Sojourn's goal is to support optimal child development by building on the skills and
caring of each family through a partnership with our interdisciplinary team.
There is no cost for families to receive services from Sojourn. Our Early Start Services are supported through your tax dollars, allocated by the California Department of Developmental Services and Tri-Counties Regional Center. Our Child's Path services are supported through MediCal or Prop. 10 funds, depending on family income.
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“Babies are our Business, Families are our Focus.” Sojourn’s goal is to support optimal child development building on the skills and caring of each family together with our interdisciplinary team. We believe that play is a child’s “work”. Through extensive training and experience, Sojourn staff use play and activities of daily living to enhance each baby’s learning, communication, and independence in the family and in the community. All this is done in the natural context of the home, where the child is comfortably involved with family and siblings. We believe that “inclusion begins at birth” and that all children and their families should have access to a wide variety of activities and services in their neighborhoods and communities.
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You may be eligible for our Early Start Program if your child is younger than 3 years old and you or your physician is concerned that your child shows signs of having difficulties in any of the areas of normal infant development or is at risk of having difficulties. The areas of development include: using the body for balance, mobility, strength, and coordination; using hands and playing with toys, problem solving, gaining independence with sleeping, eating, calming, and dressing, interacting with others through play and daily activities, and communicating with others. You may be eligible for A Child's Path if your child is between birth and five and is having difficulties in the areas of behavioral and emotional development.
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We’ve found the one of the keys to success is teamwork. Depending on your child’s needs, you may have only one person, the early interventionist, come to visit. The early interventionist, or infant specialist, has training and experience in all areas of infant and toddler development. The interventionist structures play situations that stimulate the child and parents to explore those specific areas of learning that need attention.
If there are concerns about language and speech, you may have the services of a Speech/Language Pathologist who will teach you activities to incorporate in your day-to-day that will address whatever particular difficulty your child may be having. And if there are concerns about your child’s sensory-motor development, an Occupational Therapist will be involved to direct special attention towards those needs and collaborate with you and the infant specialist to make the most of your child’s/family’s everyday routines and activities.
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Sojourn will help your child make the transition from our program into pre-school services best suited to his/her continuing needs. We will be part of your transition team, of which you are Captains, including the Tri-Counties Regional Center Early Start Coordinator and Santa Barbara County Education Office preschool specialists.
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Many children “catch up” by the time they get to be school age, and will not need to continue with services. Other children have ongoing needs that benefit from developmental services all their lives. You and your team of providers will evaluate needs of your own child on a regular, ongoing basis, and your level of service will be re-established every six months. You always have the final say in what your services will be.
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All of the members of the Sojourn team are educated in Early Childhood Development and have had experience in providing early intervention services. Some members of the team are registered Occupational Therapists, others licensed Speech/Language Pathologists or licensed mental health professionals. Some of our Interventionists have masters degrees; some in education, some in maternal/infant mental health. As a team we are dedicated to continuing our education, and regularly attend conferences and educational seminars in the field of Early Childhood Developmental Services.
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Sojourn, a private, nonprofit agency has been providing services for young children and their families since 1997, but individuals in the organization have worked together in various ways for up to 10 years and more.
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Sojourn is a private, non-profit organization that may use both private and government funds. Both state and federal laws for early intervention services govern our program. Being a private organization, we set standards that exceed our legislative requirements and can creatively address ongoing challenges.