ABC Intervention | About ABC
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About ABC

The Attachment Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) Program

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

THE BENEFITS OF ABC

Helps parents re-interpret children’s behavioral signals and respond sensitively.

Enhances children’s behavioral and regulatory capabilities.

Fosters the development of secure attachments between children and their parents.

The Principal Investigator

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

KIMBERLY MAY

Supervisor and Trainer

PABLO CARRERA

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

YANIRA DE LA ROSA

ITM Supervisor

EVAN KIPP

ITM Supervisor

BRIANA HAUT

Postdoctoral Researcher

STACIA BOURNE

Scientist

MADELYN LABELLA

Postdoctoral Researcher

JINGCHEN ZHANG

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

LEXIE TABACHNICK

Graduate Student

MALLORY GARNETT

Graduate Student

CHRISTIANA MARTIN

Graduate Student

MARTA KOROM

Graduate Student

DANI KATZ

Graduate Student

TABITHA SELLERS

Graduate Student

BERNIE CHEN

Graduate Student

EMMA MARGOLIS

Project Coordinator

CASSIE CHEESEMAN

Project Coordinator

TAYLOR HAMILL

Project Coordinator

ALEC TRAHAN

Project Coordinator

KRUPA PATEL

Project Coordinator

AUTUMN BROWN

Project Coordinator

TERRIQUE MORRIS

Project Coordinator

ELISA MACERA

Research Associate

ABC SUPERVISION CONSULTANTS

Clinical and ITM Supervisors

BO-RAM KIM

Supervisor and Trainer

JILL SMOKOSKI

Clinical & ITM Supervisor

EMILY FREEDMAN

ITM Supervisor

JULIE HOYE

Clinical and ITM Supervisor

HAILEY MOORE

ITM Supervisor

FRANSSY ZABLAH

ITM Supervisor

ALLISON LIPSCOMB

Clinical Supervisor

BRIANA ANDERSON

ITM Supervisor

HANNAH ARMSTRONG

ITM Supervisor

ALEXIS AUDIGIER

ITM Supervisor

CINDY BAEZ

ITM Supervisor

JULIAN CADAVID

ITM Supervisor

DAYNA CHINSKY

ITM Supervisor

EMILY CHIPOLA

ITM Supervisor

YARIZELL CONTRERAS

ITM Supervisor

ALLISON DASH

ITM Supervisor

MARIA DE PINTO

ITM Supervisor

SANDRA ESTRADA

ITM Supervisor

EMMA GREENBERG

ITM Supervisor

HAYLEE JANSEN

ITM Supervisor

LYNN KOVITCH

ITM Supervisor

KATE LEACH

ITM Supervisor

MELISSA RAMOS-LEMOS

ITM Supervisor

ISABEL SCHMIDT

ITM Supervisor

GABBY TAUBENFELD

ITM Supervisor

JULISSA THOMPSON

ITM Supervisor

JOANNA VAN OTTERLOO

Clinical & ITM Supervisor

SAM YAN

ITM Supervisor

SUSAN ZIEN

ITM Supervisor

RACHEL MILBERG

ITM Supervisor

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

ALUMNI

Past Graduate Students, Postdoctoral Researchers, & Staff

Christine Tyrrell Baker

Chase Stovall-McClough

Katie Albus

Brady Bates

Elizabeth Higley

Melissa Manni Sumner

Sandra Sepulveda

John Ackerman

Oliver Lindhiem

Erin Lewis-Morrarty

Johanna Bick

Kristin Bernard

EB Caron

Teresa Lind

Heather Yarger

Julie Hoye

Lee Raby

Jessica Brennan

Amy Huffer

Lindsay Zajac

Caroline Roben

Stevie Schein

Marta Benito-Gomez

Lizzie Allen

Amanda Costello

TRAINING FOR ABC

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