential services connecting families with children birth through 5 to community resources. Providing information and resources that strengthen and address the individual needs of families. We help families who have questions about their child’s developmental milestones do our best to connect them to support.
Help Me Grow Yolo is proud to be a part of Yolo County Trauma Informed Network of Care. Please learn more here. As a part of this network of care our goals are to build and support resilience in our community.
Help Me Grow is a comprehensive national system designed to address the needs of families. Supporting the early identification of developmental and/or behavioral needs of their children. Then linking children and their families to community-based developmental and behavioral services and supports.
Early detection and connection to services lead to the best outcomes for children with developmental or behavioral challenges. Early detection and intervention are critical for optimal outcomes for children, but too often children miss this opportunity. Help Me Grow Yolo provides free developmental screenings to promote early detection and intervention.
Help Me Grow supports families, child health care, early care and education, and human service providers. The community can use Help Me Grow to identify early signs of developmental or behavioral concerns and the available community resources to address their needs.
What is Help Me Grow Yolo? By calling the Help Me Grow Yolo at 1-844-410-GROW (4769) or emailing us at information@helpmegrowyolo.org, parents, childcare providers, early educators, and health care providers can access all services for all young children who live in Yolo County in real-time. If they would like further information, a free developmental screening is offered to determine any areas that may need additional support.
Meet the Team
Brenda-Lead Care Manager
Having learned firsthand how challenging it can be to access the resources your family needs, Brenda has to remind herself to be patient with offering all the help she has to offer! She knows how important it is to let families know that they are heard and that someone is there for them. Brenda’s compassion is matched by her experience and expertise. From her childhood as a babysitter and camp leader, to her degree in early childhood development, her time as a teacher and then community program leader – all power her to close the gap between the families in need and the services that will make all the difference. Brenda is ready to connect, ready to care. Ready to guide families on a path to being empowered.
Chrissy-Data Analyst
Chrissy Kelly combines her past experience as a child development program evaluator and infant-toddler developmental specialist to bring both analytical expertise and hands-on service experience to HMGY. She is committed to leveraging data to elevate programs, strengthen family supports, and promote positive developmental outcomes for young children. With a strong foundation in early childhood development, she is passionate about connecting children and families to vital community resources that foster healthy growth, resilience, and long-term success.
Giselle-Lead Care Manager
Giselle is passionate about serving underrepresented communities and connecting families with meaningful resources. Giving back to her hometown of Woodland brings her great joy. She loves building relationships with children and their families and empowering them to reach their developmental goals. Her experience as an RBT and Behavior Intervention Specialist has strengthened her ability to guide parents and help them advocate for essential services. It is an honor for her to be a supportive, listening ear for families who may not know where to begin. Overall, she is committed to uplifting families, empowering children, and creating positive change in her community.
Jennifer-Program Manager
Jennifer was born and raised in Woodland in a third generation Yolo County family that has deep connections to the community. She had plenty of time for discovery at college – as she earned a grand total of three degrees in early childhood development. That background mixed with her incredible knowledge and expertise, combined with ten years as a preschool teacher in Woodland – made Jennifer the perfect candidate to build the Help Me Grow Yolo program and now serves as the program coordinator.
Lindsay-Lead Care Manager
After working as an infant specialist at CTC Lindsay was given the opportunity to join the team at Help Me Grow. She now is so grateful to be able to work alongside and support families through the early years of their child’s life. Lindsay looks forward to continuing to help take some stress off of families. Helping people is Lindsay’s driving force and giving back to the community is the best way to do that!
The Help Me Grow System
The core components of the Help Me Grow system have been shown to decrease medical costs, build family resilience and protective factors, as well as maximize the efficiency of social service networks by creating a pathway for access to services through a central utilization model. Help Me Grow is here to help families access existing resources for children through age five. The core components of the Help Me Grow system are:
Centralized Access Point
A telephone/web based access point that links families of young children with sources of support and services to address questions about a child’s health, development, behavior and learning in their first five years of life.
Child Health Care Outreach
Training’s to educate and support our medical community about child development and the importance of early detection and intervention.
Community Outreach
Promote the use of Help Me Grow and to provide networking opportunities for the community.
Data Collection
Understand all aspects of the Help Me Grow system, including the identification of gaps and barriers in order to provide more effective services.
Complete a Developmental Screening Now
Complete a developmental questionnaire today and talk with a friendly Care Coordinator. To complete by phone or paper copy, please call us at (844)410-GROW (4769). Or complete online now:
Resources and Activities for kids!
Use some of our favorite online tools to use at home and find out about what is going on in Yolo!
Partnering Programs
Visit our partnering programs websites for more information about services in Yolo.
Online Referral Form
If you or a family you are working with would like a Help Me Grow Yolo staff member to reach out to a family to offer a free and confidential developmental screening please feel out our online referral form.
For more information:
Northern California Children’s Therapy Center
Help Me Grow National
Help Me Grow California
First 5 California
First 5 Yolo
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