Product Description:
The mission of NCAST-AVENUW is to give professionals, parents, and other caregivers the necessary knowledge and skills to provide nurturing environments for young children. This goal is achieved by assisting faculty in developing and disseminating innovative research-based practice and training designed to improve outcomes for children and families.
NCAST-AVENUW materials and training programs are used in many disciplines and settings with typically developing children, those at risk for developmental delays, and those diagnosed with special health needs. Currently there are five main training programs and over 55 products developed by NCASTAVENUW which are disseminated annually to thousands of individuals across the United States and internationally.
NCAST-AVENUW also offers training for service providers to promote children?s social and emotional development. These training workshops include Keys to Caregiving, Parent-Child Interaction scales (PCI), Promoting First Relationships (PFR), Promoting Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy (PMMH) and BabyCues: A Child?s First Language. Further training opportunities highlighting the latest topics and research are also offered biennially at the NCAST-AVENUW Summer Institute. Approximately 250 professionals from throughout the U.S. and Canada attend the Summer Institute representing a variety of disciplines including social work, psychology, education, mental health and nursing. The 2005 Summer Institute, a collaboration between NCAST-AVUEUW and the Center on Infant Mental Health and Development, titled Risky Beginnings: The Need for a System-Wide Focus on Infant Mental Health, featured five nationally renowned speakers working in the area of infant mental health and also a variety of individual practice-based workshops.
