Brazelton Touchpoints Center Announces New Partnership

Brazelton Touchpoints Center (BTC) is pleased to announce a partnership with California-based WestEd, a leader in improving learning and healthy development at all stages of life. BTC will deliver comprehensive professional development programming to early educators throughout the state of California. Following a competitive application process, First 5 California (F5CA), also known as the California Children and Families Commission, awarded WestEd a contract through which BTC will train more than 1,600 stakeholders in family engagement strategies, with a goal of building individual and organizational capacity to better serve children and families.

Drawing on more than 20 years of experience from its signature intensive family engagement program, Touchpoints, BTC will collaborate with WestEd to develop and deliver evidence-based training and resources that help early educators integrate proven family engagement strategies into their interactions with parents and families.  This training will enhance the capacity of early educators and organizations to build strong relationships with families, deepen their understanding of the issues facing young children and parents, and integrate innovative care and engagement strategies into their daily practice. In addition, by using a train-the-trainer model, the partnership will certify 125 family engagement trainers who will deliver ongoing professional development throughout California, further bolstering the long term impact of this project.

“Through this collaborative partnership, BTC and WestEd will catalyze and strengthen early education by building the skills of individual educators, while enhancing organizational capacity and creating systemic impact through new knowledge, evidence-based practices, and extensive support infrastructure such as virtual peer communities and an on-line resource library,” said Dr. Joshua Sparrow, Director of the Brazelton Touchpoints Center. “As a result, children and families across California will benefit from these investments in early education, creating transformational change in communities throughout the state.”

About the Partners:

Brazelton Touchpoints Center

The Brazelton Touchpoints Center was founded in 1996 by T. Berry Brazelton, MD, and colleagues, and is based in the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. A pioneer in the field of child development and pediatrics whose keen insights and observations fundamentally changed the way we understand and approach child development and family engagement, Dr. Brazelton’s work continues today, embodied in the Center that bears his name. Working together with families, providers, and communities, the Brazelton Touchpoints Center develops and applies knowledge of early childhood development to practice and policy through professional and organizational development, evaluation, advocacy and awareness, and serving as a resource for proven practices. Since 2010, BTC has been the home of the Office of Head Start and Office of Child Care National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. More information on our programs can be found at www.brazeltontouchpoints.org.

WestEd

As a nonpartisan, nonprofit research, development, and service agency, working in education and other communities throughout the United States and abroad, WestEd aims to improve educational and other important outcomes for children, youth and adults. More information about WestEd and its innovative work can be found online at www.wested.org.

ABOUT First 5 California

First 5 California was established in 1998 when voters passed Proposition 10, which taxes tobacco products to fund services for children ages 0 to 5 and their families. First 5 programs and resources are designed to educate and support teachers, parents, and caregivers in the critical role they play during a child’s first five years – to help California kids receive the best possible start in life and thrive. For more information, please visit www.ccfc.ca.gov.