The 23/24 year was a remarkable year for First 5 Humboldt playgroups, marked by increased attendance, expanded meeting days, new locations, and enriched community support. Playgroups have seen a continual rise in participation with some locations seeing up to 50 families attend! This participation reflects the amazing support and value that our community places on early childhood development and family engagement. To accommodate some of this participation, the 23/24 year also saw some groups increase their meeting days, from once per week to twice per week.
This past year, playgroups also were fortunate enough to have various community resource representatives visit. Some of these resources included WIC, Redwood Coast Regional Center, and Humboldt County Library. These amazing partners go out to playgroups and provide families with the opportunity to talk directly with staff, ask questions, and get support. This direct access opportunity is instrumental in creating a support network for families.
In May, playgroup leaders, facilitators, coordinators and First 5 Humboldt playgroup staff gathered for the Spring Parent and Family Support (PFS) Workshop. This is a biannual workshop that serves to support playgroup staff with professional development opportunities, as well as opportunity to connect with staff from other playgroups. The Spring workshop featured support around the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Model and role-playing challenging conversations with playgroup families.
Outside of playgroups, we have been busy developing our CYBHI (Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative) project. With this project, First 5 Humboldt will be offering Triple P Positive Parenting and Positive Indian Parenting models out to families, with a focus on enhancing each model to be more inclusive and culturally responsive to families in our community. If your organization is interested in hosting a parenting class session, please feel free to reach out to first5humboldt@co.humboldt.ca.us.