Training Institutes 2012 - National Technical Assistance Center for ...

INSTITUTE #21 8:30 AM FRIDAY • 1:30 PM SATURDAY • SUN 4-5-6
Child FIRST: Early Childhood Mental Health Home Visiting Within a System of Care
INSTITUTES
OBJECTIVES—Participants will learn:
1. To describe the impact of adversity or “toxic stress” in early brain development
2. To identify strategies to prevent damage to the young, developing brain by combining system of care and
psychotherapeutic parent-child approaches
3. To identify the key components of the evidence-based home visiting model, Child FIRST
4. To explain the importance of assessment and formulation in building a family-driven, collaborative plan of care
5. How to use a reflective, relationship-based, therapeutic approach in intervention with children with challenging
behaviors and their families
The Institute will focus on the evidence-based home visiting model, Child FIRST, which protects the developing brain
from the impact of adversity—and the resulting emotional and cognitive impairment—using a synergistic combination
of parent-child psychotherapeutic intervention and a system of care approach. Faculty will highlight the research on
adversity, its impact on the developing brain, and how this informs the two-pronged approach of Child FIRST—
wraparound and parent-child intervention. The components of the Child FIRST model will be outlined, including
engagement, assessment, development of the child and family plan of care, parent-child dyadic treatment and parent
guidance, care coordination and wraparound services, and mental health consultation in early care and education.
The Child FIRST model has conducted a randomized controlled trial, which has documented strong positive outcomes
with young children and families, including decreased child emotional/behavioral and language problems, decreased
parental depression and other mental health problems, decreased involvement with child protective services, and
increased connection to community-based services and supports.
Specific topics to be covered include:
• How the impact of adversity directly affects the developing brain, highlighting the interaction between genes
and environment
• How the developing brain can be protected through a two-pronged approach: 1) decreasing environmental or “toxic
stress” through comprehensive wraparound services and supports, and 2) buffering the brain from damage by
fostering secure attachment and responsive, nurturing caregiver-child relationships
• The specific components of the Child FIRST intervention and the results of the Child FIRST randomized controlled trial
• How to assess relationships between child and caregiver and emotional/behavioral health in young children
• How the process of assessment and formulation informs the plan of care and future interventions
• The critical value of the reflective stance in work with young children and their families
• The opportunity for training and replication of the Child FIRST model
Video vignettes will illustrate the process of assessment of the parent-child relationship and the therapeutic intervention,
and participants will analyze assessment results in small groups. Participants will be able to reflect on their own
experiences and how this model might inform their future practice. The faculty team for the session will offer the
perspectives of a developmental and behavioral pediatrician, the Child FIRST executive director and model developer, a
clinical psychologist who is expert in parent-child psychotherapy, and a trainer. Fifty percent of the faculty team is
bilingual and multi-cultural.
MODERATOR/PRESENTER: Darcy Lowell, M.D., Executive Director, Child FIRST, Associate Clinical Professor,
Department of Pediatrics and Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, Bridgeport, CT
Christopher Bory, Psy.D., Quality Improvement Advisor, Child FIRST, Child Health and Development Institute,
Farmington, CT
Norka Malberg, Psy.D., Clinical Director, Child FIRST, Child Health and Development Institute, Farmington, CT
Mary Peniston, M.P.A., Deputy Director, Child FIRST, Bridgeport Hospital, Bridgeport, CT
Training Institutes 2012
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