Improving Quality in Services for Infants, Toddlers, and Families

Improving the quality of services for infants, toddlers, and their families requires a focus on their unique needs. The articles in this issue of the Journal explore a variety of elements that improve services for young children and their families:

• The technique of “Skilled Dialogue” provides early interventionists with a framework and supporting strategies to consider when forming and sustaining partnerships with caregivers in El, especially when navigating topics or conversations that might be perceived as uncomfortable or difficult.

• How daily caregiving practices, such as diapering, can be transformed from a rushed routine to an opportunity to enhance child well-being and involvement.

• How staff training can build capacity to effectively deliver trauma-informed intervention in community-based settings.

• How an age-appropriate diagnostic classification, DC:0-5: Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood (ZERO TO THREE, 2016) as a standard of practice can be an effective strategy for improving access to services and supports and improving outcomes for children.

• Considerations of the use of media by very young children, and the importance of maximizing human-to-human interactions for healthy brain development.

• The power of professional partnerships when staff members join forces to create strong relationships on behalf of young children and families jointly served by their organizations.