Our mission:

To nurture parent-child relationships through science-based practice and community partnership.

Our vision:

We envision a society and culture in which every parent and child is provided the means, encouragement, and support for their relationship to thrive. By partnering with parents and communities through evidence-based practice, we seek to recognize and build upon parents’ strengths during an infant and toddler’s critical years for development. Every parent deserves a champion for their sensitive parenting, and every child deserves the foundation of a nurturing relationship.

About our organization:

ABC Parenting, alongside local community stakeholders, agencies, and home visitors, and families, disseminates a parenting program, the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), to build resilience in families and communities for infants and toddlers between birth and 4 years of age. ABC is an evidenced-based home-visiting program that partners with parents to support young children exposed to early adversity. ABC works. A professor and researcher at the University of Delaware, Dr. Mary Dozier, developed ABC over 25 years ago and has rigorously tested the program through multiple randomized trials. For this research, there has been continued partnership between Dr. Dozier’s lab and communities deeply affected by historical racism and poverty. Remarkable results were found with children’s attachment, biological regulation, impulse control, language, brain development, and even DNA methylation that persist at least into adolescence. The program is endorsed by the MIECHV-Home Visiting Coalition, The California Evidence-Based Clearing House for Child Welfare, and SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. We are a collaborating member of the National Alliance of Home Visiting Models.

ABC Parenting trains and supervises home visitors in local communities in implementing ABC with fidelity, equity, and through partnership with children and families most negatively affected by systemic oppression. ABC is strengths-based, focused, and brief (10, 1-hour, weekly sessions). Interested organizations (e.g., child welfare, early intervention, infant mental health) contract with the team for an in-depth orientation to ABC, a year of twice-weekly supervision, and consultation regarding evaluation and implementation. Due to a researched process of intensive supervision and measurable, identified ingredients of change, ABC is as effective with community home visitors as it is in randomized trials. The active ingredient for parent behavior change is “in the moment” comments, which highlight moments during session that parents are engaging in behaviors known to enhance child attachment and regulation. Data also support the effectiveness of ABC through telehealth after what was an incredibly challenging year for both home visitors and the families who could benefit from home visiting services the most. Communities deserve a science-driven, parent-focused, and cost-effective strategy for promoting resilience and long-term positive outcomes for children.

ABC is unique in the home-visiting field in that it is brief (10 weekly sessions), thus requiring a low cost per family, has a proven history of evidence, and is flexible in the home visiting space. There are no requirements for home visitor background or education, allowing communities to create the implementation model that will be most effective and sustainable. It is truly strengths-based, striving to help parents see all the things they are doing well, as opposed to pointing out what they need to do differently.

Our values:

•   A culturally-informed and culturally-humble

     approach to our clinical work, relationships,

     and work environment

•   The promotion of diversity, equity, and

     inclusion frameworks within supervision,

     professional relationships, and within the

     workplace. We value differences in

     perspective. This can include thoughtful

     conversations around current and historical

     disparities that occur due to one’s race,

     ethnicity, gender, disability, age, religion,

     socio economics, and/or language

     proficiency

•   Decisions guided by science and evidence,

     and a commitment to continuously

     improving practices based on evaluation

•   A dedication to implementation equity,

     science, and fidelity

•   Taking a strengths-based approach to

     creating empathetic and supportive

     supervision relationships and relationships

     with families

•   Partnership with families and communities

     that centers and elevates parent-voice in

     implementation practices

•   Using measurement to be efficient, effective,

     and accurate in implementation and

     supervision

Mary Dozier, Ph.D., is the Amy E. du Pont Chair of Child Development at the University of Delaware. She is the Principal Investigator of the school’s Infant Caregiver Project. Her interests in understanding connections between experience, brain development, and behavior have led to the ABC Intervention techniques, a practical application of findings from years of research.

OUR STAFF

Our Dedicated Team of Staff, Researchers, & Scientists

ABC SUPERVISION CONSULTANTS

Clinical and ITM Supervisors

Play Assessment Coders

Maria DePinto

Jessica Harrison

Krupa Patel

Lead Research Assistants

Bridget Cahill

Emma Cohen

Jackie Costello

Haylee Jansen

Elisa Macera

Krupa Patel

Alexa Rial

ER Coders

Gabrielle Reis

If you are interested and the ABC program model appears to be a good fit for your organization please contact us.