In January, Resilient Georgia and the Center for Interrelational Science and Pediatrics received a Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning Community Transformation Grant to launch an Infant and Early Childhood Professional Development Course and Guidebook.

Across Resilient Georgia’s 16 regional coalitions, there is a documented need to support the early childhood care and education (ECCE) workforce. Leveraging statewide support for training Georgia’s workforce in the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) wellness intervention, we will collaborate with expert faculty to develop and standardize an Infant and Early Childhood Professional Development Course and Guidebook for ECCE professionals. The course will feature the latest science on child development during the first five years and will incorporate CRM as a practical, trauma-informed wellness intervention. CRM was selected as evidence suggests it increases wellbeing and reduces stress in front-line providers. In addition, CRM is a developmentally appropriate intervention for children and ECCE professionals can become trained as CRM Guides or Certified CRM Teachers to help sustain this effort.

“CRM wellness skills have transformed the way I interact with children, families, and early childhood professionals,” says Dr. Jordan R. Murphy, CEO of the Center for Interrelational Science and Pediatrics (CISP). “We are seeing an increased need to support children who may show challenging behaviors and at the same time, staff are asking for classroom-level support and clarity on what behaviors are typical or require intervention.” For the last 18 months, families and staff at Atlanta Children’s Shelter (ACS) have received access to developmental surveillance and screening, CRM wellness sessions, and staff training. When needed, families can access clinical services such as referrals for speech, child-parent psychotherapy, or a visit from our collaborating developmental pediatrician, Dr. David O’Banion who volunteers his time to help reduce barriers to care. “We know that very few centers in Georgia receive the level of support provided at ACS, so we are working hard to increase access to the same knowledge and wellness skills for ECCE staff across the state.”

Resilient Georgia and the Center for Interrelational Science and Pediatrics are thrilled to partner with expert faculty from the fields of education, childhood development, pediatrics and more to provide content for the Infant and Early Childhood Professional Development Course and Guidebook. Our goal is to expand the number of CRM-trained ECCE professionals and early interventionists working with children birth-to-five in Georgia.

In the picture above, Jordan R. Murphy, PhD, RN, CPNP-PC is a Certified CRM Teacher and conducts developmental surveillance and screening at Atlanta Children’s Shelter.

The project described is supported by the Community Transformation Grant (CTG), Grant Number 469-G23-921-RGAI-014, from Federal Funds awarded to the State of Georgia and to the Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act. The contents of the course will solely be the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of DECAL, the Granting Federal Agency or the U.S. Government.