OXNARD : Public Invited to Tour Family Center

The Oxnard elementary school district will hold an open house Sunday at its new family center, which offers a wide range of health and social services for a limited number of low-income families.

The family center, located at 804 Cooper Road, will open its doors from 2 to 4 p.m., said Richard Duarte, the district’s director of student services. The center is operated out of the now-defunct Ramona School campus.

Sunday’s open house will feature music and refreshments, and free glaucoma, diabetes and blood-pressure tests will be offered, Duarte said.

The family center was established earlier this year with a $400,000 grant that the school district received as part of Gov. Pete Wilson’s new Healthy Start Program. The program is designed to assist needy children and their families with a wide range of medical and social services. Webster elementary school in Santa Paula operates a similar program.

Services offered at the Ramona School facility include mental health, substance abuse and family counseling. Nurse practitioners from the Ventura County Public Health Department operate a health clinic at the center twice a month.

Also, academic tutoring and bilingual instruction are offered at the center.

The general public is invited to the open house and can participate in the free health screenings. But only those families whose children attend Juanita, Fremont and Rose Avenue schools are eligible for services on a regular basis, Duarte said.