FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 14, 2002

UC DAVIS PEDIATRICS TEAM LAUNCHES UNIQUE CLINIC TARGETING KINDERGARTEN READINESS

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- In the first clinic of its kind in California, the UC Davis Medical Center will launch a new program in early February that will support the developmental progression of premature and high-risk babies up to age 5 and offer family intervention services to help assure the children will be kindergarten-ready.

While technological advances have allowed an increasing number of children born prematurely to survive, about one-third of these babies suffer learning disabilities and developmental delays that can follow them throughout their lives.

"Unfortunately, the learning disabilities these children have are often not recognized until a couple of years after they enter the school system when intervention can be too little, too late," said Theresa Witt, a child clinical psychologist at the UC Davis Medical Center and the grant's program director.

Funded with $2.1 million of Proposition 10 money from Sacramento County's Children and Families Commission, the Department of Pediatrics' new Developmental Care Clinic will identify preterm babies most at risk and provide them and their families with multidisciplinary assessment and intervention services so that the children are ready to enter kindergarten when they turn 5 years old.

"The Sacramento Children and Families Commission feels that the developmental clinic is exactly the type of innovative and critical project for which Prop. 10 funds were intended, which is to help improve the lives of children age 0-5," said County Supervisor Roger Dickinson, chair of the Sacramento County Children and Families Commission.

While there are a number of public programs that address different needs of children with developmental problems, this clinic is the first of its kind in the state to offer a holistic approach for the first five years of a child's life, said Witt, who holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is author of the grant.

"The services available today are good, but often end by age 2," Witt said. "That limits them in how far they can go to help high-risk babies who may have more subtle but chronic learning problems, including language delays, which don't really surface until after children turn 2," Witt said. "The years between 2 and 5 are critical in children's language, social and cognitive development. Working with these children during that period of growth is perhaps the single most important step of dealing with developmental problems."

The new clinic will serve some 800 families in Sacramento County over the next three years by addressing and meeting a variety of needs, including:

• More accurate identification of developmental needs

• Increased appropriate access to early intervention services

• Improved kindergarten readiness

• Education of caregivers and community/school providers in the needs of preterm/high-risk children

• Enhanced parent-child relationships to stimulate development

• Improved sense of family support by developing parents' abilities to understand and work in a positive manner with their premature/high-risk children in enhancing their development

• Increased collaboration between schools and parents prior to kindergarten entry

The clinic will treat children who are former patients from UC Davis Medical Center's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The unit takes care of more than 500 babies a year, many of whom are born prematurely.

That was the case for the daughter of Sacramento area resident Joyce Kelly. Iyanna Kelly, who is now 2 1/2 years old, was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at UC Davis for six weeks after she was born prematurely, only weighing 2 1/2 pounds.

"She is a beautiful, bright girl," mother Joyce said. "But, she is slow in some areas, like potty training."

UC Davis doctors have provided Iyanna with some initial developmental assessments and services through other state programs, which ended when Iyanna turned 2. Joyce is looking forward to participating in the new clinic so that Iyanna can be ready for kindergarten when it is time.

"She needs the social interaction and needs to get ready to learn," Joyce said. "I think she will be able to do anything she wants as she gets older."

The grant is funded by the Sacramento County Children and Families Commission, which was established after voters passed Proposition 10 in November 1998, adding a 50 cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes to fund education, health, child care and other programs to promote early childhood development for children up to age 5.

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