2019 First 1,000 Days Conference

The Region 9 Head Start Association (R9HSA) invites you to join us at the First 1,000 Days! Early Head Start Conference. This conference is focused to support Early Head Start, Home Visitors, Family Child Care Partners and all professionals focused on supporting the development of children and families, during the first 1,000 days of life!

Our three-day conference has a variety of learning opportunities, general sessions, exhibits and peer to peer networking.  Day one is our Pre-Conference six-hour sessions with established experts in this professional development space.  In addition, we have planned local tours and networking.  Day two and three will offer both general sessions, breakout sessions, exhibits and unique opportunities for local programs to showcase effective practices in our First 1,000 Days Café!

Opening Keynote

Growing Human(e) Beings: A Job of Superheroes

Julie Kurtz M. S.

 

Julie Kurtz is the co-author of Trauma-Informed Practices for Early Childhood Educators: Relationship-Based Approaches that Support Healing and Build Resilience in Young Children. She is currently writing a second book in the trauma series titled Self-Care for the Early Childhood Educator: Practices and Strategies. She is the creator of the APP for children 3-8 years old to promote sensory and emotional literacy and to support self-regulation called Trigger Stop: Sensory and Emotional Check-in designed specifically for android tablets. Learn more.

 

Closing Keynote

How to Think Like a Baby

Dr. Ross Thompson

 

Ross A. Thompson is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis, where he directs the Social and Emotional Development Lab.  Thompson is an internationally-recognized authority on the psychological development of young children, parent-child relationships, and the applications of developmental science to public policy problems such as early childhood mental health, child poverty, early education, and the development of school readiness.  His work integrates understanding of the developing brain with early experiences in both typical and at-risk children, and he consults extensively to legislative committees, public agencies, and private foundations. Learn more.

 

What is Early Head Start?

Early Head Start is a federally funded community-based program for income-eligible families with pregnant women, infants, and toddlers up to age 3. It is a program that came out of Head Start.

The program was designed in 1994 by an Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers formed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. “In addition to providing or linking families with needed services—medical, mental health, nutrition, and education—Early Head Start can provide a place for children to experience consistent, nurturing relationships and stable, ongoing routines.”

Early Head Start offers three different options and programs may offer one or more to families. The three options are: a home-based option, a center-based option, or a combination option in which families get a set number of home visits and a set number of center-based experiences, there are also locally designed options, which in some communities include family child care.