The Van Buren Intermediate School District’s Family Links was one of four programs awarded grant money from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to help support child abuse prevention programs and services.

The district’s Family Links program was awarded a total of $320,000, which will be funded over a four-year period. The program partners educators with parents and teach them about child and brain development, and parenting skills, in addition to increasing parent knowledge and preventing child abuse and neglect.

Supervisor of the program Jayne Bartz tells us the virtual academy will use the funds to hire more staff in addition to fulfilling other needs.

“We identified what we felt was an underserved area and population within our county. And then, of course, along with the curriculum for supplies to share with families.”

Superintendent David Manson says this program will allow them to grow and give parents what they need to teach kids in the home.

“Our county tends to be a little underserved communities and this gives us a chance to reach out to those people, get them the education that they need to develop students and children at an early age. You know, the more access that parents give their children to reading and to just really overall interaction really helps with their development.”

The Family Links program is a free home-based child education and parenting support program for families with children between the ages of prenatal to kindergarten entry.