CCDBR earns prestigious award

Only weeks before the novel coronavirus epidemic paralyzed the nation and forced Louisiana into quarantine, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge had launched its Parents and Children Together (PACT) program, a home visitation model designed to service the underserved in rural communities.

What could not have been predicted when rolled out in mid-February was how the program’s timing could not have been better.

When the state shut down in March, families already isolated faced even greater hardships because of lost wages that also impacted the mental health of parents who were facing other significant challenges. The need for programs such as PACT dramatically increased overnight.

“We started planning (PACT) before the pandemic but it was definitely timely,” said CCDBR Early Childhood Program Manager Vickki Maloid, adding the program was initially launched in Pointe Coupee Parish but now includes East Baton Rouge and St. Helena civil parishes.

“It has had benefits we could not imagine because of the pandemic,” Maloid said. “We’ve helped parents with utilities, diapers. A lot of our families have basic needs, like for baby items and clothing.”

She said PACT staff members have also helped families receive food by informing them of locations, such as churches and other organizations, giving away food baskets.

“We were showing them where the resources were,” Maloid said.

Because of its effort in providing a creative and much-needed service in the midst of the pandemic, the CCDBR’s PACT initiative was awarded the prestigious CCUSA Great Innovative Disaster Excellence Award.

“Inspired by our Gospel mission we have an unmatched ability to deploy our technical expertise in creative new ways to serve the needs of our community as those needs change from season to season and year to year,” said CCDBR Executive Director David Aguillard. “When it comes to this award, this is a phenomenal honor for our agency. It shows that at a time of stress like we have never experienced we were able to pull together our technical expertise and the success (the agency) has demonstrated in creating something new and unique. It is a phenomenal  accomplishment of the people at our agency.”

“We’ve been successful because of (Maloid),” he added.

Aguillard explained the award cited PACT’s design and concept for being a unique innovative disaster recovery program.

“It’s actually very rewarding,” Maloid said of the honor. “I only responded in terms of service and how I can help the families and never about getting recognition.

“I thought ‘what would I need if I was in that position?’ That is how the staff responded.”

Maloid said the program is modeled after similar home visitation programs the agency provides but with an emphasis on filling the gap for children from zero to five years old.

“We did not want to leave (that age group) out because we know those are the formative years, the best years,” Maloid said.

She said once a parent registers for the program a home survey is conducted identifying the needs, if any, of the family. Those needs might include a desire for additional parenting skills, food, school clothes or even help with rent for a month.

“We assist parents with those needs but our main focus is getting the parents involved with early education, getting the parents to read more to their children, to talk more, to do additional activities with their child to prepare them for school,” she said. “We want the parents to be the child’s first teacher and understand the importance of being an advocate for their child.”

“In order to do that, we went into the home; we had to meet the parents where they are, in their environment, where it makes them comfortable,” Maloid said. “And so they would do the things we needed them to do.”

She said staff members visit the home for at least one hour a week for the 30-week program, which follows the typical school year, role playing with the parents the activities they will engage in with their children.

“We give them the tools,” she said.

Parents spending quality time with their children have brought families closer together, Maloid said. She recalled stories of fathers admitting they had been unaware of the quality time they had missing with their children.

“It increased one on one time,” she said. “(Fathers) did not see the importance of spending quality time with a child as opposed to going to work, providing shelter, providing (children) with toys.

“They now realize the importance of the bonding experience.”

Parents are also taught why they are encouraged to participate in educational activities with their children and what their child is learning from each activity. Maloid said the activities are age appropriate for each child and include “some things you might not think to do.”

She and her staff are also child abuse reporters who are required to undergo annual training, which helps when visiting homes. She said her staff looks for warning signs to determine if families are in need, on the brink of crumbling, or if the parents need classes or guidance.

“When parents work with the child and bonds, it lowers the child abuse threshold and makes home safer for the children,” she said.

Aguillard expressed his thanks to local foundations who were willing to fund a cutting edge program.

“We hope for the program to continue,” he said. “We want it to.

“We are piloting it right now and we would hope to have it become a service delivery platform for all our appropriate services.”