[00:00:07] Speaker A: Hello there, and welcome to another just say something podcast. My name is Philip Clark, and I am the CEO executive director here at just say something. And I want to welcome you to another one of our episodes today. We have, I'm not going to say how long we've known each other or how long we've worked together, Nicole, but we have Nicole shepherd with us from first steps. And so, Nicole, welcome.
[00:00:35] Speaker B: Good morning, everyone. Thank you for having me here today.
[00:00:38] Speaker A: Well, we're happy that we could finally make this work out. I know we've been trying to get this to get you here for a while, but I'm glad we were able to get this worked out.
So tell us a little bit about, Nicole, what you've been up to since we've first met each other and started working with each other and then where you are now and what's happening.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: Sure.
My name is Nicole Shepherd. I am now the parenting program services director at Greenville first steps here in Greenville county. Started my career in 2001 at Compass of Carolina and worked in their intake department with their counseling division and then got moved on to work directly with domestic violence victims in a 26 week educational program. So working with survivors and victims of domestic violence and in turn, their children in our ten week second chance program for children who had experienced trauma. So my background is in social work, in social services. That is what my degree is in. And I've always had a passion for working with families and children. In 2019, I was fortunate enough to go to Greenville first steps and help them scale up and implement the triple P or positive parenting program. And as it turns out, what happened, even going from direct services at Compass of Carolina to Greenville first steps, was in not working in direct services immediately until now or this year, was that I was working with some of the same families. And as it turned out, I noticed the same families needed the same support, whether they had been a family of trauma or adversity, the child was truant at school or had behavioral issues. Those same families or similar families, I should say, as well, also have started to come through Greenville first steps, referrals, or in need of support directly, the family might call on us. So it's been, it's come full circle. And as I've worked with. Just say something since 2001 and was part of the coalition, have always partnered well with you all and now continue to make referrals to your english and spanish parenting services.
[00:03:10] Speaker A: Yeah, that's great. And we really, really appreciate that. So explain to our audience, first step and the programs or services that you do provide for our community.
[00:03:27] Speaker B: Sure, there is a first steps office in every county in the state of South Carolina per our South Carolina legislation. So we're fortunate enough to start young and work with families and support and fund services at as a convener of services for our youngest families or those who need support who have a zero to five year old.
Again, every county has a first steps office that might offer different programming. And at Greenville first steps, we offer Dolly Parton Imagination Library, the free book delivery service for our youngest children and three zip codes in Greenville county including 296-112-9669 and 29690.
[00:04:15] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:04:17] Speaker B: We offer of course the PPP or positive parenting program to our youngest children or child development centers, childcare centers where I directly go out and teach the courses to those that have the youngest children. So our focus of course is all on school readiness, literacy and the zero to five age group. There are 36,000 children under the age of six in Greenville county.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: Good grief. That's a lot.
[00:04:47] Speaker B: And the last statistic I heard from a trusted source was 40 new people are moving to Greenville county every day, so you can imagine with live births, in turn the support those youngest families need. That brought us also to have the pleasure of funding along with the work that DHEC is doing. Our Family Connects program which is a universal home visiting program for new parents where a parent is visited through the family connects nurse at any Prisma hospital, any birthing hospital here in Greenville county soon to be also in the Easley hospital because Easley residents in the Pickens county area may they come to Greenville to have their baby cause there's no birthing hospital there as well as soon to be we hope Bron secors so when a mom has a baby there, she's visited by a nurse to be offered a visit in the home three weeks after she has the baby.
We also fund our nurse family partnership program through Prisma for new moms where they are supported for the first two years of the baby's life. So you can see where I'm going with this with the zero to five and new births and so on, and the importance of following this through holistically, even through parenting support.
And then there is our nurturing parenting program and these are all evidence based programs. And nurturing parenting is supported, offered through Nicholtown Child and Family collaborative for our families in need of support who've been through trauma might have a young parent involved a teenage parenthood. And that curriculum is offered through Nickel Town. So we're really happy to be able to collaborate partner if not directly offer the services that we do through Agreementville. First steps. Just like every first steps office who offers various programs, but they're all similar to those.
