EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION FACILITIES
Youth and Family Outreach provides a safe and nurturing atmosphere in which to grow and learn. The environment is designed to enhance the psychological, social, physical and emotional 
development of the children. The center is a state licensed facility and adheres to the philosophies of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAYEYC) offering the highest quality of care to ALL families of Greater Portland. Priority is given to children of teen and low income families who are working, in school, or job training. Our philosophy has a strong foundation in diversity. We want our children to be exposed to this on all levels therefore our enrollment is open to all socioeconomic, cultural, religious and familial backgrounds. A very limited number of subsidized slots are also available.
Youth and Family Outreach's childcare facility, located on Cumberland Avenue, has been in operation since 1986, starting with only 4 children and volunteer care takers in the basement of the building. The program now occupies the entire building and serves 48 children and their families. We do so in small group settings with 8 infants (6 weeks to 12 months), 4 young toddlers
(12 months to 18 months), 8 toddlers (18 months to 2.5 years), 12 young preschoolers (2.5 years to 3.5 years) and 16 preschoolers (3.5years to school age eligible). With the exception of the young toddler program every room has two qualified primary teaching staff and the infant room has a foster grandmother who has been in the room for 12 years.
YFO is within easy walking distance to wonderful playgrounds, the Children's Museum, and the Portland Public Library system.
Camelia Babson-Haley serves as the program director for both locations and offers 20 years of experience and education to the field. There are two social workers available to all families as a resource for whatever the need 
may be.
Classrooms at both sites employ the Creative Curriculum (with the exception of the preschool program at YFO East), which provides a framework that guides our 
planning and assessment. Our philosophy around the curriculum with these ages is to offer a child-centered environment and approach. The most important players in this curriculum are the families, children, and the teachers. Communication amongst these three is key to the success of the child's day and overall learning within this curriculum. Our curriculum focuses on several different interest areas, including dramatic play, block building, manipulatives, math, literacy, science, and art. Each area is carefully planned to target the needs of each group.
Our preschool curriculum is part of the Early Reading First program. Our facility is only one of a very few national pilot sites that are engaging in this exciting and promising program developed by the Department of Education to promote early literacy. The research-based, published curriculum is called the Opening the World of Learning (OWL) curriculum. It is highly focused on language, literacy, and preparing children for kindergarten. What has been discovered through using this curriculum is that children are less likely to fall behind in their reading and writing later in public school. 
The major components to the OWL day are: - Morning Meeting, where items are introduced for the day;
- Words, Song Play, and Letters, where children learn the importance of rhyiming, beginning sounds and join in large group participation;
- Small Group, where children are broken into three small groups and work at different levels of difficulty on an activity that is related to the unit;
- Center Time, where children
have free time to choose areas where they can discover on their own the things they have learning in their group times. It is a time for socialization, for the teachers to gather information and to engage in conversation with the children.
- Story readings- Stories are read in four specific ways in a sequence. These methods are meant to engage the chiildren in discovering the way in which literature functions;
- Let's Find Out About It, where the teahcers engage the children in a teacher driven lesson regarding one component of the unit and focuses on detailed information.
The Curriculum is written in six different units and families are encouraged to participate with activities that are sent home with each unit. Each unit lasts for approximately five weeks and is embedded into each component of the curriculum.
