Edie and Colleagues Submit Duke ABC Thrive Application

Kudos to Alison Edie, assistant professor, and her entire team for the submission of her Duke ABC Thrive Stage 2 seed grant application entitled “Collaboration to Promote Early Childhood Well Being in Families Experiencing Homelessness.” This proposal requests funding for a two-year period with a project start date of September 1, 2019.

The project will continue to address the needs of young children experiencing homelessness through a set of programs designed to synergistically foster health, parent-child relationships, and socioemotional development. The seed grant identified needs for: minor modifications, a new service, and an approach shift.

Regarding modifications:

• Healthy Home will be refined, adding behavior modification goals to facilitate individual lifestyle changes
• Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up will continue, expanding toddler capacity for FMF staff and increasing incentives to promote retention
• HealthySteps will continue with increased staff capacity and enhanced screening and electronic health record data functions.
• To directly address preschoolers’ self-regulation, FMF staff will complete Incredible Years Classroom Dinosaur training and work with CCFP partners to select appropriate sessions.
• Based on parent input and team observations, organizational culture, policy, and practice shifts are needed to facilitate project success. Enhancing staff knowledge about early childhood development and trauma-informed practice will create an environment psychologically “safe” enough for parents to change health and parenting practices. To that end, a 2-year trauma-informed organizational assessment, training, and consultation process will be implemented.