KIDS ON THE MOVE EMPOWERING FAMILIES, ONE CHILD AT A TIME

ABOUT US

Kids On The Move provides services throughout Utah to support families with young children with special needs.

Kids On The Move has an umbrella of independent operating pillar programs. Our programs are: Autism Center, Early Head Start, Early Intervention, Preschool & Child Care, and Respite Care.

OUR PROGRAMS

AUTISM CENTER

Our Autism Center is designed specifically for parents and children ages 2 and up living with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) or similar developmental delays. Our services, based on principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), are designed with the child and family in mind.

EARLY HEAD START

Pregnant mothers and children birth to three years of age are eligible for our Early Head Start services. We help families by providing resources and referrals in the community and providing educational topics on health, nutrition, safety, parenting, and development.

EARLY INTERVENTION

During the first 3 years of life, your child’s brain and body are growing rapidly. Our Early Intervention program provides services to children under the age of three with a significant developmental delay.

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Kids On The Move provides many learning opportunities and impactful classes for children, teens, and families throughout our community. These classes occur both virtually and in-center.

PRESCHOOL & CHILD CARE

Our Preschool and Child Care Center is a fully-licensed program committed to providing high quality care for children from 6 weeks to first grade enrollment at competitive rates. We have three separate classrooms, segregated by age and development.

RESPITE CARE

Our Respite Care program provides the families of children with special needs a 3 hour break on weekend nights so caregivers can relieve stress, renew energy, and restore balance.

OUR HISTORY

1984

All children deserve a bright future.

In 1984, Karen Hahne & Brenda Winegar, experienced a lack of support for their children with Down Syndrome.

Believing that we should expect a bright future for ALL children, Karen and Brenda started the “Up With Downs” Early Preschool—a volunteer, parent-run education program for young children with Down Syndrome. Karen and Brenda built a unique program that put parents in charge of helping their child meet developmental challenges, with support and education from each other and caring professionals!

1986

Early Intervention services begin.

In August 1986, Karen and Brenda took their vision to a new level by winning a state grant to provide comprehensive Early Intervention services to children with a variety of delays and disabilities. As a result, Kids On The Move, Inc. was incorporated as a nonprofit organization. The name was chosen to highlight the positive expectations the community should have of kids with special needs — that they have the potential to continuously grow and learn.

1992

A new home.

In the early years, the organization lived up to its name by being “on the move” as it occupied the old Spencer School in Orem then moved temporarily to the old “Tech School” campus in Provo. In 1990, an open community meeting led to an unprecedented capital campaign to build a permanent location for Kids On The Move. This successful campaign led to the 1992 completion of a new building in Orem on the campus of Intermountain Healthcare’s Orem Community Hospital. At that time, Kids On The Move served about 50 families with a staff of six.

1992

Child Care services begin.

Not long after occupying the new building, Kids On the Move began a small Child Care program for 12 children, primarily to provide care to siblings of children coming to the center for services. The Child Care program became a fully licensed Child Care center and expanded over the years to our current 125 child capacity. In addition to serving children enrolled in KOTM developmental services, there is room to provide childcare for some community and staff children. Child Care has provided a model of quality care in our community at competitive rates.

1998

Early Head Start is added.

In 1998, Kids On The Move received a competitive grant from the federal government to provide Early Head Start services to Utah County. The Early Head Start program is designed for first-time pregnant women and children under age 3 who live in poverty. From 1999 to 2009, Kids On the Move received funding to serve only 64 children in poverty in Utah County. However, in November 2009 the program was expanded to serve 164 children county wide. With this expansion, Early Head Start was able to offer center-based services to 32 children, and a full home-based program to 132 children throughout the county.

2004

Building expansion.

The rapid growth in population in Utah County led to a swift expansion of services and the number of families served annually. By 2002, Kids On the Move had grown to an average monthly enrollment of about 500 children served by 65 staff. The organization was bursting at the seams! Another successful capital campaign garnered support from individuals, businesses, foundations, and local governments. In September 2003, a newly expanded building was dedicated.

2006

Library expansion begins.

Consistent with its philosophy that parents had a right to extensive information to help their children, from its earliest days Kids On the Move had a parent library, however modest. This important part of Kids On the Move has grown to a fully operational library that was re-dedicated in July 2006 as the Noorda Family Resource Center. In order to make services more accessible to the growing number of families residing in newly incorporated Eagle Mountain and a quickly developing Saratoga Springs, a satellite center in was completed on the site of Snow Springs Elementary School in western Lehi in November 2008.

2010

Autism Center is developed.

In response to an explosion in the number of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Kids On the Move created a new program to serve children ages 3 and up with ASD or similar disorders. Unlike other child development programs at Kids On the Move, this program is not backed by government funding. Based on ABA best practices, the Autism Center was developed to offer families flexible, affordable, effective services that help families get the support and education they need.

2016

Respite Care begins.

Friday’s Kids Respite, a sister organization which had operated out of the KOTM building since 2000, was dissolved in July 2016. Kids On The Move added respite services as its fifth core program, maintaining the organizational structure of Friday’s Kids. This program is supported by private funding and grants. Respite Care offers a safe, supervised, fun environment for children with one-on-one supervision. Most importantly, it provides parents of children with special needs the short periods of rest they need to relieve stress, renew energy, and restore balance.

WE ARE… ON THE MOVE!

Today, Kids On The Move continues to provide high quality, comprehensive services to young children and families in our community. The board, the staff, volunteers, and parents connected with our organization continue to expect a bright future for all children and are committed to our mission of supporting the development of young children and families.