Timely Interventions: The Florida Center for Early Childhood

By Sylvia Whitman | Photo by Nancy Guth

In 2003, the Family Counseling Center and the Child Development Center merged to form The Florida Center for Early Childhood, and a year later Nancy Bailey joined the board. Her involvement with The Florida Center was all of a piece with her child-centered life. Mother of four, grandmother of six (to date), longtime volunteer, early childhood educator, Bailey says simply, “My passion is child advocacy.”

A native Georgian, Bailey majored in English and secondary education in college and taught briefly in Macon, discovering that high school was not her calling. In 1971, she followed her husband, Dan, back to his native Sarasota. Newcomer and young mother, she joined the Junior League, which she says “trained me to be a committed volunteer. There were so many needs beyond our family.” 

Volunteering at Sarasota Day Nursery, as an educator she found “early childhood much more appealing” than the teen years. Once she launched her quartet of children into the public schools, she earned a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential—a rigorous combination of training and classroom experience—and taught at the First Presbyterian Church of Sarasota Preschool until she retired in June 2002.

But Bailey’s concern for kids never clocked out. A good friend and fellow Junior League volunteer served on the board of one of The Florida Center’s precursor organizations and gave Bailey a tour. “It made me aware of all they’re doing,” Bailey says. “I saw the infant room, the professional staff, and became an instant supporter.” She found the wraparound services “very impressive”—that a parent/guardian could access everything from academic help to speech and occupational therapy in one place. Early intervention, she knew, heads off problems down the road for children.

In 2004, newly amalgamated, The Florida Center invited Bailey to the board. Its mission: provide developmental therapies, mental health services, and early education to children ages 0-8.

Dealing with the Long-term Devastation of Alcohol in Utero

During Bailey’s tenure, The Florida Center initiated services for children with brain differences stemming from prenatal exposure to alcohol—services which developed into the first and only Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) clinic in Florida. The clinic’s roots lay in the crusading of Kathryn Shea, The Florida Center’s CEO, who has announced plans to retire later this year. In 2005, Shea was rising through the organization’s clinical and administrative ranks and raising an adopted son with FASD. 

Although the public has come to realize that alcohol can derail fetal brain development, attendant problems over a lifetime, from heart defects to irrational decision making, remain often misunderstood. Babies may have trouble swallowing. Toddlers may lag in motor skills. School-age kids may act out because of difficulty processing and reacting to information; they get labeled “defiant.” Poor executive functioning makes adults with FASD more likely to lose jobs or land in jail. Like The Florida Center’s other programs, the FASD clinic takes a multidisciplinary team approach, evaluating children—and adults—and making recommendations to community agencies, from schools to prisons. 

“We see adults sometimes who have had issues all their lives and didn’t realize they have FASD,” says Kristen Theisen, The Florida Center’s chief development officer. “One of our clients was in his 50s.”

But most of the clients seen during the six or seven FASD clinic sessions per month are children. One family adopted twins whose biological mother drank heavily before she knew she was pregnant. Unable to manage the boys’ behavior, their school wanted to Baker Act them—at age 5. Therapy averted psychiatric hospitalization. 

“It’s a matter of understanding and reframing,” says Theisen. Assessment leads to multifaceted plans for treatment—occupational, speech and language, and social/emotional therapy. “Therapists work with children, so they understand that their actions affect others,” says Theisen. 

The Florida Center also offers support and training for families and community partners. In April 2019, the center started its first FASD weekly support group. Theisen points to a couple, Pam and Charlie, so devastated by the FASD diagnosis that they couldn’t even read the full report on their adopted son, Ben. Two years later, Pam returned, ready to digest the recommendations. Conflict roiled their household—Ben struggling to make friends, Charlie fighting with Ben, Pam trying to manage Ben’s behavior. Through The Florida Center, the three of them started individual therapy, and Ben began sharing his feelings. Pam and Charlie joined the support group—the first time they had met any other parents dealing with FASD—and Ben enjoyed hanging out with the other kids outside the session. A stronger parent team, Pam and Charlie recently celebrated a small victory: With the backing of parents and counselors, Ben found a way to overcome his anxiety and sensory sensitivity to star as his school’s mascot. 

Ramping Up Mental Health Services

Nancy Bailey served two terms on The Florida Center’s board. The organization’s focus on ages 0-8 and data-driven interventions resonated with her belief in the transformation power of early childhood education. “The professional staff at the center found their niche and expanded their programs and services. Therapists would come into board meetings and report on positive outcomes. It was a delight to hear.”

Even after her stint on the board, Bailey has remained involved in sporadic “friendraisers” and the annual Winter Gala. Donations support services on two campuses in Sarasota and North Port. Starfish Academy preschools operate in both locations, with a combined enrollment of about 110 children from age 6 weeks through pre-K. Onsite developmental therapists work with students during the school day, collaborating with teachers and freeing parents from rushing after work from one appointment to another. These therapists also work with other children facing challenges ranging from stuttering to hearing loss, autism to Down syndrome, learning disabilities to cerebral palsy. 

Several initiatives involve collaborations. Healthy Families programs reach out to expectant and new parents in four counties. With the YMCA Safe Child Coalition and the 12th Judicial Circuit Court, The Florida Center manages Early Childhood Court to minimize the trauma of separation and foster care for kids under 3. “The goal is to build healthy families one child at a time,” Bailey says.

The Florida Center touches 3,000 children and families each year. “Our organization has grown its focus on mental health to include social-emotional specialists at both of our preschools and mental health therapists at local elementary schools,” says Theisen. With support from the Community Foundation of Sarasota, the center piloted a program for elementary-school-based mental health in 2018. After the 2019 Parkland school shooting, the Sarasota County School District asked for more. “We started with therapists in 14 schools and now work in 18, supporting the emotional and behavioral needs of children and serving as a resource for teachers,” Theisen says.

Addressing Needs in a Crisis

The Florida Center pivoted quickly during the coronavirus lockdown. Therapists have been keeping in touch with children and families virtually, says Theisen. “It’s kind of cool. It’s forced our staff to go outside of their typical operations. They’ve done a lot of video how-tos and webinars sharing tips for parents and caregivers. For service workers, they’ve talked about how to care for yourself and your own mental health.” Pre-K teachers have made Zoom calls and posted book-reading videos. And the Starfish Academies just reopened to care for children ages 3-5 whose parents work as first responders.

Nancy Bailey has also shifted roles. Always active in her church, an “enthusiastic supporter of arts and education” and children aging out of foster care, she has recently become “a major childcare provider” for two of her three granddaughters in Sarasota (ages 2 months and 3 years). On her “official day off,” she takes time to give an interview about The Florida Center—because “it’s very satisfying to have plugged into an agency that makes a difference.”

FOR MORE INFORMATIONon Florida Center for Early Childhood, please visit www.thefloridacenter.org or call 941.371.8820.