[00:06:45] Speaker A: Okay, I know one of the programs that we work partner on is the Triple P program, our positive parenting program. Can you take our listening audience through the different levels, how that's broken down and what is available for the community?
[00:07:06] Speaker B: Sure.
So a fancy way of saying Triple P or the positive parenting program is it's evidence based. The best way I can describe it is a non judgmental, free parenting support program called positive parenting that is simply not about a parent or guardian of a zero to 18 year old. It is offered through the teen years, being positive all the time. But it's about being an intentional parent. And as we work with parents, we talk about not just showing up, but being intentional and being there and giving your children time. That's what positive parenting is about. So I'd be remiss if I didn't share that. But it is triple P. Or the positive parenting program isn't a single program. It's a suite of interventions. So meeting the family where they are physically, emotionally, mentally on their parenting journey, very nonjudgmental program, really just meant to give the parent tools for their toolbox. So in the tiered approach, like Phil just mentioned, what that means is if the parenthood just simply wants to go to their school counselor, say, I need some support, or go to a community partner, an organization, like, just say something. Say, I need some parenting support. This is new to me. My child is having some initial behavioral issues that concern me. I might just need a level two workshop. I might just need to learn what the power of positive parenting is, how to raise resilient children, how to raise confident or competent children. And it is also offered to our spanish speaking families as well as English speaking. So with that being said, the parent goes to a workshop. Level two. They say, hmm, you all really hit the nail on the head here. I need to talk about the temper tantrums my two year old is just having every time we go to the grocery store.
Everything, every parent witnesses, sleep issues, behavioral issues, temper tantrums, all the normal stuff that goes with parenting. They may say, well, I might need to go to level three, which is another level of triple P and a higher level intervention.
Meeting the family where they are can be offered in an individual or small group format, which is great. And they're offered in person and virtually.
So the parent may want to just additionally individually address the temper tantrums outside of the group they had attended, maybe through their school or child development center, child care center. So again, the great thing is, it's a tiered approach. A parent can start on at any level, back up and not have to go in order to the different levels, but just simply say, hmm, even if I'm not ready for this now, I know I can call if I'm ready to go back for individual triple P. So what we may do is receive a referral digitally. A parent may call to say, I was told about your services. I found you online, maybe through scparents.org, which we're hoping is going to continue to grow or another avenue. And they say, I just need some parenting support. Triple P is what I heard about. They come through us and another parenting program might suit them better, and then they can always come back and receive Triple P, or simultaneously go through Triple P workshops online or at the same time they're attending another organization or what have you. So it really is, again, a holistically universal program available free of charge, meeting the family where they are, and again, very non judgmental. We really try to make sure we're addressing childcare issues, transportation issues, food issues, case management issues. If the trained and certified practitioner that works with the family in triple P addresses anything else, or they see any other needs the family needs to address, they'll also do that.
[00:11:12] Speaker A: Okay, you've mentioned a couple of times the tiers. So are the tiers based on the age of the child or the issue or what are the tiers based on?
[00:11:27] Speaker B: That's a great question. The tiers are based on the behavioral concerns of the parent or caregiver. So, for instance, if they had some initial concerns that they just started to notice that they just really simply want to learn what the power of positive parenting is, that might be a level two workshop through their school, through their childcare center, or what have you, we can bring those. We can even start implementing those wherever the parent that listens to this is in need of. And if they have a zero to five year old child, they can certainly contact us if they have a school age child, because triple P addresses the zero through the teen years. But they have a school age child who's having homework issues or dealing with disobedience. Cause they're fighting with their siblings all the time. Maybe they need to address that in primary care, triple P, or level three in the four one on one sessions that last about 30 minutes to an hour, preferably at their school. Or they can do home visits with the triple P practitioner, even virtual, then if we get into the higher intensity and we have some questionable, perhaps mental health challenges or behavioral issues that they're afraid will turn into mental health challenges, or there is a diagnosis of ADD or ADHD with the child, then maybe level four is really where the family needs to be. It's a little more intense.
Also a wonderful level. One of my favorites, really addressing the nitty gritty and the needs and concerns of the family. And that is in an eight or ten session model, either in small groups or individually.
