Early Childhood Programs in Cary NC

The Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood:
The Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood, located in Cary, North Carolina, is a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting the healthy emotional development of young children offering programs to children 11 years old or younger who are having behavioral or social difficulties. Our staff of more than 25 social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, and early childhood educators offers individualized care for each child and family.

We are always working with parents as part of our help to any child. We develop close partnerships with parents of children in our non-special needs preschool Child Enrichment Program. Parents can expect to receive counseling and guidance and to be a very active participant in the mental health care that we provide in our preschool/kindergarten Early Intervention Program, Family Guidance Service, or SecurePath. As an illustration, parents in our Early Intervention Program work with a parent therapist for an hour each week as well as communicating closely with teachers, often on a daily basis.

What age children does the Center serve?
We provide mental health services for children who have not yet reached their twelfth birthday. Once a treatment relationship is established, we continue as long as necessary even if children turn twelve. We do not begin services with children twelve or older. The mental health services that are offered through our preschool/kindergarten (Early Intervention Program) are for children ages 3 - 7. We work with children in this age range in our other mental health programs as well. The non-special needs preschool program (Child Enrichment Program) provides a program for 3 year olds and four year olds.

Do you provide educational testing or testing for ADHD?
We are an appropriate resource when a family wants educational or ADHD testing and is concerned that there may be an emotional component to their child's challenges. Our approach with ADHD is to understand the reasons for the symptoms, not just to determine whether a child meets criteria for the diagnosis. We are not an appropriate resource if a family wishes to determine if their child qualifies for an ADHD diagnosis for purposes of school planning or medication, or is seeking an assessment of school readiness testing or possible learning disorder.

- Child Enrichment Program (CEP)
- Early Intervention Program
- Family Guidance Service
- Non-special needs preschool
- SecurePath