Overview
The Office of Child Development is home to six divisions that are making a powerful impact in the lives of children, families, and communities.
- Family and Community Partnerships
- Literacy and Learning
- Positive Racial Identity Development in Early Education (P.R.I.D.E.)
- Evaluation and Research Team
- Early Childhood Partnerships
- Family Foundations: Early Head Start
Family and Community Partnerships Division
The Family & Community Partnerships (FCP) program is dedicated to helping families and children thrive by enhancing family engagement in education and community-based organizations. FCP offers workshops, training, and technical assistance to strengthen the abilities of family-facing practitioners and families.
FCP offers early literacy and social-emotional learning (SEL) support through our 3Rs family literacy programming. We partner with families and educators to support children’s early literacy and SEL development.
Learn more about Family and Community Partnerships >>
Literacy and Learning Division
The Literacy and Learning Division (LLD) collaborates with schools, families, and communities, using research and community knowledge, to support the learning, development, and literacy of all young children and their families. We focus on considering both the structural and personal factors that impact children’s learning, and work with adults across children’s learning contexts to design and deliver effective literacy and learning opportunities.
We do this through two key mechanisms: High quality picture books and Communities of Practice
Learn more about Literacy and Learning >>
Positive Racial Identity Development in Early Education Division
The P.R.I.D.E. Program (Positive Racial Identity Development in Early Education), aims to help young Black children develop a positive racial identity. The program enhances the knowledge, increase the skills, and offer resources to teachers and professionals as they learn about children, race, and positive racial identity. Additionally, it helps parents of Black children improve their ability to provide positive racial socialization to their children.
We also strive to increase awareness among parents and professionals of the significance of race in the lives of all children.
Learn more about the P.R.I.D.E. program >>
Evaluation and Research Team Division
The Evaluation and Research Team is a multi-disciplinary unit dedicated to improving the lives of children and families through evaluation and research partnerships with both local and national nonprofit organizations.
We utilize a mixed-methods, partnership-based approach throughout data collection, interpretation, and reporting. Our team is committed to supporting our research and evaluation partners through ongoing communication and collaboration.
Learn more about the Evaluation and Research Team >>
Early Childhood Partnerships Division
Early Childhood Partnerships (ECP) is a collaborative initiative involving universities, hospitals, and communities, dedicated to leadership in innovative interdisciplinary consultation, direct services, professional development, mentoring, technical assistance, policy development, program evaluation, and applied research. These activities are conducted on-site in diverse early care and education, as well as early intervention, settings and programs across Pennsylvania.
ECP forges collaborative relationships with community partners to enable them to practice and prove "how good they are at what they do."
Learn more about the Early Childhood Partnerships Division >>
Family Foundations: Early Head Start
Our primary purpose is to provide support to enhance positive developmental outcomes for children. We provide a vehicle through which every young child with the support of their family and community will obtain optimal development.
We serve and partner with infants/toddlers, their parents, extended family members and their community to self-assess, identify goals, develop and implement action plans to enhance development.
Learn more about the Early Head Start: Family Foundations Division >>