Supporting Children’s Early Development ECHO: Learn the Signs. Act Early Series: Flash Talk Recordings Released

In partnership with Penn State Project ECHO, the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) provided an Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) series for early care providers and partners in the Fall of 2024, featuring the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s Learn the Signs. The Act Early program focuses on serving Spanish-speaking families’ needs.

The CDC’s tools and resources allow families and early care providers to jointly identify developmental delays and disabilities among children from birth through age 5. During the six-session series, participants gained knowledge to help support families with developmental milestone monitoring. The series highlighted the utilization and promotion of the CDC’s Milestones Tracker App, a free developmental tracker resource in English and Spanish.

The series hosted about 160 active participants who attended at least one session, with over 200 registrants. Topics for each session included:

• • The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Learn the Signs. Act Early Materials & Resources
  • Introduction to Family Engaged Developmental Monitoring
  • Challenges, Successes, and Importance of Developmental Monitoring
  • Importance of Social/Emotional Learning for Families
  • Lived Experience: One Family’s Story
  • Developing Connections & Support Systems

Each session consisted of a 15–20-minute Flash Talk, Case Presentation, and Resource sharing that supported individual learning and encouraged peer-to-peer interaction, as one participant found the sessions to be an “open, engaging, and supportive place to share ideas.” Participants found the case studies and resources very helpful, recognized an increase in their knowledge base, gained additional skills to support families, and decreased their sense of professional isolation. Another participant felt that the series “Gave [her] more resources to provide to families. [She] felt a sense of community and shared experiences during the series.”

All participants registered for the series have access to the resources and materials shared during each session on the iECHO Platform.

If you want to learn more about a specific topic, please contact the presenters (below) for additional information and presentation opportunities.

Questions? Please contact Ilecia Voughs at ivoughs@pattan.net.