Project First Step

 

Project First Step (PFS) is a multi-service program which is uniquely designed to support families in Erie, Crawford and Venango Counties. PFS services are tailored to meet the specific needs of each family and promote independence, family unity, and overall family health.

 

PFS is the only program in the nation that is as fully-faceted and addresses all the areas PFS covers.  There are four main services that fall under this program:

  1. Doula
  2. Family Engagement
  3. Visitation
  4. Intensive Care

 

The program, which began in 1997, offers direct services and works with the entire family unit to ensure success.  Staff are flexible and can adapt services to meet the unique needs of each family.

 

 

The following list of services are just some ways the PFS staff help program participants:

  • Create educational resources that are tailored to an individual's learning capability or style, such as producing videotapes
  •  Help find safe and clean housing for families
  • Teach families how to budget and shop on that budget
  • Assist families to find appropriate community resources, such as food stamps or public transportation, and teach them how to properly use those resources
  • Promote safe sex practices
  • Create nutrition, medical, or feeding charts, and help families follow the charts
  • Assist families on personal hygiene matters

PFS tummy

Doula Services

This service was added to the program in 2000 as a way prevention method. 


Project First Step provides prenatal services through a doula, a professional who has been trained to provide emotional and physical support to women during labor, delivery and the post-partum process. The doula serves mothers at risk for having babies born with disabilities and provides support through education, advocacy and connection to community resources. The doula service is unique in that it begins assisting the expectant woman soon after conception. Present throughout labor and delivery, the doula offers the mother alternatives to medication intervention and provides emotional support. She also follows the mother and child’s progress after the delivery to ensure safety and bonding.

 

The success of this program has been phenomenal, as 93-95% of all babies delivered while participating in this program have been full-term, healthy infants - a statistic that rivals healthy births from the general population.

 


The doula can provide:

 

  • Assistance with transportation to and from pre-natal visits
  • Assistance with applications to health programs, counseling, parenting and childbirth education classes
  • Assistance with the purchase of needed baby items
  • Individualized planning for each child and family served
  • Continued support up to six months or as needed after delivery

Mothers who qualify for services typically have one of the following:

  • Mental health or mental retardation diagnosis
  •  Drug and/or alcohol concerns
  • Physical disability
  • Medically compromised pregnancy
  • Severe social concern that could impair the pregnancy or parenting

 

 

PFS family

Family Engagement Services


Family Engagement Services provide comprehensive, family-centered support to at-risk parents with disabilities and their children. The service links high-risk, Office of Children and Youth-involved parents who have mental health concerns, mental retardation, physical impairment, and those with a medically fragile child to needed community resources. The goal of this program is to educate and effectively engage the parents in critical community-based services necessary to address their disabilities.


PFS provides family engagement services to families who are actively working with the Office of Children and Youth (OCY).  While Parents must be referred by a member of OCY staff, the child(ren) do not have to be in foster care placement to receive services.

 

This program aims to help families who may have lost (or are at risk of losing) custody of their children make the necessary changes in their lives to provide safe housing and a loving family for their children. 



Family Engagement staff will assist the parents with meeting any and all court-ordered and caseworker recommendations, provide transport to/from all necessary medical and social appointments, advocate for the family in a variety of settings and educate the parents in the management of life skills.


Visitation Services

 

Similar to Family Engagement, Visitation staff work with OCY-referred families to teach basic parenting skills to gain visitation rights to their children.  PFS staff have accompanied families to court and offered testimonials to their ability (or disabilty) to take care of their children.

 
Intensive Care Services


This component of PFS serves medically fragile children from birth to age three and/or parents with social concerns that could impact the health or safety of the child(ren). This service is designed to help keep babies who are born medically compromised at home with their parents and/or work with the parents to address their social issues to award them the opportunity for family success. Through education, advocacy and connections to community resources, parents are given the best opportunity for optimal development and stability for their child.

  
PFS provides intensive care services to:
 

  • Children up to three years of age with chronic medical/health concerns and/or developmental delays   
  •  Birth parent(s) with one or more of the following:
  • Environmental and fi nancial impoverishment
  • Developmental disability
  • Drug or alcohol dependence
  • Mental illness
  • Office of Children and Youth involvement

 

 PFS child