TRI-COUNTY COMMUNITY ACTION INC
PO Drawer 1748, Center, TX 75935 tccainc.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: To reduce poverty and remove barriers for the disadvantaged throughout the Deep East Texas Region by providing impactful innovative programs to meet community needs in collaboration with other mission-minded in our communities.

Eliminate poverty by empowering individuals and families to move toward and into self-sufficiency

PRE- SCHOOL EDUCATIONTCCA Head Start/Early Head Start vision statement is to provide quality child services that promote health and development to children and families in our communities, and to foster partnerships with other agencies to meet the needs of diverse families in a rapidly changing world. Head Start/Early Head Start is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF).Tri-County Head Start/Early Head Start is committed to quality in service our children and families. Integrity, Professionalism and Teamwork is important to each employee and we work hard daily to achieve this goal. Head Start/Early Head Start Birth to Five Program is a comprehensive child development program for children and families who meet the age and income criteria. The program is deeply rooted in providing children with medical, dental, mental health, nutritional and educational services Tri-County Community Action serves 626 children ages 0-5. The Early Head Start program serves 154 children in a Center Based setting and 40 in a Home Based setting. The Head Start Program serves 94 children in Home Based settings and 338 children in Center Based settings. The programs serve Angelina, Jasper, Newton, Sabine, Shelby, San Augustine, and Tyler Counties. The program also serves 4 expectant mothers through the Home Base program.Head Start takes pride in providing parents with an ongoing source of educational opportunities. Head Start has a successful partnership with the San Augustine Independent School District where we serve 40 Head Start children in two ISD classrooms. San Augustine County is one of the poorest counties in Texas and this relationship has increased community involvement and encouraged the local government to enlist services needed by low income families and provide them in their communities. Tri-County has also partnered with the Mary Jo Gordon Child Development Center (Buckner) where we serve 34 Early Head Start children. Mary Jo Gordon also provides families with homes on campus, training for young mothers, resources to assist parents in becoming self-sufficient, and after care programs for foster children. Head Start also partners with the Foster Grandparent program to in the classrooms at two of our centers. TCCA partners with Agri-life which works with parents and staff in such things as growing gardens, and other activities such healthy life styles recipes, budgeting, and saving with coupons.Tri-County Head Start partners with local college such as Angelina, Stephen F. Austin and Panola to ensure our staff and parents have the educational opportunities to accomplish their goals. Tri-County is committed to providing excellent educational services to children through working to meet School Readiness goals. Children are assessed 3 times a year and outcomes are monitored, analyzed, and aggregated by the Education Team. Families are kept informed of their childs individual goals and achievements throughout the program year through Home Visits and Parent Conferences. School Readiness and Family Engagement must work closely together to ensure the needs of the entire family are met. This program sets goals for families in seven Outcome areas; Family Well-Being, Positive Parent-Child Relationships, Families as Lifelong Educators, Families as Learners, Family Engagement in Transaction, Family Connections to Peers and Community and Families as Advocates and Learners. Family Outcomes play a huge role in the success of the child and the ability of the family to move forward once they have completed the Head Start Program. TCCA partners with other social service agencies and area resources to ensure parents and community members know what resources are available. TCCA does this through partnerships, MOUs, and joint community events.TCCA hosted a virtual Resource Fair in each one of our counties which allows us to reach out to all our families and families in the community that are not in Head Start,we are able to share information about our services as well as connecting them to other resources in their community. TCCA has also implemented Family Service Advisory meeting twice a year working in a partnership with the School Readiness Leadership Advisory Meeting to get the best outcomes. We connect with all the communities in all the counties, and invite all community vendors to come and share their service and their criteria. Parents are also invited so they can get knowledge of any new resources that are available to them.We had 661 volunteers for Head Start/ Early Head Start last year.Tri-County is committed to providing excellent educational services through our School Readiness Program and Family Engagement Program. Tri-County Community Action Agency implements coaching with fidelity using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) as an observation tool that aligns with Head Start Performance Standards. Monitoring of the implementation of the CLASS Tool is a key element that contributes sustained quality support and training for education staff. Monitoring, mentoring, and coaching will ensure successful outcomes for all children to achieve school readiness goals set for each. Teaching staff set goals towards professional development as well as utilize training using research based resources; Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECKLC); myTeachstone, and Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF) to provide children with best practices for learning opportunities. The strategy that is being used to ensure every child achieves the desired outcomes and teachers have a continuous professional development is Practice Based Coaching. All teachers work with the Education Specialist Coach, EHS Mentor, and Center Director to complete assigned task through myTeachstone, ECLKC, and the Engaging Interactions and Environments Framework to ensure all teaching staff are successful in preparing their students to become lifelong learners.

COMPREHENSIVE ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMRegular Program Grant:During the program year 2020, Tri-County assisted: -Approximately 1,731 households and 3,273 individuals with energy assistance. This included seniors, disabled individuals, and households with children 5 and under.- Approximately $2,014,371.61 of grant funded monies were spent in order to meet the needs of those individuals that qualified for assistance to help prevent crisis within their households.Cares Act Grant:During the program year 2020, Tri-County assisted:-Approximately 222 households and 662 individuals with energy assistance under the CARES ACT grant. This included seniors, disabled individuals, and households with children 5 and under.-Approximately $187,827.79 of these grant funded monies were spent in order to meet the needs of those individuals that qualified for assistance to help prevent crisis within their households. This contract will remain in effect until the end of July 2021.

Emergency Services - Provides funds to help the needy in cases of emergencies, including services for the homeless, energy crisis, food and disaster.COMMUNITY SERVICE BLOCK GRANTDuring the program year 2020, Tri-County assisted:- 1 individual with becoming employed with a living wage salary- 39 individuals completed income tax preparation through the VITA program- 5 homeless individuals received temporary shelter support- Provided 245 hours of capacity building/training activities.- 102 individuals donated 837 hours of volunteer time to the agency. - Assisted 1 individual who obtained a recognized credential, certificate, or degree relating to the achievement of education or vocational skills. FOOD PANTRYIn 2014 Tri-County partnered with the East Texas Food Bank to help with providing nutritious food to impoverished individuals and households within the Shelby County region. The need to eradicate hunger is so great that it was important for our agency to become a part of this plan to assist with doing that. In 2020, Tri-County assisted with a total of 946 members with providing food bags/boxes. Each Thursday, our pantry allows for new clients to sign-up to receive assistance with food allowance. After which, every 30 days that same client is eligible to receive more food bags/boxes. Being funded through the State of Texas, Tri-County spent approximately $21,761 in the year of 2020, and served provided over 40,956 pounds of food product to our Shelby County community.Also, every 4th Wednesday of each month, we provide fresh produce to the community and surrounding areas. This is also a partnership made with the East Texas Food Bank. Produce from the local farmers and grocers provide the overflow through the ETFB to be distributed within several different counties. In 2020, we distributed produce to approximately 1361 individuals.

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