PAT is an internationally recognized early childhood parent education and family support program. It is a voluntary program for parents with children from birth though age 5. PAT promotes parent involvement in learning from the very beginning of a child’s life and fosters optimal development of the young child. This free program covers child development; suggests activities that encourage language development, intellectual growth, and social and motor skills; and strengthens the parent-child relationship.

A number of independent studies show that children who participate in PAT are significantly advanced over their peers and that these early gains continue after the children enter elementary school.

Head Start Child and Family Development Program Inc.
Provides comprehensive preschool services to low income children ages 3-5 and their families. Our program area is Adams, Clay, Franklin, Nuckolls and Webster counties. We serve 175 children at 7 centers. Services provided are education, health, mental health, dental, nutrition, transportation, parenting classes, social services and parent involvement. The Hastings center is located at 501 N. Burlington. Phone: 402.462.4187 or 1.800.782.7850. All Head Start sites are accredited by NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children).

Hastings/Adams County Immunization Clinic - Marsha Nelson
The program serves children ages 6 weeks to 19 years in Adams County. The Nebraska Health and Human Services System provides the vaccine and all supplies. The program has been in operation for 5 years and has served over 1,200 children per year. There is no charge for the service. Clinics are held at the Head Start facility. The parent or legal guardian must accompany the child and provide immunization records. The child should be in good health at the time of vaccination. Call 402.462.4187 for more information.

Hastings Literacy Program, Central Community College, ABE, GED, ESL Programs
The Hastings Literacy Program provides free GED and English as a Second Language classes, as well as assistance to individuals wanting to improve reading or mathematics skills. Central Community College administers the state/federal, ABE grant that the Hastings Literacy Program utilized for salary and other program expenses.

Title I Migrant Education - Sue Henry, Director
A program developed to supplement services to children and families who qualify as migrant, which means one member of the household must be working in a primary agricultural position and cross school district lines. Eligibility for the program is for three years following a qualifying move, and serves children 3-21. Our program serves 8 counties. Summer school is held for children 3-21 in Adams and Clay counties. Transportation and 2 meals per day are provided to students. The classroom curriculum is based from the Project Smart Summer curriculum, which is developed specifically for migrant children. The students also have access to a computer lab, as well as computers in the classroom. Computers have developmentally appropriate software with emphasis on the development of language and math.

Migrant Education Training and Resource Center
The Hastings project site houses the state Migrant Education Training and Resource Center. The developing automated resource center consists of a large variety of educational reading materials for students pre-K-12. Materials are available in English and Spanish. The materials are available for check out to migrant families, schools and projects in the State of Nebraska on a loan basis.

America Reads Challenge
The America Reads Challenge Program is a national literacy campaign that challenges school, parents and communities to work together to improve the reading skills of our nation's children. The goal is to have all children reading independently and well by the end of the third grade. Community volunteers that serve as Learning Partners meet with the children twice a week for extra help after school. The America Reads Challenge Program began in Hastings with coordinating efforts from Title I Migrant Education, Hastings College administration, Hastings Literacy Program and Hastings Public Schools. The program meets two days a week at Longfellow and Lincoln schools. Last year 30 students were matched with learning partners from the community to improve their reading skills. The number of students served in this program will increase this coming school year.

Hispanic Mothers Support Group
The Hispanic Mom's Support Group was organized to provide mothers an opportunity to participate in an educational and social group setting. Educational topics include presentations on health, family, community and other topics of interest. Presentations are selected by the participating group and presented in Spanish to meet the language needs of the participants in the group. Parents, Migrant Education, Even Start and Head Start staff coordinate the support group. The support group meets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month.

Even Start -Shirlee Perry, Coordinator
Even Start is the official Hastings Parents As Teachers program. Even Start is a family literacy program for families who meet the following criteria: a child 0-8 years of age, English is their second language or they have not completed basic educational goals, such as the completion of a GED. Home visits are made monthly and all families are provided a center experience with their children once per week. Child care, a meal and transportation are provided to qualifying families.

Head Start/ESU 9/Sandy Creek Public Schools/Private Preschool Initiative
This program is the first in the state to combine all of the above programs and funding to provide seamless full inclusion programs to Head Start families, State Verified children and families (verified under Nebraska Rule 51), Title 1 School program children and families, and private preschool ages 3-5. Tuition is collected from the private pay families on a sliding fee scale. The program is located in Clay Center and Fairfield. It runs four days per week, 4.5 hours per day for 128 days, following the Sandy Creek School calendar. Transportation, meals, nutrition, medical, dental, mental health, social services, parenting and parent involvement are provided to all families. The project is possible due to funding from the Nebraska Department of Education, Early Childhood Department. This site is accredited by NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children).

Educational Service Unit #9
P.A.L.L.S. (Preschool Activities for Learning and Language Skills) is a special education program available to children between birth to 5 years of age with an identified disability. Children must reside in the ESU 9 service area, which includes Adams, Clay, Nuckolls, Webster, southern Hall and Hamilton counties. Head Start and ESU 9 provide combination programs throughout our service area.

Early Head Start
This program provides comprehensive services to pregnant mothers and families with children under the age of 3. The program is funded to serve 112 children in Adams, Clay, Franklin, Hall, Nuckolls and Webster counties. Services provided are education, health, mental health, dental, nutrition, transportation, parenting classes, family services and parent involvement. Home visits are made to families weekly with opportunities available twice weekly for each family to attend a family gathering. A 'baby buggy' (traveling resource library) is available to families and childcare providers. Early Head Start staff will be working with childcare providers in the community to obtain day care licensing and accreditation. For more information call 402.462.4187.

Region 9 Training Project
Area professional organizations are coordinating to better serve the needs of families in our service area. One collaboration provides quality training opportunities to all child care providers in the region. Partners include: Head Start Child and Family Development Program, Educational Service Unit 9, Early Intervention, the Region 9 Preschool Interagency Council, Cooperative Extension, Health and Human Services, Central Community College, Central Nebraska Community Services, Head Start, "We Can Plan" and Healthy Beginnings. The service area consists of the following counties: Adams, Clay, Webster, Nuckolls, Southern Hall and Hamilton Counties.