Delegates and Partners

2022-2023 Program Highlights

• River Oak EHS served a total of 23 foster children during the program year, and 7 of them were successfully adopted. Home Visitors shared the following successful foster adoption stories:
  • One family was supported through foster care and a successful adoption process. The enrolled child has been receiving speech services to improve language skills and to learn how to express emotions. The family has now transitioned into a daycare part-time and is still part of the EHS program.
  • One family joined EHS early in their adoption process. They had previously been a foster family for another child, but their first adoption did not go through. They have been with EHS since the child was only a few months old. In May 2023, the adoption was finalized, and he is now legally their son. He recently turned one and is thriving. He crawls all around, stands up and prepares to walk, says his first words, and hits many developmental milestones. Mom loves taking him to socialization events and actively participates in-home visits. His family surrounds him with so much love, and the EHS Home Visitor feels fortunate to have been part of the family’s successful adoption experience.
• Through EHS, many children received early intervention services through the Alta California Regional Center, whose referrals were facilitated by the Home Visitors. By participating in the program, parents increased confidence in their parenting skills and helped their children achieve significant milestones.
  • One foster child, almost three years old, is now saying words and two-word sentences. When the family joined the program at the beginning of the year, he was not talking verbally at all and only used gestures to communicate. A month after he was enrolled, he started receiving Alta California Regional Center services for speech therapy, and in June 2023, he started using one-word sentences and was babbling extensively. The child is now saying two-to-three-word sentences, identifying animal names and noises, and even beginning to learn and identify colors! The foster dad has expressed that he noticed his significant speech improvement and is very thankful to be in the program, receiving all the services the child needs to succeed.
  • One child was enrolled at 30 months of age and was diagnosed with developmental delays. During the first home visit, he demonstrated motor skills around a 2–3-month  developmental level. He was just learning how to do tummy time and rolling over from tummy to back and vice versa. At the time, the mom had goals for motor development and wanted her child to be able to sit up, grasp onto objects, and eventually start to walk. At each visit, the mother, child, and home visitor worked gradually on sitting him up for a few seconds to a few minutes and encouraging him to hold onto his bottle or toys. The home visitor encouraged mom to sing and talk to him as he sat, urging him to hold and support his head up by looking at her. By the end of the enrollment year, he could hold his bottle when drinking and begin sitting up, leaning on his hands more often for a more extended period. He also started to look at people and faces more often and was more vocal than before. Mom had expressed her gratitude for the program and how much help we had been to her.
• Socialization event attendance increased by 12% from the 2021-2022 program year.
• Six team members attended the NHSA Annual Conference in Phoenix, AZ, and brought back many great ideas on increasing enrollment and strengthening family engagement. This was also an excellent team-building opportunity, especially with several new staff members joining their team.