WARREN COUNTY, Ohio—It's not uncommon to hear screaming or to see three-and four-year-olds throwing tantrums. 

  • The extreme behavior seen in preschoolers dealing with multiple traumatic experiences often forces them into foster care and out of other early learning programs
  • TIP provides preschoolers with mental health and child support services, while getting them ready for school after Head Start
  • Trauma-trained teachers use a method to reach, calm, and help kids feel safe

But at the South Lebanon Early Learning Center, director Lisa Cayard says things can be a little more intense.

"We've seen behavior where they're jumping from shelf to shelf, where they're screaming obscenities you would not believe and they're taking their clothes off," said Cayard.

Cayard says the extreme behavior is a result of multiple traumatic experiences like abuse or neglect, which often times forces them into foster care and out of other early learning programs. ​

She adds, those experiences along with the behavioral challenges, stunt their ability to learn and lessen their readiness for kindergarten.

"Cortisol and adrenalin is going through their brain, they cannot focus. They cannot hear. They cannot regulate their behavior," she said.

That's why they've implemented a Therapeutic Interagency Program for preschoolers, also known as TIP, which provides mental health, child support services and early learning. 

Inside the classroom, trained teachers use a method to reach, calm, and help kids feel safe.

"They will calmly go to the child and say, ‘I will help you be safe. I will help you put your feet on the floor so your body will be safe. I will help you put your shirt back on so your body will be safe’, and they keep that calm tone of voice, gentle, supportive all the time," said Cayard.

They also help kids to identify their feelings and work through them.

Plus, kids and their families meet with therapists regularly. 

Teacher Paula Pons says working with the kids can get tough sometimes.

"You see through those behaviors and you look for what the true need is and that is how you're able to do this and come back every day," said Pons.

While it might not seem like much, Cayard says there's power in using the word safe and helping kids to feel safe. 

"It goes back to Maslow's hierarchy. You have to feel safe. You have to feel cared for before anything else can happen in development," said Cayard.

In 2018, the TIP program in Warren County served 28 children. Only 10 percent met or exceeded literacy readiness expectations when they started, but by the end of the year, 70 percent met expectations.

This year, they have a waiting list and expect to fill all 24 slots soon.

"It's been life changing for me,” said Pons. “Umm...it's hard to put into words. But this has been the most rewarding thing that I've ever done as a teacher and I've been doing this well for 32 years."

Rewarding in that she gets to see the progress kids make little by little.

Foster parent Emily Crosby says she's already seeing the difference in her four-year-old.

"Just the way he talks, like he's opening up so much more,” said Crosby. “We can already see like his imagination blooming and we know that's from being in school. The things he's learning already and the things he's picking up, it's been really exciting to see that he's already growing."

Growing and building a future block by block that looks brighter than it did before.

Butler and Hamilton Counties have had this program in place for the last few decades.

Other counties are working on developing similar programs as they try to help kids prepare for life after Head Start.