Heart of Florida United Way’s Help Me Grow program supports families with tools and resources to identify and address developmental issues.

Parents want nothing more than to see their little ones grow and thrive, but when there is a possible behavioral or developmental issue at play, knowing how to best help their child can be a daunting and confusing prospect.

That’s where the Heart of Florida United Way’s (HFUW) Help Me Grow program can make a world of difference.

The free statewide program sponsored by the nonprofit The Children’s Forum and Florida’s Division of Early Learning has been a part of HFUW for nearly nine years. Through simple screenings, the goal of the program is to help parents identify and address developmental, educational and behavioral concerns in their children. In doing so, Help Me Grow is able to connect families in Orange, Seminole, Osceola or Polk counties to services to best support their child moving forward. 

“The results of those families being able to get connected to services as early as they can is really where our program shines the most,” Jennifer Crenshaw, Help Me Grow manager at HFUW, says.

Unlike many early intervention programs that service children before they become school aged, Help Me Grow is for kids up to 8 years old. This older age cutoff is purposeful, according to Crenshaw.

“Sometimes parents can’t catch these things early. Sometimes they don’t realize there’s a problem until that child goes to school,” she says.

Being able to still support these children once they have started their schooling is, in extension, a huge benefit for parents as well. Help Me Grow helps put advocacy in place for the child within the school system, and staff can provide guidance on what services the school can provide to assist matters.

This is how Help Me Grow works for younger children as well. Once a child undergoes screening and needs are identified, referrals to specific therapies and services can be put into place. Common concerns include communication delays, signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder and behavioral issues interacting with others.

There are a variety of screenings to address specific concerns, and each takes an average of 10 to 15 minutes. They include simple questions to assess the child’s behavior and development.

“Parents are the experts of their own child. We are literally just providing that service for these parents to give them an idea of what to expect,” Crenshaw says. “If they’re just curious how their child is doing developmentally, we’re happy to provide that screening and give them the answers they need.”

Crenshaw also stresses that anyone can access the free Help Me Grow program. There are no income requirements and immigration status is not considered. 

Further, the program is fully equipped to support Spanish-speaking families as well, which can be a compounding issue on top of everything else when trying to support a child facing developmental or behavioral issues.

“We can advocate for those parents. If we need to be on the phone getting those children connected to those services and do the translation, we’ll do that,” Crenshaw says. “We have a Spanish-speaking care coordinator, and she’s able to really advocate for those families who can’t advocate for themselves because they don’t speak the language.”

Offering parents additional support speaks to how Help Me Grow is focused on the family holistically and not just concentrated on connecting children to needed services.

“A lot of this stuff can be a shock. We provide parent support, information, ways parents can support their child’s development,” says Crenshaw.

Families have expressed gratitude for Help Me Grow, and Crenshaw would love to see word of the program spread so they can help even more children. The Help Me Grow team is there to find the answers and do the legwork in connecting families to the services that best meet their child’s needs.

“It’s essential and needed because it’s imperative that we’re catching these delays or disabilities as early as possible. The earlier we catch those things the better it is for the child and their overall well-being,” Crenshaw says. “Families shouldn’t have to do this by themselves. Parents have a lot on their shoulders, and we’re there to support them the best we can.”

Heart of Florida United Way
Orlando
(407) 835-0900
www.HFUW.org
To reach Help Me Grow, dial 211, text your zip code to 898211, or complete a free screening at https://helpmegrowfl.org.