“You aren’t treating the most desperate part of our population as ‘throw-aways.’ Most of us know the verbal behavior but we don’t know the nonverbal behavior, we must get rid of all our biases and work in a collaborative consultation environment” said Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, a leading pediatrician, developer of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) used worldwide and founder of Touchpoints. The 89 year old pediatrician was persuasive, powerful and expressive as he addressed commissioners, partners and FIRST 5 staff on January 15th at FIRST 5 Santa Clara County. Plans are underway to integrate Dr. Brazelton’s Touchpoints as a best practice model in the Family Wellness for Infants and Toddlers Court and the FIRST 5 System of Care.

With over 60 years of infant research and practice by Dr. Brazelton, the Touchpoints Approach is based on an extensive body of additional scientific research, practice and program evaluations. Touchpoints is a practical approach for enhancing the competence of parents and building strong family-child relationships from before birth through the earliest years, laying the vital foundation for children’s healthy development. The professional development program is not just knowledge acquisition, but a practical and experience-based method for changing the way families are served. Touchpoints has developed new ways of working across cultures, engaging fathers as caregivers and serving families of children with special needs.

“When we strengthen families, we ultimately strengthen the community. Our goal is that parents everywhere work with supportive providers, feel confident in their parenting role, and form strong, resilient attachments with their children. To help achieve this, providers must be responsive to parents, knowledgeable about child development, and eager to see every parent succeed,” says Dr. Brazelton.

The Touchpoints Approach reminds us every day of the power of strong and positive caregiving relationships in promoting best developmental outcomes for children. Touchpoints offers opportunities for providers to “touch” into the family system, helping parents carefully watch and understand their child’s behavior and strengths. Providers have such a powerfully important role in supporting young children and their whole families. For more information visit http://www.touchpoints.org