PLACENTIA : Program Intervenes Early With Family Aid

Last fall, Casey Kennedy was struggling to find child care for his three children.

And the single father’s financial situation was so grim that celebrating Christmas was impossible.

But a cooperative program between Orange County Social Services and Placentia schools led social worker Deborah Moodie to Kennedy, 42, with offers of assistance.

“Within 48 hours of Deborah contacting me, I had my . . . children in day care,” said Kennedy, a truck driver. “She even helped me get some clothes and gifts for my kids for Christmas.”

Under a grant program called Healthy Start, begun last year, Moodie and fellow social worker Rosalinda Sanchez are assigned to Kraemer Middle School and Ruby Drive Elementary School. They also work with families from several other schools in the south Placentia area.

The arrangement is designed to give school staff and social workers better access to each other, which should result in more preventive referrals and fewer cases of child abuse, officials said.

Since January, 1993, the Placentia schools have referred 88 families to Moodie and Sanchez. The social workers also frequently give informal assistance to teachers and staff members concerned about students.

Funding for Healthy Start comes from a three-year state grant. The program, in its third year, will receive about $92,000 for the current school year. In addition, several county and state agencies provide personnel, such as the social workers, a nurse practitioner and counselors.

“We have seen a decline in the number of cases of serious child abuse” in the area served by the program, said Ken Levine, head of the program. “We’re getting to these families before the situation becomes the outrageous story in the newspaper.”