The Oklahoma State Department of Health, this November, will commemorate the 65th anniversary of Child Guidance, a statewide program that promotes and supports healthy family relationships and child development through prevention, education, screenings, treatment, and consultation services for families and caregivers of children from birth to age 13 in Oklahoma.Oklahoma’s first Child Guidance clinics opened in Muskogee and Pittsburg Counties in 1956. Today, Child Guidance services are available through local county health departments located in regional hubs statewide, and through contracts with the Child Study Center in Oklahoma County and the Tulsa Health Department.Child Guidance staff – including behavioral health clinicians, child development specialists, speech language pathologists and social workers – offer emotional support and practical solutions to handle family life through prevention, intervention and education.“I am thankful for the visionaries who created the child guidance model and saw its natural fit in public health,” said Sigrid Krause, Behavioral Health Clinician. “The child guidance system of child development, speech-language pathologists and behavioral health clinicians promote optimal development, healthy behavior, and positive interaction for families with children.”Program services include parent-child relationships; challenging behaviors; positive discipline; child development; increasing communication skills; children and divorce; infant/toddler mental health; foster care and adoption; children with special needs; sleep and bedtime routines; grandparenting; teen parenting; and helping children cope with trauma, grief and loss.Child Guidance services are provided on a sliding fee scale, based on income and number of people in the family. Services are covered under SoonerCare. Free phone consultation is available for childcare providers and parents via the Oklahoma Warmline at 1-888-574-5437. The Warmline is answered Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can also reach the Warmline at warmline@ health.ok.gov.For more information about the Child Guidance program, visit oklahoma.gov/health/family-health/child-guidance-program, email ChildGuidance@health.ok.gov, or call the Kay County Health Department at (580) 762-1641.
