The purpose of this project made possible by funds provided by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is to promote the social and emotional health of vulnerable infants, toddlers and preschoolers within community based childcare programs. This project encompasses three major activities;

Providing ongoing mental health consultation to area childcares,

Providing support for the self-determination of parents and adult caregivers and,

The development of an advanced training model to educate new professionals in the field.

The College of Education at Wayne State University is responsible for project evaluation and developing the self-determination components for the project.

Promoting healthy early experiences for young children in child-care entails building a healthy foundation where life-long resiliency skills are strengthened. Building resiliency in young children should involve modeling and promotion of self-determined behavior. This project aims to support parents and caregivers in understanding, observing and valuing self-determined behavior in themselves. Short-term supports are being designed specifically for parent and caregivers in early childhood settings. These supports are based on the Steps to Self-Determination curriculum (Field & Hoffman, 1996).

For more information about this project, please send e-mail to sdtalk@wayne.edu or write to Dr. Sharon Field, Wayne State University, 469 College of Education, Detroit, MI 48202.