Volunteering & Volunteer Students

09.25.07 — Jubilee Jumpstart Program: A Broad-Based WCP – Community Initiative

Deborah Blessing, MSW and Karyne Messina, Ed.D. Co-Chairs, Board Outreach Committee

The Washington Center for Psychoanalysis is deeply committed to becoming a presence in and establishing links with the community. In keeping with this goal, the Outreach Committee of the Board has forged a working partnership with Jubilee Jumpstart, an organization which will provide high quality, developmentally-based child care in the Adams Morgan area of Washington, D.C. This program is the offspring of Jubilee Housing, a 501 (c)(3) corporation that develops and manages affordable housing. Jubilee Housing offers a variety of supportive services to low-income residents and has more than 280 apartments serving 850 people.

Slated to open in November 2008, Jubilee Jumpstart’s mission is to offer child care for up to 47 infants and young children, a large percentage of whom will be residents of Jubilee Housing. At the heart of all of Jumpstart’s programming efforts is the emphasis placed on building and supporting consistent nurturing relationships with one or a few caregivers. All operations flow from the premise that such consistency is essential for the emotional, social and intellectual growth of children. To that end, Jubilee Jumpstart envisions two integrated program components: child care and learning on-site, and an ongoing home visitation program that lends support to parents in their roles as caregivers and teachers of their children. Staff of Jumpstart, those on-site as well as home visitors, will receive on-going training/education and supervision to ensure quality of care, and to create an environment that fosters staff retention and continuity. Other proposed interventions include support groups for Jubilee Housing-based parents and others concerned about children. The Jumpstart program intends to forge connections with neighborhood community agencies, such as The Family Place and The Mary Center, to provide a broad network of needed services for this population.

The Washington Center for Psychoanalysis has been involved from the early days of planning. The Outreach Committee of the Board has provided consultation to Jumpstart one every level, starting with the layout of the physical plant, where, for example, the need for a space for parents to gather and share their experiences was identified and implemented. Research has been done to locate and choose program models embodying a deep level of reflection about the developmental and practical needs of children, parents and the staff that serves them. In addition to applying psychoanalytic ideas in this way, we will provide ongoing training and supervision of staff and parent education sessions.

The substantial WCP participation envisioned in the Jubilee Jumpstart program is one that involves us as an integral part of this program. It offers exciting and unique opportunities to bring our knowledge and skills to bear in a direct way to the community, enriching our own learning and experience in the process. It is challenging and gratifying to be part of such an important endeavor, one that may serve as a prototype in this area.

The Outreach Committee and Jubilee Jumpstart welcome volunteers. Interested individuals should contact the Co-Chairs of the Board’s Outreach Committee, Karyne Messina and Deborah Blessing.