Rochelle Riley, Detroit Free Press Published 6:00 a.m. ET Oct. 14, 2018 Dr. Maria Muzik, an Associate Professor in the University of Michigan's Department of Psychiatry, left, chats with Mary Ludtke from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018 at the opening of the new Starfish Partnering with Parents Center in Dearborn. (Photo: Rochelle Riley, Detroit Free Press) Imagine being the parent of a child whose needs are many and may include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and psychological counseling to deal with trauma. Now imagine that you, the parent of that child, must take your child to different places all over the county for each of those services, whether you have the transportation, time off work -- or money to make it happen. Now imagine that you are that child. And you’re 5 years old. And you to go to all of those places while also going to school. If you can’t feel the sheer frustration and pain of that … [Read more...]

The former Liberal Arts building on the Marygrove campus. Space in the building will be renovated for student and faculty use. Organizations gathered at the Marygrove College campus today to announce a new cradle-to-career educational partnership including a state-of-the-art early childhood education center, a new K-12 school and the introduction of an innovative teacher education training modeled after hospital residency programs. The P-20 Partnership – one of the first in the nation – is backed with a $50 million commitment from The Kresge Foundation, marking the largest philanthropic investment in history into a Detroit neighborhood. The investment places education at the center of community revitalization efforts in the Livernois-McNichols district in northwest Detroit. In addition to construction of a new early childhood education center, the Kresge commitment will renovate the former Bates Academy (originally Immaculata High School) on the Marygrove campus to house the … [Read more...]

Did you catch us on WDIV Local 4: Live in the D? Starfish media stars Kecia Rorie (Deputy Director, Thrive by Five), Sherry Rowe (Head Start teacher, Covenant House), and Lance Reed (Education, Curriculum and Disability Manager Birth to Five Program) made an appearance to talk more about Thrive by Five. They even showed host Tati Amare how parents can make Play-Doh at home and how they can help their children develop fine motor skills. Our community kids are definitely getting a head start on life at Thrive by Five Detroit! … [Read more...]

WDIV Local 4 recently featured our very own Lance Reed (Education, Curriculum and Disability Manager Birth to Five Program) on their What’s the Buzz segment. With kids about to head back to school, the topic appropriately was: “How Do You Get Into the School Spirit?” The burning question: What is the biggest mistake that parents make when it comes to their kids on the first day of school? According to Lance, “In early childhood development schools, we often see separation anxiety with not only the children, but the parents as well. The biggest mistake we see is the parents staying around too long. Drop the kids off so that we can begin to build that bond and build that safety net so that they can start to trust us." … [Read more...]

WDIV Local 4 aired a special segment on July 22, 2018, about the amazing partnership between Beaumont Health and Starfish Family Services and how it has been a benefit to new mothers in the community. Sandra Ali, who was the emcee at Starfish's Great Hearts Gala in May, spoke with the family featured during the event presentation. The program pairs new mothers with Infant Mental Health Therapists to guide and support them through motherhood. Watch the video below: … [Read more...]