ABOUT THE PROGRAM...

The Child Development Program (CDP) is a division of SFPI&S that offers help to children and families in the Bay Area. The CDP began as a Low Fee Treatment Clinic for children of all ages. More recently services have expanded and focused on the very young child. The CDP is staffed by experts from the variety of fields essential to understanding and helping children. The staff members have the most advanced degrees in their fields -- in child analysis, child psychology, mental health, education, and social work. In addition, the CDP provides consultation services and curriculum for childcare directors and head teachers.

There are many reasons for concentrating our efforts on very young children. Interventions very early in life can have dramatic and long lasting benefits. There is a great need to understand the effects on the preschool child of societal changes that have altered traditional family organization and patterns of child rearing single parent families, the high divorce rate, and alternative family lifestyles. We need to understand much more about the impact of such societal changes on the child and parents, how best to provide services for the families and training for childcare professionals. Success in these efforts depends on the best possible understanding of early child development, in particular the relationship bonds between young children and their parents. Additionally, rising poverty, sexual abuse and neglect are endangering the development of our children. The Child Development Program is in a unique position to contribute to prevention and early intervention to help these children and their families.

For Day Care Professionals, Child Care Administrators and Head Teachers to enlarge their observational and assessment skills. A 30-hour seminar will explore mental health issues for very young children and their families. It will serve as a two-unit academic credit in conjunction with San Francisco State University.

The Child Development Program has developed a non-profit therapeutic Preschool in Hunter's Point which provides a unique combination of services that support the healthy emotional development of young children and provides developmentally appropriate educational programs. Full - and half - day programs will be offered for children from two through kindergarten age. There will be a long-term commitment to the children and their families. This project is funded by a grant from the Miriam & Peter Haas Fund.