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Baird Center for Children and Families to Receive $500,000 Grant.
U.S. Sen. Jim Jeffords, R -Vt., announced today
that Congress has approved $500,000 for the
Baird Center for Children
and Families in Burlington. At the request of Senator Jeffords, the
funding was included as part of the fiscal year 2001 spending bill for
the Department of Education.
The "Campaign for a Caring Community" for the Baird Center, a division
of The Howard Center for Human Services, will support greatly expanded
services to children with serious emotional and behavioral problems,
and their families. Last year, more than 4,500 children and families
were served by Baird, quadruple the number served in 1996 when Baird
merged with The Howard Center.
"The work of the Baird Center serves as a model for the rest of the
nation," said Jeffords, Chairman of the Senate Health and Education
Committee. "This grant will ensure that there good work can continue
for years to come."
The Baird Center is unique in Vermont, serving children ages six to 14
from throughout the State. These are children with special needs due
to serious emotional and behavioral problems who cannot be served
appropriately in their local public schools.
William R. Heaslip, Chair of the Capital Campaign, said, "This half
million dollars is essential in many ways - it lets us purchase
critically important equipment for children and serves as leverage for
private funding. We are truly grateful to Senator Jeffords for all his
efforts. These funds bring us to just over $1,000,000 away from our
$4,660,000 campaign goal."
The Baird Center is an approved independent school, licensed by the
Vermont Department of Education. According to Dennis Kane, Director of
Special Education in the Vermont Department of Education, The Baird
Center is a "critical link" in a continuum of statewide services for
Vermont youth with emotional and behavioral disabilities.
Baird's services include a school social work partnership with 39
Vermont schools, early childhood mental health programs, intensive
support in the home, mentoring programs, and the round-the-clock First
Call crisis service that responds to family crises, school safety
issues, teen suicides, and accidental deaths.
In addition to funds for the Baird Center, Senator Jeffords led the
fight to increase, by nearly 29 percent, Vermont's total special
education dollars. Vermont's share is approximately $13.2 million
for FY 2001.
By Erik Smulson
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