MISSION, PHILOSOPHY & GUIDING PRINCIPLES
MISSION STATEMENT FOR CHILDREN’S PLACE, INC.
Children’s Place gives caring supportive early intervention to improve life for the children of Aiken County.
AGENCY PHILOSOPHY
The staff and faculty of Children’s Place believe the early formative years of childhood are crucial to optimum development. We respect each and every child as a unique and dynamic person and we strive to foster and sustain emotional, social, intellectual, personal, physical and creative growth simultaneously. To promote such growth, we strive to maintain a program that is child-centered and experienced based.
We recognize that the family is the constant in a child’s life and as their children’s first teacher they need to be honored and respected for their culture, beliefs, strengths, and individualized ways of coping. We believe that we must be flexible, culturally aware, and responsive to the individual family’s needs for both support and education. We design our work with families to focus on the needs of the child, the needs of the parent, and on the parent-child relationship. We believe that supporting families can include home visitation, family or individual therapy and education.
We also believe that an early childhood curriculum should allow each child to:
1.Develop a positive self-concept and the initiative to learn.
2.Grow in their ability to relate, interact and communicate with other children and adults.
3.Gain knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for creative expression and production in our ever changing world.
The Guiding Principles which govern Children's Place, Inc. are:
We respect childhood, and always base our services on the needs of the child.
We are committed to and advocate for the best interest of children.
We respect the dignity of each person.
We value each person’s uniqueness and their right to be included.
We believe that whenever possible children should be reared and protected by their family.
We believe that children and adults should be served in the least restrictive environment.
We respect the dignity of each staff person and provide training for staff to be fully effective and reach their highest potential.
We are committed to practice our professions at the highest standards of competence and integrity and adhere to the ethical standards of our professional organizations.
We believe in the individual’s right to privacy and protect the confidentiality of the people we serve.
We are committed to team work and collaboration in our work environment and in our community relations.
We believe that we must not engage in dual relationships with the people we serve.
We will only provide services for which we are trained, certified, or credentialed.