First Step Family Support Center has provided support and education services to thousands of local Clallam County families as part of the agency mission to promote the healthy development of children and families for over thirty years.  In 2008, our staff of 21 dedicated professionals served 4,478 primarily low-income adults and children.  The purpose of the agency is to provide innovative and family-centered programs to meet the needs of parents and their children in a respectful and responsible manner. We believe parents are critical to young children as they are their child’s protectors, first teachers and emotional home. 

First Step successfully delivers a vast array of services to meet the mission and to meet the needs of our rural community. Our programs and services include but are not limited to maternity support services, case management, drop-in centers,  mentoring programs, the Parents As Teachers Home Visiting Program, the Readiness to Learn Program, the Parent-Child Assistance Program, the Summer Food Service Program for Children, support groups (Postpartum Depression, Choosing Healthy Relationships), Great Expectations Celebrations, vocational counseling and jobs training, parenting classes, a smoking cessation program, and the First Books Program. The agency’s dynamic response to community need, coupled with solid follow through on its commitments has garnered First Step a reputation of excellence locally, statewide and nationally.  In 2008, the agency received the Children’s Trust Foundation’s Janet Miller Award For Excellence in Family Support and in 1997 the Governor of Washington honored First Step with the Governor’s Child Abuse Prevention Award naming First Step “Best Community Program”.  First Step’s services improve long-term social outcomes of low-income families with small children by providing a safe venue where they can build positive social support systems while gaining needed tools for thoughtful parenting. FIRST STEP HELPS FAMILIES THRIVE!