How Social Workers at Any Level Can Advance Equitable Outcomes Through Developmental Promotion Activities

Social workers at all levels of work and interdisciplinary professionals alike can utilize FEDM to:

1) Foster stronger relationships with clients;

2) Identify concerns earlier to provide the most valuable, timely, and impactful referrals and services; and

3) Better recognize trends in developmental promotion, screening, referral, and linkage data to design system improvements that benefit all families.

 Interdisciplinary collaboration is an essential component of what makes FEDM a successful and inclusive framework of support. This session will provide ample time for attendee discussion and aims to promote cross-discipline learning. By incorporating input from all partners involved, including early childhood educators, pediatricians, caregivers, and those providing interventions, FEDM informs a more complete picture of a child’s development and offers a pathway that can guide optimal services to meet a child's needs.

Framing the approach to developmental monitoring through the lens of family-centered practice provides rich context surrounding the values, dynamics, and concerns of families, and exemplifies the person in environment theory upon which social work practice often relies. This session will challenge attendees to work across disciplines to paint a more holistic picture of a child’s development, positioning attendees to create stronger systems of care that recognize the intersectionality of identities and experiences that impact healthy development. Monitoring a child’s development holistically and longitudinally shifts the balance of power from providers to the families receiving services and elevates cultural humility in practice. In this way, FEDM supports a shift towards more purposeful equity in early childhood care; centering families in the prioritization, decision-making, and selection of services for their children expands early identification to be more inclusive and culturally appropriate.

Social work professionals must practice cultural humility, including the continuous work of self-reflection required to challenge internalized stereotypes that impact the work we do in supporting the needs of children and their families. FEDM supports social workers' ethical commitment to challenging social injustice, respecting the inherent dignity and worth of the person, and centering the importance of human relationships in practice and within systems.

This session will provide time for attendees to complete self-assessments to determine individual, programmatic, and system-level alignment with FEDM.

 Learning objectives:

1) Attendees will gain an understanding of FEDM activities and the framework for children’s healthy development and family well-being.

 2) Attendees at all levels of work will reflect on their alignment with FEDM principles.

3) Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to further individual, programmatic, and systemic alignment with FEDM

NASW/ CT Approved for 1.0 CEC Credit

(Social Work, LMFT, LPC and Licensed Psychologists)

NASW/CT Members: $30 ~ Non-Members: $45 ~ Students: $15

Click here to register.