Two Redwood City Agencies Win Grants to Aid Children

Palo Alto – Two Redwood City organizations dedicated to children have received $125,000 in grants from the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, foundation President and CEO Stephen Peeps announced today.

East Redwood City’s Child Abuse Prevention Center won $50,000 for its Early Childhood Intervention and Prevention Program (ECIP). Started in 1996, ECIP is a home visiting program that works with families at risk of abusing their children.

City of Redwood City-Redwood City 2020 received $75,000 for evaluation of its school-based services focused on children, ages 9-13, living in East Redwood City. The majority of program participants are low-income, Spanish-speaking youth and their families. The services, which include after-school and recreational activities, currently are offered at three sites, and a fourth site is planned. Redwood City 2020 plans to evaluate the effectiveness of programs and set consistent goals across sites. The evaluation will provide local practitioners and policy makers with data for making decisions about the best ways to address the emotional and behavioral health needs of pre-teens, an often overlooked population.

The two organizations are among 32 child and youth nonprofit organizations in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties to receive $2.1 million in the first-ever round of grants from the 4-year-old foundation. The foundation’s two funding areas are protecting children (ages 0-5) from injury with emphasis on preventing child abuse and promoting emotional, mental and behavioral health in pre-teens (ages 9-13).

“During 18 months of planning and consulting with community leaders, we learned a lot about the health status of children in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties and saw tremendous need,” said Peeps. “Most of the region’s children are born healthy, and the factors damaging or threatening their health are predominantly behavioral and therefore preventable. That’s why we chose to focus on prevention efforts within our two areas of interest.”

In 1998, for example, San Mateo reported 5,006 cases of child abuse and neglect, with the majority of cases being neglect. In Santa Clara County, 19,565 cases of child abuse and neglect were reported in 1999. Substance abuse, sexual risk taking, and suicidal thoughts among pre-teens are challenges each county continues to address.

Only six of the 32 programs funded are new. “We learned that what is needed most is bolstering existing programs,” said Peeps.

Other organizations funded include countywide projects such as the Cornerstone Project in Santa Clara County, which focuses on youth development, and smaller rural-based programs. Individual grants range from $36,000 to $300,000 over the course of one, two and three years.

“In a relatively short time, the Foundation’s community grantmaking program has gone from a concept to a reality,” said Sharon Keating Beauregard, the foundation’s director of programs and grants. “It is rewarding to see resources getting out to the communities to strengthen the health and well-being of children.”

For more information about the foundation’s community grantmaking program and to see the entire list of grantees, visit the foundation’s Web site at www.lpfch.org, or call (650) 736-0676.