(C) El Paso Matters.org This story was originally published by El Paso Matters.org and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Early learning center, health clinic for children with disabilities coming to East El Paso [1] ['Priscilla Totiyapungprasert', 'More Priscilla Totiyapungprasert', 'El Paso Matters', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width'] Date: 2024-05-14 Paso del Norte Children’s is expanding its development center and specialty clinic to East El Paso. The nonprofit earlier this year broke ground on the new facility at 1410 Bob Hope Drive, near the northwest corner of Joe Battle Boulevard and Pellicano Drive. The disabilities support organization opened its first center more than 75 years ago in West Central El Paso, serving children with developmental delays and learning disabilities. Alfonso Velarde, CEO of Paso del Norte Children’s, said the new location was chosen because of the rapid growth on the Eastside, where there are more children and newborns. The nonprofit provides its services to low-income and under-insured families, but it’s not convenient for parents on the Eastside to drive to the other side of town every day, he said. The nearly 12,900-square-foot Eastside facility will have two areas: One for the Inclusive Early Learning Center, which operates like a daycare and school, and one for the health clinic, which offers pediatric therapy and an autism treatment program. Velarde said Paso del Norte Children’s East has an opening date of early September targeted. Services offered at Paso del Norte’s Children The Inclusive Early Learning Center will have the capacity to see 98 children a day. While any child can attend, the center focuses primarily on children with developmental disabilities. Families have a difficult time finding childcare or school for children with disabilities because the staff at these places may not be specifically trained for that, Velarde said. There are limited options also because it’s costly to operate a childcare center that focuses on disabilities, with centers requiring double the number of staff in classrooms to ensure safety, he added. For parents, not having childcare can affect their ability to go to work, which affects their income. Paso del Norte Children’s will offer the same programs on the Eastside as it does at its Westside’s Early Inclusive Learning Center. Classrooms are divided by age group: day school for infants, toddlers, pre-school, pre-kindergarten children, and after-school care for children ages 5 to 13. Paso del Norte Children’s is building an Inclusive Early Learning Center on Bob Hope Drive on the city’s East Side. (Cindy Ramirez / El Paso Matters) A grant Paso del Norte Children’s received from the city of El Paso, funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, requires that the organization serve at least 51% moderate to low-income families. Parents who cannot afford the programs’ day rates can have their children attend under the state’s Child Care Services program, which provides scholarships. Paso del Norte Children’s will help guardians apply for the state program, and the organization will subsidize the costs in the meantime, Velarde said. Parents can use health insurance including Medicaid to receive services at the health clinic. Pediatric therapy specialists include a speech-language pathologist, auditory-verbal specialist, occupational therapist and dietician. Guardians will need to get a referral from their primary care physician to see a specialist. The Feeding Clinic helps families care for children who have difficulty eating. These are children who might be mistaken as “picky eaters,” when in reality they have sensory-based feeding difficulties or eating disorders, Velarde explained. The clinic also offers applied behavior analysis, or ABA, a treatment approach to autism. This program aims to help autistic children develop language and daily living skills, while also helping parents respond to challenging behavior. “We need more services for children with autism,” Velarde said. “Both physical and intellectual disabilities, any disability, can create stress within the family.” Devon Perry works with children with autism as the ABA Program Manager at Paso del Norte Children’s. (Courtesy of Devon Perry) Devon Perry, the ABA program manager as Paso del Norte Children’s, said that once a child is brought in, a certified behavior analyst will conduct an assessment to determine the child’s needs. This can range from social skills to play skills – the ability of a child to play with toys or other children. One of the biggest goals in the ABA program is to find the root causes of challenging behaviors, such as throwing tantrums, running away, destroying property and harming themselves or others, Perry said. “We try to reduce those behaviors and give that child a more appropriate thing to do because we believe all behavior is a form of communication,” Perry said. “We are teaching the kid a new way to do things, but we’re also teaching the family to do new things.” There are not enough professionals to meet the needs of children with autism in El Paso, Perry said. Many families in the ABA program drive up to an hour each way because they live on the Eastside, Perry said. To increase the number of professionals working with children with autism, Paso del Norte Children’s offers on-site training for behavior technicians. To become a technician, a person needs to have completed a high school education, go through 40 hours of training and pass an exam. Who’s funding the East El Paso building construction? Paso del Norte Children’s is asking the public for donations to meet the last of its funding goal. A combination of sources have already funded most of the $5.7 million construction project – individual donors, as well as grants from the city and county. The county’s funding comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, which El Paso received during the COVID-19 pandemic. Velarde said the nonprofit would prefer to not dip into its reserves for the building’s construction because that money has been set aside for startup operations and it may delay the rollout of certain programs. The organization is working on a challenge grant with the Mabee Foundation to meet the rest of its building costs. The foundation has awarded $705,000 – but Paso del Norte Children’s will only receive the award if it can raise $669,000. People have until January 2025 to make a donation, which they can do online. For large contributions that can come with a naming rights agreement on the building, donors can contact Velarde directly at his office number 915-544-8484. [END] --- [1] Url: https://elpasomatters.org/2024/05/14/paso-del-norte-childrens-east-pediatric-therapy/ Published and (C) by El Paso Matters.org Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0 International. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/elpasomatters/