[00:13:13] Speaker A: Okay. All right. And while you were talking about that, I know several times you referred to schools, childcare centers, those kind of things. I know when Children's Trust initially funded Triple P here for Greenville county, first Steps was then the convener of everything, Triple P for Greenville county.
So tell us a little bit about what that did as far as the ability to train additional people. But then within our community, where are those? Where are those people?
[00:14:00] Speaker B: That's also a great question.
So simply said, in 2019, when we were awarded the grant via the Duke Endowment, we were thrilled to be awarded the grant in 2019 via the Duke Endowment through our partners at the Children's Trust and our partners in North Carolina as well. So this was a team effort, and a really great foundation was laid with Greenville county schools, other community partners, Greenville First Steps and the Children's Trust.
What happened was we were given the opportunity to scale up or implement an additional Triple P or positive parenting program initiative to lay the foundation in GREeNVIlLE COUNtY. So the grant funds awarded close to 100 practitioners the ability to be trained and certified in this evidence based program, in this curriculum, in different levels. That could be our Greenville county school counselors, our mental health therapists in Greenville county, or our district or school social workers, for instance, in addition to other share head start, Prisma Health. Just say something. Your parenting team trained and certified to deliver these services for years to come. So again, I'll say foundation a lot. So then what happened is we formed work groups. We attended coalitions and meetings and trainings to see how we can adequately see that the foundation and scaling up of this intense work worldwide program is suited to meet the needs of everyone in Greenville county with our growing population and growing families, largely. So at the end of 2024, the end of the calendar year, with again a great base working foundation being laid, we were given the opportunity to continue to partner with the Children's Trust, who in turn offered separate funding to a lot of the practitioners who had already been trained. So they might have been able to apply separately to continue to do this work with families outside of the grant that we offered. So it was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to watch, because what we see now is those referrals that still come through Greenville. First steps, for instance, just because they're aware of Triple P by our name, get to go out to those practitioners who got trained, who continue to still do the great work with families on a daily basis. And a lot of those practitioners are doing the separate Triple P work outside of their full time jobs. It's amazing to really, it really is amazing to watch. And we're really thankful for, again, the Children's trust and the Duke endowment and partners, like, just say something to see this continued to work because this is a large team effort. Greenville is big.
[00:17:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. And if you, if you've heard me say it once, you've probably heard me say it a million times. The issues and problems that our communities face are larger than any one entity. And so we have to work together to provide that continuum of care and support for all the families in Greenville county. The ones that are here, the ones that are on their way here.
[00:17:26] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:17:26] Speaker A: Knowing that OuR population is growing quickly. So as we bring this episode to a close, is there one thing that you would like for our listeners to know about first steps?
[00:17:51] Speaker B: I would like them to know that we are there in the business of supporting our young families, and we are there for our community. We are there as a convener of services. We are there for you to call if you're in need of support, and please do so.
[00:18:13] Speaker A: Okay. And how would they get in touch with you?
[00:18:16] Speaker B: They can simply email
[email protected] that would be the best way to collectively contact us.
And just remember, if you have a young child ages zero to five and you're listening to this podcast in a different county, there is a first steps office in every county. Just look up your county name. You can see what services are provided and just get your children involved. We even have an e newsletter available to you that for our youngest children in zero to five, or even if you have an older child, our e newsletter is available to you. It's called every step of the way. And that's a great way for parents to get information on community wide summer reading literacy events, what's happening at your library? What's happening parenting wise? And just some parenting support skills might be offered to you on that e newsletter. And we'd love for you to sign up again. That's called every step of the way. So if you're not going to contact us directly but you're a parent or caregiver, please sign up for our newsletter as well.
[00:19:25] Speaker A: And what's your website?
[00:19:27] Speaker B: It is www.greenvillefirststeps.org.
[00:19:35] Speaker A: All right. Well, Nicole, thank you as always, for being with us today. This is another episode of just say somethings weekly podcast. My name is Philip Clark, and you know you can always find us at just say somethingsc.org or that old fashioned way, a good old phone call. 864-467-4099 thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week. Thank you.
