Early Childhood & School Based Services

It is extremely exciting to have the opportunity to welcome you to the Early Childhood and School Based Services Division of Northwestern Counseling & Support Services. As NCSS moves towards the future of mental health service delivery in Vermont, we have shifted our structure to help maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of our programs, and to ensure that we remain responsive to the needs of children, families, and schools within our communities. Services within the Early Childhood and School Based Services Division fall under two main umbrellas that work together to provide support from the prenatal period through high school graduation, with the goal of facilitating success and well-being across a lifetime.

The first set of services we offer are part of the Parent Child Center. Parent Child Centers are recognized community resources that provide expertise on prevention and early intervention services such as parenting, early childhood development, education, referral, and related services to prospective parents and families with young children, including those whose children are medically, socially, or educationally at risk. These programs, serving children in the prenatal stage to age 6, strive to connect families with the support needed to ensure a healthy and safe transition from pregnancy through early childhood.

Our School Based Services include programs at a range of intervention levels to create a school-based system of care with the aim of providing the right service, at the right place, at the right time. These services range from preventative models supporting school-wide systems, to providing lower-intensity clinical care, to small group or one on one behavior support, to an alternative educational environment at the Soar Learning Center. School Based Services are always evolving based on input from families and schools across our community, as we seek to continue to meet the unique needs of each child in a shifting social and educational landscape.

These sets of programs come together in the Early Childhood and School Based Services Division to support children, families, and schools from pregnancy through the school years. We believe that through a combination of prevention, support, and targeted intervention, with relationships focused on communication and collaboration, children can be prepared for success across a lifetime.

Sincerely,

Matthew Habedank, MA, BCBA
Division Director
Early Childhood and School Based Services Division