Educational Options Department

Ceres Healthy Start Family Resource Center


What is Healthy Start?

Ceres Healthy Start has provided a variety of school and community outreach services since 1996.

The Healthy Start Program is a school-based Family Resource Center that comprehensively serves the families living within the attendance areas of all schools within the Ceres Unified School District.  Ceres Healthy Start primarily serves all parents of our community who have children under the age of 12.  Healthy Start’s goal is to link parents and families to resources directly related to their needs. Ultimately, Healthy Start seeks to improve the lives of children from low-income households through valuable information and resources families utilize to improve their quality of life.

Currently, Healthy Start has received a grant from the Stanislaus County Children & Families Commission to continue to offer the “First Steps for Learning Program”.  This school readiness program targets those families with young children that are not currently enrolled in any type of pre-school, day-care or head start program.  Through this program parents learn that all children are “Born to Learn” and that parents play the most important role in their children’s education. Ultimately, parents discover and understand the concept “Parents as Teachers" begins in the home.

Services Provided: (Program Components)
  • School Readiness Activities
  • Parenting Classes
  • Community Resource and Referrals (including health care basic needs)
  • Resource Library
  • Free Bread Fridays; Emergency and Holiday Food Baskets
  • Spanish Translation Services
  • Positive Parenting Education and Support
  • Health Care Assistance (Healthy Families, Medi-Cal, Kaiser Permanente)
  • Child Health and Disability Prevention clinics (physical exams, immunizations, dental services, nutritional assessment, vision & hearing screenings).
  • Community Leadership Development
  • Access to Mental Health Clinicians
  • Nutrition Classes Including Preventative Health Care Presentations
  • Interactive Literacy Activities with Parents and Children
  • PIQE: Parent Institute for Quality Education - Parent Education and Training
  • Computer Access for Parents
Services and Training Available for Program Participants
  • Parent Child Interactive Literacy
  • Parent Education workshops
  • Health Follow-up for pre-school
  • Nutrition Classes
  • Life Skills for Women
  • Diabetes Education
Who is Eligible?
  • All parents with children living within the Ceres Unified School District are eligible for Healthy Start services.
  • Parents with children 0-5 are eligible for Health Start services and the First Steps for Learning Program
  • Parents with children under 18 years of age and born in the US are eligible for Healthy Start services.
  • Families who currently have Medi-Cal, or Healthy Families Health Insurance or Kaiser Permanente are eligible to receive Healthy Start services
  • Families who currently have no medical insurance are eligible to receive Healthy Start services and access to no-cost CHDP health care exams and mental health services.
  • Families receiving mental health services through the Center for Human Services are eligible to receive assistance from Healthy Start.