Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: Parent-Provider Partnerships in Child Care

SCHEDULE A TRAINING
To schedule a training, contact a certified trainer. A list of S.C. trainers is available by clicking here.

ABOUT THE TRAININGS
This curriculum, developed by Zero to Three, offers 10 units of instruction for a total of 60 hours of training activities and materials:

• 8 units focused on preventing child maltreatment
• 2 units for center directors

During the sessions, child care professionals consider issues of child abuse/neglect prevention from a number of viewpoints. Individually, each session provides useful knowledge and skill-building on its own.

AVAILABLE TRAININGS

Building effective relationships with parents
1. Building Collaborative Relationships with Families
Makes the case for the importance of partnerships with parents and describes core concepts and skills in building effective relationships.  It provides concrete strategies for working with families.

2. Building a Healthy Brain 
Explores the 5 Rs, relationships, routines, respect, repetition, and responsive interactions in relationship to healthy brain development.

3. Social-Emotional Development of Infants, Toddlers, and their Families
Defines and discusses social-emotional development and the typical skills that emerge across the first three years of life.  In addition, an introduction to the stages of parent development, from the prenatal period through the toddler years is provided.  This module also assists child care professionals in identifying children whose social-emotional development needs more in-depth observation and support. 

4. Helping Parents and Providers Understand Temperament
Introduces the three primary temperament types — flexible, fearful and feisty — and discusses “goodness of fit” both between child and adult.  There is an emphasis on strategies child care providers use in individualizing their approach with children of each temperament type, as well as a discussion of attachment and its importance to children’s healthy development.

5. The Influence of Culture on Care giving
Explores the many ways in which culture influences parents’ child-rearing choices and daily routines.  It provides an opportunity for caregivers to explore their own culture beliefs and how those beliefs influence their work with families.  There is discussion of strategies for learning more about families’ home cultures as well as for considering whether a parenting practice represents a cultural difference or an instance of abuse or neglect.  The module presents a four-step model for resolving culturally based dilemmas in infant/family work.

Understanding the impact of abuse and neglect on infants and toddlers
6. Understanding and Responding to Abuse and Neglect of Infants and Toddlers
Defines child abuse and neglect, discusses its prevalence among infants and toddlers, highlights the risk factors for abuse and neglect, and discusses the impact that maltreatment can have on a very young child’s development.  Implications for practice in the child care setting are discussed.

7. Supportive Responses to Troubled Parent-Child Interactions
Presents strategies that child care providers can use in partnering with parents when risk factors for abuse and neglect are present.  Strategies range from prevention activities that support the parent-child relationship to suggestions for discussing abuse and neglect with parents.

8. Challenging Behaviors in Infants and Toddlers
Children in our care can be challenging for many reasons. This module gives child care professionals an opportunity to reflect on their own beliefs and practices regarding challenging behavior, to learn more about some of the rationale and reasons of challenging behavior, and to practice discussing these challenges with parents in and effective and supportive manner.

Helping directors create a supportive workplace
9. Relationship-based and Reflective Organizations
Explores how and why leaders utilize reflective and relationship-based principles in the child care environment.  Opportunities to discuss and practice reflective and relationship-based hiring strategies and supervisory techniques are introduced in this session, as is a three-step problem-solving model to use with staff.

10. Supporting Staff in Their Work with Parents
Addresses the supervisor’s role in creating an organizational plan to respond to suspected abuse or neglect.  Issues discussed include supporting staff members in their efforts to prevent abuse and neglect, assessing the readiness of one’s program to report suspected abuse, developing procedures to respond to suspected abuse/neglect, and discussing concerns about abuse and neglect with parents.

HOW TO SCHEDULE A TRAINING
Contact one of the certified trainers listed below to arrange training(s). All trainings are eligible to fulfill required DSS training hours.

To learn more, contact:

Debbie Robertson

S.C. First Steps Director of Quality & Business Engagement

(803) 734-2362

droberts@scfirststeps.org