Promoting Healthy Social Behaviors in Child Care Centers Initiative
Why was the Promoting Healthy Social Behaviors in Child Care Centers initiative created?
Research shows that childhood behavior problems are on the rise and aggression is increasingly evident among younger and younger children. In fact, studies indicate that 10-25% of preschool children display challenging behavior in clinical range. Nationally, these challenging behaviors are the leading cause of children’s expulsion from child care centers. The Yale University Expulsion Study (2005) ranked North Carolina 5th in the nation in preschool expulsions with 13 expulsions per 1000 preschoolers. The Healthy Social Behaviors initiative, which began in July 2005, addresses these issues by offering services designed to identify, prevent and modify challenging behaviors with a goal of reducing the expulsion rate of NC child care centers.
What are the goals of the Healthy Social Behaviors initiative?
Develop a highly trained cadré of behavior specialists available to licensed child care centers throughout North Carolina;
Identify, prevent, and address challenging behaviors in young children in child care centers;
Partner with teachers to determine strategies to teach children socially appropriate behaviors and promote socialemotional competency in young children;
Modify adult behavior and early childhood environments to diminish challenging behaviors; and
Reduce expulsion rates due to challenging behaviors in client centers by 10%.
How is Healthy Social Behaviors funded?
Healthy Social Behaviors is a statewide initiative of the NC Child Care Resource and Referral Council. The initiative is funded by the NC Division of Child Development and managed by Child Care Resources Inc. Twenty-five behavior specialists are housed in the regional lead child care resource and referral agencies and, as a team, serve all 100 counties in North Carolina. A statewide manager, employed by Child Care Resources Inc., provides guidance and oversight of the project.
Who are the behavior specialists?
Behavior specialists are experienced early childhood professionals with specialized training in:
Facilitation of social-emotional competencies;
Strategies and techniques to minimize challenging behaviors and promote pro-social behaviors;
Social-emotional assessments; and
Consultation in child care
What are the activities/services of the behavior specialists?
Provide evidence-based, research-based and relationship-based technical assistance and training designed to:
support providers to modify behaviors/environments to diminish challenging behaviors;
promote social-emotional competency; and
identify classroom and individual strategies to teach socially appropriate behaviors.
Facilitate appropriate referrals
Develop regional resource guides of mental health practitioners and other social-emotional supports/resources for distribution to regional CCR&R
Author articles on social-emotional development and approaches to challenging behaviors for distribution through regional newsletters
Are you interested in finding out about our services? For more information or to schedule a consultation, call Melissa Maybin, Healthy Social Behavior Specialist at (828) 252-5038 or by email.To learn more about the resources and strategies that form the foundation of Healthy Social Behaviors’ work with teachers, children and parents, go on-line to the following sites:
Regional Resource & Referral Services
Regional Resource & Referral Services
