Awareness
The healthy early relationships babies and toddlers experience with their parents/caregivers are foundational to children’s healthy development and shape the parents’ and family’s overall well-being. Early Relational Health is the unifying concept that can drive early childhood system building, family engagement, and system coordination to ensure that every child can grow and develop in healthy ways and every family has the opportunity to thrive.
Center for the Study of Social Policy (2022). How to Communicate Effectively About Early Relational Health: What It Is and Why It Matters A Messaging Guide. Retrieved from https://cssp.org
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The Early Relational Health (ERH) Program collaborates with community organizations and universities to provide tailored support. Our initiative fosters strong, positive, nurturing relationships throughout the early childhood ecosystem, and cultivates resilience in families for a lifetime of well-being.
We have partnered up with Bright by Text to bring the program to families within Harris, Chambers, & Montgomery Counties. Bright by Text sends FREE activities, games, and local resources to expecting parents and caregivers of children between the age of 0-8 right to their cell phones.
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Baby Day is the only statewide celebration of the first three years, when early experiences shape lifelong potential. On Baby Day First3Years, hosts, partners, and volunteers work collaboratively to acknowledge and celebrate this incredible period of growth in our tiniest Texans. Baby Day is a series of virtual and in-person events, held across Texas at the end of April. First3Years hosts events in Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth and provides support to community-based hosts in additional markets.
Babies in Baytown (BIB) is an early childhood collaborative made up of community organizations and families of Baytown who are working to develop community solutions that better support the mental health of very young children and their families.
Bebés en Baytown (BIB) es un grupo de colaboración dedicado a la infancia temprana construido por varias organizaciones de la comunidad y familias de Baytown que están trabajando para desarrollar soluciones para la comunidad que mejoran el apoyo de salud mental para los niños de 0-3 años y sus familias.
Houston Infant Toddler Coalition (HITC) is a community of parents with very young children and cross-sector leaders in health, education, social services, early intervention, government, research, and child welfare who collaborate to create and implement strategies intended to improve service systems in the Greater Houston area.
Maximizing communities' potential begins with strengthening early childhood systems in education, health, and social services for optimal child development. Help Me Grow functions as a system model, utilizing existing community resources effectively.
This model consists of four key Core Components:
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Centralized Access Point: A unified entry for families and professionals seeking early childhood development information, resources, and referrals.
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Family & Community Outreach: Promoting awareness of healthy child development and available services within communities.
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Child Health Care Provider Outreach: Ensuring medical professionals can provide effective support to families and make appropriate service referrals.
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Data Collection & Analysis: Identifying gaps, evaluating interventions, and guiding quality improvement efforts.
