Our History and founder
F.O.C.U.S was founded in 2000 by former Program Director and current President of the Board, Prudy Tanner. Mrs. Tanner recognized a desperate unmet need in Porterville California for Infant and Toddler Care. Prudy had been "in the day care business" for more than 30 years. She started off meagerly with a home daycare in the early 1970s. It wasn't long until her reputation for providing sound educational programs, from home, got her noticed by Porterville College (PC). In the 1970s a large portion of the PC student body was made up of return students, many of which were parents. They asked Mrs. Tanner to bring her extensive knowledge about preschool curriculum to their campus.
The first pre-school on the PC campus opened it's doors in 1975, it was lovingly called Kiddy Kollege. As the pre-school industry blossomed so did Prudy. She went on to earn her Master's Degree in Child Development and became the Department Head of the Child Development Program offered at Porterville College. Prudy designed and oversaw the creation of Porterville College's first state of the art Child Development Center. The center's design and reputation was so strong, in fact, that Bakersfield Memorial Hospital asked Mrs. Tanner to design and impliment a child care center designed to meet the needs of their Doctors and Nurses for quality child care. Soon after, Prudy became a sought after preschool consultant and grant writer, all while retaining her position at Porterville College as Center Director and Department Head. Many of the child care programs operating in Tulare County have staff who have trained with Prudy or one of her students. Prudy developed three child care centers for Portervile college during her tenue and even after all three centers were opened and enrolled, PC alone was still not able to meet the growing need for Infant and Toddler care in the area. This lead Prudy Tanner to conceive and develop the 501(c)(3) non-profit we know today as, Family F.O.C.U.S. Inc. Initially Family F.O.C.U.S. offered only Infant and Toddler Care in Porterville. The first Family F.O.C.U..S Infant/Toddler Center opened its doors in 2000 to just twenty-five grateful children and families. Since then, the Porterville Infant/Toddler Center has grown emensely and now serves more than 60 families and employs more than 25 certified and trained staff members. On April 6, 2015 Family F.O.C.U.S. grew by leaps and bounds as they adopted multiple YMCA sites in Visalia California. These programs originally included pre-school age programs and school age programs throughout Visalia. Family F.O.C.U.S. has since converted the afterschool programs, once offered by YMCA, into Infant/Toddler programs to better suit the needs of the Visalia community. Today in Visalia we have can offer full-day care to children 2-6 at our Family F.O.C.U.S. Parkview Preschool location and full-day care for children 2 months-to their 3rd birthday at our Family F.O.C.U.S. Infant/Toddler Center at Whitendale Park. Family F.O.C.U.S. provides free or reduced cost child care to more than 200 families in need here in Tulare County. 2017 brought many changes to Family F.O.C.U.S. July 1, 2017 marked the start of a new fiscal year and also marked the retirement of Prudy Tanner as Program Director and CEO and the promotion of Lucinda Tanner-Jewell. Lucinda was promoted from Program Manager for the Visalia District, to Program Director for all of Family F.O.C.U.S. Not to worry, Prudy still remains President of the Board of Directors and provides Professional Consulting services to Family F.O.C.U.S. .Inc Family F.O.C.U.S. will continue to benefit from her many and vast years of education and experience in the field of Child Development. New Program Director |
Founders Prudy Tanner
& Husband James Tanner |
Lucinda Tanner-Jewell is a resident of Visalia, California. She has two fantastic sons, Drayton and Garreth and a very supportive husband named Ryan.
Mrs. Tanner-Jewell holds a Bachelor's of Arts Degree from California State University of Monterey Bay. Lucinda is also currently working towards her Maste's Degree in Education with an emphasis in Effective Teaching. She holds several Permits and Credentials including, a Site Supervisor Permit, Program Director Permit (Currently a Waiver) Single Subject Teacher Credential to teach English, and a Designated Subject Career Technical Education Teaching Credential that authorizes her to teach, Education, Child Development, and Family Services. Lucinda taught High School in Tulare County for more than10 years. She taught at both Exeter and Lindsay High schools. Lucinda taught English 9, 11. and 12, as well as Drama and Child Development.
