Outreach and Navigation

Outreach and Navigation services educate parents about resources available to support healthy child development and early learning and connect them to programs in the community. They engage expectant parents and parents of young children, with a strategic focus on those with the highest needs.

Central Intake Navigators. These four organizations can direct any family looking for local early childhood resources or programs.

• Family Futures Connections Program provides families with the knowledge and confidence to track their child's development at home through the Ages and Stages Questionnaire. Along with the quiz at home, Connections provides monthly activities and age-specific learning materials to promote the child's development. Each family also has access to a Family Support Navigator to answer questions about the child's development and connect the family to resources in the community. Family Futures works to reach families through marketing efforts to ensure all are offered the opportunity to engage in early childhood services.
  
• Health Net of West Michigan works with multiple health care systems and community-based partners. Their Client Services Team provides outreach, consultation, and care coordination to parents who need help accessing community resources and early childhood programming.
  
• Help Me Grow Kent offers referrals to community organizations for families who are supported by a Care Coordinator that offers individualized care plans. Resources available include basic needs, childcare, and preschool, among others. Help Me Grow is a jointly run system between the Great Start Collaborative and Kent ISD that is available to any family living in Kent County with a child prenatal through five years old.