VIERA, Florida, April 22, 2009 – Viera – Brevard Public Schools (BPS) invites parents to participate in an online confidential survey for the Whole Child Connection Brevard (WCCB), an exciting new Web based system that will assist families in accessing community resources to fulfill basic needs.

Parents may access the WCCB online survey on the BPS Web site, www.brevardschools.org. The survey will be initiated on April 27, 2009 and will serve as a baseline community assessment in the development of the WCCB system, which will become operational on July 1, 2009.

“Parents will have an opportunity to electronically identify services that are available to meet the needs of their children,” said Superintendent, Dr. Richard A. DiPatri. “The WCCB will provide a vehicle to transfer information immediately to the community on needs and to fill the gaps in meeting those needs.” DiPatri adds, “This is a very important step in helping families in our community find ways to help themselves.”

In 2001, the Lawton Chiles Foundation, in partnership with local communities in Florida and Electronic Training Solutions, Inc. (ets), created the Whole Child Project to insure all children and families thrive. The Brevard Children’s Service Council and the Leadership Roundtable are the sponsors of this initiative, as Brevard becomes the eighth Florida County to be designated as a Whole Child Connection community.

The Whole Child Project was initially developed for children aged birth though five years. The program was later expanded by ets, inc. to include prenatal to 25 years. For further information, contact Ginny Gleason, Parent Involvement Resource Teacher, at (321) 633-1000 ext. 389.
 

COCOA, Florida, June 2, 2008 – ets, Inc. a leading organization and community transformation consulting firm, has been awarded contracts to improve citizens’ access to community-based services for children and seniors in Florida and North Carolina.

According to ets President and Chief Operating Officer, Bob Seemer, “citizens of all ages, in Florida and throughout the nation, are unable to access readily available community services, not because they don’t qualify, but more often because they don’t know what or where the services are, or how to contact them. Furthermore, many people don’t have the patience or experience to successfully navigate existing systems designed to solve one problem at a time.”

The most recent contracts are with Florida’s Division of Blind Services Independent Living Senior Adult Program and Partners for Children and Families of Moore County, North Carolina. “Our goal is to empower citizens to define success and take responsibility for achieving it. To do so, agency and community leaders need to provide the resources and tools. In most cases, the resources are there; however, to overcome a fragmented system of services, tools must be provided which allow easy access”, says Mr. Seemer.

ets’ proprietary software solution, the EZ Self Help System (EZSHS) is designed to enable a family to understand its needs, identify the appropriate service providers, and build a holistic plan to proactively meet those needs, hopefully before a risk develops into a problem. First implemented in Manatee County, Florida, in 2002 for children between the ages of 0-5 years and their families, the EZSHS is strengthening communities in ten (10) Florida counties.