Child care providers in northeast Indiana can get free training on how to help young children with developmental and behavioral needs.
The Northeast Indiana Early Childhood Coalition said providers have seen an increasing need for early intervention since the pandemic. The coalition received a $167,000 grant from the AWS Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group for people with disabilities.
The professional development series will train providers on topics like managing stress, understanding meltdowns and how children process information.
In Indiana, 67 percent of kids under 3 don't get screened for things like developmental delays — which is less than the national average. Allie Sutherland is the executive director of the coalition.
"Children just aren't receiving the developmental screenings that they should be early. And this is the time where prevention and intervention are most impactful in these early years — zero to 5 — because of the rapid brain development," Sutherland said.
She said the goal for the training is to give support to child care providers who are seeing many different behaviors in children since COVID-19.
"Research has showed that when you have an intervention in the early years, it's first of all going to be more effective and more cost effective," Sutherland said.
The coalition is also working with pediatric therapists to coach teachers in their classrooms to help them develop early intervention skills.
The next training session is Nov. 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the AWS Foundation in Fort Wayne.
Timoria is our labor and employment reporter. Contact her at tcunningham@wfyi.org.
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