A new non-profit treatment center dedicated to fighting head lice and boosting a child’s self-esteem opened recently near Downtown Tifton.

Lice Solutions Resource Network, Inc. is a head lice awareness and control center providing community awareness, group screenings and complete nit removal. It’s located at 820 Love Avenue, Suite D. Marie Beckstrom of Albany is the Georgia manager, and the executive director, founder and CEO of the organization is Katie Shepherd.

Life Solutions is the only non-profit treatment center in the country. Shepherd stated that she and the organization is excited to be in Tifton, and it’s good to know that there’s a place locally where people can go for help. Beckstrom said they chose Tifton as the next location for Life Solutions due to it being the center of most surrounding areas.

Shepherd’s philosophy is, “if I can afford to treat my child and you can afford to treat your child but the parents of the child who sits between them can’t, our kids are not safe. Help has to be there for everyone. The cycle of lice cannot be impacted unless treatment is available to all income levels.”

The idea to provide services for the treatment of lice and spreading awareness to better educate people began in West Palm Beach, Fla. Shepherd stated that she was in the medical field and then she got a degree in communications. She started working for the company Kiplinger, a finance magazine, and did a story on the high cost of head lice. Shepherd stated that this sparked her interest and she thought of developing a program in the community. Thus, a community outreach group was started.

“By doing the story, it triggered too many questions,” Shepherd said. “Something bothered me and I wanted to do something about it. I feel that I have made a difference.”

Shepherd noted that parents were involved in the outreach group and they would take time to visit families’ homes to look at the children’s heads without parents resulting to extreme measures, such as shaving their child’s head or pouring kerosene on their hair — which is very dangerous.

Shepherd said she was getting so many calls after starting the outreach group and going into the local school that her husband pushed her to go further with the idea.

“I love children and it’s for them,” Shepherd said. “Kids that we have treated were so excited that a lot of them wanted to come back to volunteer.”

Shepherd travels all around the world teaching proactive measures rather than just how to eliminate lice. Many communities reach out to her and she travels there for treatment options.

The Shepherd Institute for Lice Solutions’ main office is in West Palm Beach, Fla.; a second office is in Nashville, Tenn., and now, there’s an office here. Also, Shepherd said that she has trained two companies in Atlanta. She has trained over 40 companies across the United States and there are eight more lined up so far this year.

“It’s so common in some countries for people to pick lice out of heads,” Shepherd said. “We need to be better educated to limit lice. It’s nothing to panic about; we just need to educate. My goal is to teach how to treat lice when I go into communities; it’s a full-time job when it comes to treating it.”

Shepherd said the greatest spreading source of lice is head-to-head contact. She stated that parents need to understand that when their child gets lice, they got it from someone and gave it to someone also. You must be a friend and accept responsibility, and don’t be afraid to let friends know in case their child may have it as well, she advised. Shepherd said it’s better to let them know as soon as possible rather than not saying anything at all.

“This helps minimize risk and embarrassment,” Shepherd stated. “It’s better to catch it early and accept responsibility.”

Shepherd has published a book titled “Lice Advice” to help parents combat head lice. The book is in multiple libraries and in over 20 countries.

“It’s the only book in the world on how to treat head lice,” Shepherd said. “It shows how to properly identify and treat head lice. It’s reader-friendly and has great pictures.”

The book can be purchased on the website, www.liceadvicebook.com. You can also learn more about Shepherd and her work at Lice Solutions by visiting the website, www.licesolutions.org, or call the office number at 472-1030. The book is $30, plus shipping and handling.

Shepherd advised that some combs that are offered at pharmacists don’t work very well in catching the lice as they attach to strands of hair. Her technicians use a Terminator comb and they use the ‘Shepherd Method’ of strand-by-strand nit removal, working with the hair in paper-thin sections. Products that are used on clients’ heads are a specialized comb, safe non-toxic solution and mint hair products.

Lice Solutions carries a complete line of safe non-toxic products for those who would prefer to do the treatment at home. Payment and policies include: $90 for the first hour, $20 for each additional 1/4 hour, $25 for a head check which includes a comb and $10 for follow-up head checks. The treatment process includes two follow-up rechecks.

Also offered are group screenings, school-wide head checks, camp checks, education and awareness. Service is available on a sliding scale basis for qualified low-income families. Proper documentation and volunteer hours are required to offset the treatment services. Research study programs provide additional opportunities for treatment services.

Shepherd noted that there are 80 percent of lice in schools, but it varies from school to school. She stated that they encourage parents to let the school know if their child has head lice. They only take the initiative to contact a school if the parents ask them to or if they see a large number of students in a row from one school. Shepherd advised that they never give names.

“It’s not a hygiene problem; it’s how we deal with it,” Shepherd said. “If not, it gets worse and worse.”

Beckstrom stated that the Life Solutions building has a treatment room, reception area and offices in the back.