Director: Martha Edwards, PhD

The Center for the Developing Child and Family supports the relational development of children and parents in the context of their families and larger systems. It embraces the whole family, working with both mothers and fathers in interaction with their children. The Center has a number of projects to meet the needs of families with children from birth through elementary school.

The major initiatives include:

• Community based prevention programs for at risk families:



• Bright Beginnings - a manualized curriculum for pregnant women and parents and children together



• Personal Best - a manualized curriculum for parents



• Parent education presentations and discussion groups:



• Parent Education Network



• School-based curriculum for teachers to promote children’s social-emotional development within the classroom:



• Competent Kids/Caring Classrooms



• Training programs to enhance the capacity of therapists, agencies and school personnel to provide family centered, culturally sensitive and developmentally appropriate services:



• Training programs