Increase capacity of early care and education programs to create effective early learning environments for children with disabilities, challenging behaviors, and other special needs.

Who Will Benefit

• Early Care and Education Teachers
• Early Care and Education Administrators

What You Will Learn

Early care education program staff receiving assistance from the California Inclusion and Behavior Consultation (CIBC) Network will learn:

• Skills and strategies for responding effectively to a child’s unique needs in early care and education settings, with a focus on young children with disabilities, challenging behaviors, and other special needs
• How to implement strength-based teaching strategies
• How to develop individualized strategies and/or accommodations to enhance a child’s learning environment and support
• Effective use of community resources
• How to use reflective practices in their program

Service Details

A local CIBC Network consultant, with oversight by WestEd’s CIBC staff, conducts a series of on-site visits, working directly with the teacher/staff.

Services range from initial observations, reflective practice discussions, and action planning to linkages to local resources.

What Makes This Service Unique

• More than 95 percent of the early care and education staff who received CIBC consultation reported having more skills and confidence in working with children with special needs and a better understanding of what children are communicating with their challenging behaviors
• The success of the program and demand for its services prompted the California Department of Education to double CIBC’s fiscal year funding for 2016-2018
• Consultation is individually tailored to each program, site, and teacher/staff
• Consultation is on site
• CIBC is funded by the California Department of Education Early Education and Support Division as part of its Child Care Development Fund Plan to ensure quality services and inclusion for all California children
• In 2015-16 alone, CIBC consultation reached nearly 500 early care and education staff and more than 3,000 children
• Improving staff’s ability to include children with learning and behavioral differences can greatly enhance the readiness and success of children as they transition to kindergarten

Cost

CIBC is funded by the California Department of Education (CDE) Early Education and Support Division as part of its Child Care Development Fund Plan to ensure quality services and inclusion for all California children. Thanks to generous funding from the CDE, there is no cost for consultation services to ECE programs funded by the CDE’s Early Education and Support Division.

CIBC services are available to other agencies and programs. Services are designed and priced depending on needs.