Orange County Childrens Therapeutic Arts Center
PROGRAMS
Early Intervention: Early Start and Pre-Kinder Arts programs
The Early Start and Pre-Kinder Arts programs at OCCTAC provide early intervention services and full-inclusion to very young children, ages 6 months to 5 years, with and without special needs. The Early Start (infant and toddler program) serves very young children with and without special needs (ages 6 months – 2.5 years) in a full-inclusion community-based setting that supports children and their parents learning together. The majority of the families that we serve come from very low income communities, and live in Santa Ana or nearby cities. The program aims at educating parents and their very young children in a natural community environment that enhances students’ cognitive, language, motor and social-emotional development. Parents are required to attend the program with their children, and participate in all of the activities with their children, as well as attend parenting classes that teaches them the various stages of child development, developmental screenings, healthy development, and important skills to prevent child abuse. The Pre-Kinder Arts Program serves young children ages 3, 4 and 5 years old, and their parents. The program educates parents and their young children by providing school readiness activities integrated with the arts, bilingual education and parenting classes. OCCTAC Pre-Kinder Arts program is also a full-inclusion program and integrates children with and without special needs. The goals of the Pre-Kinder Arts program are focused on enhancing children's developmental skills, family literacy, second language development, and school readiness.
Our program goals and outcomes are the following: (1) enhance the developmental outcomes of infants, toddlers and preschoolers with and without disabilities from low income communities; (2) engage parents in a series of parenting classes throughout the year on children's developmental stages, family literacy and child abuse prevention; (3) prepare young children ready for school, (4) integrate very young children with and without disabilities together to enhance the developmental outcomes of all children, (5) conduct developmental screenings, (6) educate parents on what their children are learning, and (7) prevent child abuse.
Arts Education
OCCTAC provides Arts enrichment and education at various locations in Santa Ana and Orange County, including at our community-based agency located in the City of Santa Ana. We offer arts education at our center 6 days per week (Monday - Friday) after school hours, and all day on Saturdays (9am - 5pm). In addition to our community agency, OCCTAC also partners with the Santa Ana Unfied School district and various Family resource centers in OC to provide enrichment opportunities to students in the community. We provides the community with a wide range of classes - Music, Visual Arts, Dance & Digital Arts programs for children and youth 4 -18 yrs. of age, OCCTAC provides individual instruction and group classes. Also, OCCTAC provides Art and Music education programming at the Santa Ana Unified School District. Our teachers go to all elementary and middle schools during after-school hours. The instruction takes place in the expanded learning program at all k-8 sites throughout the school district. OCCTAC provides Visual Arts instruction for students all year long. Our Art curriculum is based on the life and professional practice of multi-cultural world masters. Also, our students engage in an introspective creative process, team-work, collaboration, and how to use art as an additional form of expression and self-exploration. In addition to providing formal education in the arts and social emotional development, our program supports our students’ language and literacy development in a fun and creative way to engage and motivate them to learn and enhance their vocabulary skills, concept formation, reading and writing through our Visual Arts Curriculum and Cultural awareness. Our music curriculum also supports the socio-emotional development, language and literacy skills of students through singing, ukele and guitar classes for elementary school students and Digital music for intermediate students.
OCCTAC Arts Education programs strive to meet the following program goals and outcomes:
1) To teach students the basic concepts, techniques and vocabulary of the art making process as defined in the VAPA standards, and as measured by our Pre & Post Art & Music tests;
2) To nurture and foster students’ creativity, self-esteem, and self-expression, as measured by student surveys and qualitative data;
3) To nurture and enhance students’ socio-emotional development, including teamwork and collaboration, as measured by student surveys and qualitative data; and
4) To support and improve students' language and literacy skills through arts and literacy integration.
Therapeutic Arts Program
OCCTAC offers a wide variety of therapeutic arts classes to children and youth with disabilities, including students with Autism, Cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, Learning Disabilities, Visual and Hearing Impariments, and others. The Therapeutic Arts program provides Music, Art & Dance therapy for children and youth with special needs. We provide individual and group sessions for families in the community. This program aims at providing artistic access and therapeutic outcomes to help students improve in all areas of development, including: cognitive, motor, language, and socio-emotional learning. Our key community partners include the Regional Center of Orange County, the Kennedy Commission and VSA Arts and Disability.
At OCCTAC we use the Creative Arts as a therapeutic intervention to bring about positive impact, healing and overall wellbeing in children, youth and adults. Our Therapeutic Arts program aims at enhancing students’ psychological, socio-emotional, communication, and cognitive development. A therapeutic arts class will help a child or youth with special needs improve their social skills, express their emotions and improve in all developmental domains. The Arts is a powerful tool for self-expression, healing, empowerment and transformation!
Family Mentoring Program
OCCTAC's Family Mentoring Program is a partnership with the Regional Center of Orange County. The program provides comprehensive support to families with children and youth with disabilities. The Regional Center of Orange County refers families in need. The program empowers caregivers to become active, knowledgeable advocates for their children by providing health navigation support, case management and facilitating access to essential services, we aim to help children and youth with disabilities reach their fullest potential. Program Objectives: *Comprehensive Family Support - We provide families and caregivers with a holistic range of support services and integrated health resources. *Culturally Responsive Health Navigation -We offer parent-to-parent health navigation services that are culturally sensitive and tailored to underserved families. *Eliminating Disparities -We strive to bridge gaps in accessing developmental disability services, ensuring that every child receives the assistance they deserve. *Building Collaborative Networks - By utilizing existing services and fostering collaboration, we create a strong network that maximizes impact. *Empowering Families for a Brighter Future - Our Family Mentoring Support Program is driven by a commitment to empower families and caregivers. We believe that informed and empowered caregivers are essential for the well-being and development of children and youth with disabilities.
OCCTAC's Family Mentoring program strives to meet the following program goals and outcomes: 1) To provide comprehensive family support, integrated health services and resources for families and caregivers of limited resources; 2) To deliver culturally responsive health navigation services to underserved families; 3) To reduce disparities in accessing developmental disability services, and 4) To leverage existing services to develop a network and system of collaboration.
Wraparound Tutoring Program
The Wraparound Tutoring Program offers tutoring services to youth with academic problems and learning difficulties. Most of the students in this program are students with learning disabilities, foster youth, students with disabilities, and emotional and/or behavioral challenges. All the students and families served come from very limited financial resources that are receiving Wraparound Services through the County of Orange, Social Services. This program is funded through a contract with the County of Orange, Social Services.
OCCTAC tutors help students improve their Academic Performance (class assignments, homework, quizes, tests) so they can perform better in school. Also, students improve in the following important areas: a) Task engagement (instructional attention, following directions, self-monitoring, self-correction & language use); and b) Learning disposition (behavior, attitude, academic self-esteem & motivation).
CONTACT
Orange County Childrens Therapeutic Arts Center
2215 North Broadway Street
First Floor
Santa Ana, CA 92706
Phone: 714-296-2191