Young Families Initiative

Young Families Initiative (YFI) is a center-based child care program serving infants and toddlers from six weeks old to 2.9 years of age.

We also provide support services to teen parents and their children.  At the YFI program we believe that children are constantly growing and developing.  We strive to create a happy and healthy setting where children are encouraged to explore and interact with their environment and to take an active role in their own social, emotional, cognitive and physical growth.

Each classroom is carefully designed to be very open, comfortable and stimulating, so parents, children and staff have the time to relax, observe, explore, interact and learn together.  Each classroom is equipped with furnishings suitable for both infants and toddlers.  This includes kitchen sets, infant/toddler sensory tables, tables and chairs for dining and group sensory activities, climbing structures and eye-level shelving to hold a variety of toys and books for the children to choose from throughout the day.  Although the environment is open, each classroom is separated into learning centers including dramatic play, gross motor, water and sand play, music and dance, and quiet spaces.

YFI recognizes that each child is an important member of a specific and unique family.  Children begin to construct their individual, cultural, and ethnic identities through their daily lives.  We believe, therefore, in strongly supporting the child’s family unit during the critical years.  The Young Families Initiative staff consists of qualified early childhood educators, as well as a case manager, who are available to assist parents with the challenges of raising a family.  We believe that parents are the most influential factor in the life of a child.  We therefore strive to forge a partnership between our child care center, home, and other community-based services in an effort to create a network of support that has become increasingly necessary for families and children to reach their fullest potential.  Parents are encouraged to participate in their child’s program and to visit the center at any time.  In Young Families Initiative, both children and parents are supported in their development by starting where they are, and to using their strengths and interests to support their literacy and encourage growth.