About Us

The Family Center is the state-designated Parent Child Center for Washington County. Our Board of Directors includes parents, human service professionals and community leaders from a wide range of businesses and professions. The Family Center has a staff of over 55 professionals and a budget over $2.2 million.

The Family Center of Washington County is a non-profit agency providing a variety of services to the families of Central Vermont. The Family Center is part of the statewide Parent Child Center Network, which helps families with issues such as child care, early childhood education, parent education, home visiting, family fun events, playgroups, services for children with developmental delays and advocacy and community organizing around early childhood issues.

The Family Center of Washington County originated, over 38 years ago, as part of Vermont College of Norwich University's Early Childhood Program. A laboratory preschool offered students hands-on experience working in a child care setting under the supervision of trained faculty and staff.

In 1986, the Washington County Parent Child Center started as an independent non-profit, with offices in Barre, offering playgroups and parent outreach programs. In 1990, these two different organizations merged under Vermont College auspices.

In 1993, when Vermont College decided to discontinue its Education Department, an ad hoc committee of parents, community members and administrators determined that the child development and famiily support programs offered were too valuable for the community to lose. As a result the Family Center was established as an independent non-profit organization in 1994.

We have provided a diverse array of services to generations of local children and families and today serve more than 4700 people per year. In March 2009 we completed Phase II of our facility project when we moved into our new 8,500 sq. ft. Early Childhood Building. The building houses our Early Childhood Program, playgroups and parent education services and is light filled, energy efficient, and welcoming to children and families.

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Mission*Vision*Principles

Mission: The Family Center of Washington County fosters the positive growth and development of young children and their families.

Vision: The Family Center of Washington County envisions children and adults as thriving participants in safe and healthy communities.

Principles:

• Family Centered: We recognize that each family has strengths and can take a primary role in its own development.
• Responsive: We provide different types and degrees of support in partnership with families based on their needs.
• Supportive: Our programs and services strengthen families and caregivers in their vital roles of nurturing and caring for children.
  

• Early Investment: We build family strengths as a foundation for long-term benefits to families and communities.
• The Right to Belong: We promote every child being a valued member of a family and every family’s connections to their communities.
• Partnership: We engage in and support cooperation and collaboration among educators, human service organizations and families to meet family needs in practical and respectful ways.
• Community Decision Making: We advocate for community decision making through dialogue and input at the local level.
• Accessibility: We make every effort to offer affordable, family friendly, and accessible services.
• Privacy & Confidentiality: We recognize each individual’s right to privacy and to control the release of personal information.

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Community Collaboratives

Central Vermont Building Bright Futures

Building Bright Futures is a region-wide collaborative effort amoung families, local communities, schools and human service agencies to support and encourage all parents as first teachers of their children. CVECC works to connect families to community resources that promote children's learning, to give young children the good start they need to succeed in school.The Council sponsors an array of prevention and early intervention services including:

• Therapeutic/Children's Upstream Services (CUPS)
• Home Visits
• Welcome Baby
• Teen parent services (WCYSB/B&GC)

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Montpelier School District - Essential Early Education Program

For information about the Essential Early Education Program call (802) 262-3292 ext. 166 or 167

 

familycenter@fcwcvt.org