At Family Resource Centers, kids and parents access pre-kinder assistance | Local News Stories

“Water!” several young voices shouted in response.

“Do you guys like water?” Gamez asked, switching smoothly to Spanish: “¿Les gusta tomar agua?”

The activity progressed, and Gamez listened intently as students recited their favorite fruits and vegetables: grapes, lemons and eggplants. A cluster of parents sat several feet away, observing the lesson.

“The end,” Gamez sang, closing the book and guiding the students into their next activity: listing five things they’d learned from the story.

The weekly literacy course is one of several ongoing classes at the Rio Rico Family Resource Center, a program designed to guide early childhood development and prepare students for kindergarten. Currently, the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension operates three Family Resource Centers in Santa Cruz County: one in Rio Rico, another in Nogales and a third in Patagonia. Through free courses, the initiative serves students ages 5 and younger – a critical time for brain development, according to program director Jennifer Argyros. It also serves parents, who participate with their children throughout each course.

“Early childhood experiences, they really shape the brain architecture,” Argyros said during a county supervisors’ meeting last month.

Argyros is far from alone in that belief. The general benefits of early childhood education have been researched and documented for decades. A federally funded Chicago-based study links early childhood education to lower arrest rates and higher high school graduation rates later in life. The National Institutes of Health point to benefits ranging from improved mental health to a longer overall lifespan.

But children in Santa Cruz County face glaring barriers when it comes to accessing early childhood education: Only 39 percent of local children ages three and four are enrolled in preschool, according to First Things First, Arizona’s early childhood education agency.

In an effort to address that gap, First Things First has been funding the Family Resource Center program for well over a decade – in order to provide a free option that preps kids for kindergarten. It’s an alternative to preschool, according to First Things First Regional Director Francisco Padilla, who describes the Family Resource Center initiative as a “safety net” for families who might not otherwise access any early childhood education before kindergarten.

And unlike most traditional preschool settings, the Family Resource Centers bring parents and guardians into the classroom, incorporating the adults into each activity. On Wednesday, for instance, mothers at the Rio Rico center worked one-on-one with their children as they crafted name tags and painted tiny flower pots.

But even with programs like the Family Resource Center, the demand for early learning is outpacing the supply.

One major barrier to early childhood education? The cost.

“It’s usually affordability, honestly. It’s super expensive,” Padilla said.

Operating costs for preschools and early childhood care providers have skyrocketed in recent decades, Padilla said – resulting in higher tuition and hourly rates. Sending his oldest son to preschool several years back, he noted, had been no small feat, even with two parents working full-time.

“Even my wife and I were in that situation when we had our firstborn, where it was like, she was almost working just to pay for childcare,” Padilla recalled.

Local families, he added, must sometimes set aside large amounts of their income – like 30 percent – to pay for childcare. To avoid those costs and supervise their children, Padilla added, parents often leave the workforce altogether.

“Sending a kid to childcare preschool now is on par with in-state college tuition … Families have to decide between rent or, ‘Do I send my kid to preschool?’” he added.

Argyros and Padilla listed another major barrier: There simply are not enough early childhood education and childcare options within Santa Cruz County.

‘“Even if everyone that could send their kids said, ‘I’m going to send my kid,’ we wouldn’t have enough space,” Padilla said.

Currently, the Family Resource Center program, Argyros estimated, serves about 450 local families each year.

“The community need is higher than that,” Argyros added during last month’s meeting, noting that the program is looking for ways to expand.

Right now, 16 families – one student each, along with their parent or guardian – are enrolled in the literacy course at the Rio Rico Family Safety Center, according to site coordinator Bernadette Hernandez.

An additional seven families, however, are on the waiting list.

“Years ago we would struggle a lot to get a lot of families to this class, but now it’s a really popular one,” Hernandez told the NI.

Aside from the Family Resource Centers, a number of other programs are working to create early childhood education options, according to Padilla. Federally funded Head Start programs, for instance, offer free early learning for children, based on family income. First Things First funds dozens of scholarships to help pay local students’ preschool tuition. The County Superintendent’s Office facilitates free home visitation programs to monitor and assist with early childhood development. And the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District offers its own preschool on the Calabasas Middle School campus – serving about 100 children, Padilla estimated.

Even with those efforts, however, the early childhood education gap remains in Santa Cruz County.

Moments after Wednesday’s literacy class ended, Kelly McClung strolled outside, taking a seat in the shade as her 4-year-old son, Bodhi, snacked on a small bag of cotton candy.

It had been difficult, McClung acknowledged, to find a preschool program that was a good fit for her son. But the Family Resource Center clicked, she said. As McClung spoke, Bodhi explored the patio area, picking up rocks and showing them to his mother.

“He’s always moving around,” she smiled. “They’ve always said, ‘just be patient and come every week.’”

And at the Family Resource Center, McClung has watched her son learn new skills: respect, boundaries, socialization. Bodhi, she pointed out, was born in 2020: In other words, he and other children his age spent the first years of their lives relatively isolated from social activities, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Watching her son make progress at the Family Resource Center, she added, felt particularly encouraging and comforting.

“Every class is like a milestone,” she explained. “And it’s a way for us to be able to see, and I know other parents feel the same way: ‘Oh wow, he’s really developed from the beginning of the class to the end of each session.’”

Padilla, the regional director at First Things First, underscored the importance of those skills – not only as an expert, but as a parent. As his three sons advanced through preschool, Padilla said, they grew: not just academically, but socially.

“They learn so much about socializing with other kids. Getting along with other kids. Sharing. Being comfortable with other adults,” Padilla said.

Jumping into kindergarten without any of those skills, Padilla said, usually leads to a stressful situation for the young children: They often cry. They struggle to sit still.

“Because they’ve never had those experiences,” he added.

Participating in her son’s classes and activities, McClung added, is also helpful – it’s created a sense of community with other parents. By sharing the space, she said, parents can exchange ideas and advice, connecting for playdates and activities beyond the Family Resource Center.

Without the center, “I would not have met any of these parents,” noted McClung, whose family had moved to Rio Rico several years ago.

“It really does feel like family,” McClung added.