Lucinda began her career with Family F.O.C.U.S. in 2000 as the original Site Supervisor at the Porterville Infant/Toddler Center. Lucinda loved the young children in her care but thought she could make a bigger difference if she worked at educating adolecents about the responsibility of raising and educating children. So, in 2004 she left Family F.O.C.U.S. and worked with Kings Community Action Organization (KCAO) as the Coordinator for Mentoring Teen Moms and their Siblings, a pregnancy prevention and young parenting program. It is at KCAO that Lucinda fine tuned her grant writing skills building on the grant experience she first received from Family F.O.C.U.S. in the early stages of her career. From there she decided to teach Child Development at Exeter High School. Eventually she decided to blend her love of the written word and Drama and expanded her teaching repertoire to include teaching English and Drama which she loved.
In 2015, Mrs. Tanner-Jewell was working at Lindsay High School and studying education reform, when she got the call requesting her return to Family F.O.C.U.S. The non-profit was expanding into Visalia and needed a District Manager for this new area. Lucinda was thrilled to come back around, full circle and take the offer as the new Program Manager for the Visalia District. She worked in this capacity for more than two years. When Prudy Tanner decided to retire as Program Director, she passed the torch to her daughter and lifelong protege. The Board of Directors approved Lucinda's appointment effectice July 1, 2017. Lucinda is hoping to better align preschool curticulum with the Common Core as well as bring more child development provider education to Tulare County.
Mrs. Tanner-Jewell holds a Bachelor's of Arts Degree from California State University of Monterey Bay. Lucinda is also currently working towards her Maste's Degree in Education with an emphasis in Effective Teaching. She holds several Permits and Credentials including, a Site Supervisor Permit, Program Director Permit (Currently a Waiver) Single Subject Teacher Credential to teach English, and a Designated Subject Career Technical Education Teaching Credential that authorizes her to teach, Education, Child Development, and Family Services. Lucinda taught High School in Tulare County for more than10 years. She taught at both Exeter and Lindsay High schools. Lucinda taught English 9, 11. and 12, as well as Drama and Child Development.
Lucinda began her career with Family F.O.C.U.S. in 2000 as the original Site Supervisor at the Porterville Infant/Toddler Center. Lucinda loved the young children in her care but thought she could make a bigger difference if she worked at educating adolecents about the responsibility of raising and educating children. So, in 2004 she left Family F.O.C.U.S. and worked with Kings Community Action Organization (KCAO) as the Coordinator for Mentoring Teen Moms and their Siblings, a pregnancy prevention and young parenting program. It is at KCAO that Lucinda fine tuned her grant writing skills building on the grant experience she first received from Family F.O.C.U.S. in the early stages of her career. From there she decided to teach Child Development at Exeter High School. Eventually she decided to blend her love of the written word and Drama and expanded her teaching repertoire to include teaching English and Drama which she loved.
In 2015, Mrs. Tanner-Jewell was working at Lindsay High School and studying education reform, when she got the call requesting her return to Family F.O.C.U.S. The non-profit was expanding into Visalia and needed a District Manager for this new area. Lucinda was thrilled to come back around, full circle and take the offer as the new Program Manager for the Visalia District. She worked in this capacity for more than two years. When Prudy Tanner decided to retire as Program Director, she passed the torch to her daughter and lifelong protege. The Board of Directors approved Lucinda's appointment effectice July 1, 2017. Lucinda is hoping to better align preschool curticulum with the Common Core as well as bring more child development provider education to Tulare County.
Saturday Whole Staff Photo from 2017 Training
Saturday Whole Staff Photo from 2016 Training
Our Board of directors
Board Chair: Prudy Tanner
Vice Chair: Toby Hendrix Board Treasurer: James Tanner Board Secretary: Gina Taylor
Trustee: Eva P. Allen Trustee:Victoria Burcham Trustee: Vacant
Vice Chair: Toby Hendrix Board Treasurer: James Tanner Board Secretary: Gina Taylor
Trustee: Eva P. Allen Trustee:Victoria Burcham Trustee: Vacant
Lucinda Tanner-Jewell
Organizational Flow Chart
USDA Nondiscrimination Statement
In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, religious creed, disability, age, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:
(1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
(2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or
(3) email: [email protected].
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:
(1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410;
(2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or
(3) email: [email protected].
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
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