National organizations or Communities of Practice (CoP)
that appeal to me include the Children’s Defense Fund, Technical Assistance
Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health, as well as Zero to Three. First
of all I chose the Children’s Defense Fund to utilize as a great source of
information to cite and gain information from. The Children’s Defense Fund
offers numerous articles on specific relevant topics to my challenge statement,
stays current on policy changes, and can be a source of advocacy or referral
information (Children’s Defense Fund, 2012). The Cradle to Prison pipeline initiative
the Children’s Defense Fund is currently working on directly relates to the
early intervention strategies for young children that I hope to address such as
how to address trauma in early childhood. The second organization I chose to
explore is Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Health.
This organization offers several CoPs that are specific to topics. For example,
there is a specific Child Welfare CoP as well as Early Childhood CoP, both which
address current mental health needs of children, which I felt to be very valid
to my challenge statement. Each CoP has an individual assigned as the community
lead. Based on the website the Technical
Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental Heatlh state both of these
CoPs offer “Access up-to-date information,
events, funding opportunities, and resources, or ask a question related to
child welfare services and the needs of children and families in the child
welfare system” (Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental
Health, n.d.). This would be a great resource to learn from other
professionals around the country dedicated to a unified goal. Lastly, I looked
at Zero to Three as this organization offers resources for early childhood
educators, stays current on policy changes, and has relevant information pertaining
to the mental health of young children and how this can translate into success
in classrooms. Additionally, this resource offers information about state
policy changes as well as national policy changes. This is imperative for all
early childhood educators despite the challenge as funding, standardization,
and other initiatives affect the strategies and models of intervention.
Current
job opportunities available that interest me include a Project Director for
Early Education Services division for ICF International. This organization
works as a contract agent for community and government projects in key areas of
development such as education. The organization serves the United States as
well as other countries worldwide. This project actually is located in Fairfax,
Virginia and serves to address retention, education reform, and professional development.
Qualifications include a Master’s degree and five years’ experience in early
care or education, as well as military experience and quality control
experience. While I meet most qualifications for this job I do not currently
have military experience.
References:
Children’s Defense Fund, (2012). Programs & campaigns. Retrieved from
Technical Assistance Partnership for Child and Family Mental
Health, (n.d.). Communities of practice.
Retrieved from http://www.tapartnership.org/communitiesOfPractice.php
Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and
Families, (2012). Building early
childhood
systems.
Retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/
This job sounds really promising and Fairfax is only an hour away from me. You def need the military training? I also like to the cradle to prison. I have always found this really interesting working with children before they get to that point of no return. This was a really great post.
ReplyDeleteDear Mandy, My oldest brother was schizophrenic and heard voices that commanded him to kill his family. I grew up experiencing and witnessing traumatic events since I was born. Back at that time (in Guatemala), my parents did not find a community program that could help us to overcome this situation. Definitely, the organizations you explored this week play important roles for children and families that have suffered painful events because they may assess children and provide them with mental health services. Thank you for sharing this information.
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing these organizations to my attention. I am aware of the children's defense fund, however the others are new to me. I sill use these as a resource. Mental illness is a serious issue in this country.
ReplyDeleteMandy,
ReplyDeleteYour information provide great resources for others. Do plan to any of them for your challenge?
Mandy,
ReplyDeleteDo any of these jobs allow you to work long distance or remotely? I am interested in becoming a validator for NAEYC however I do not want to relocate my family. You seem to have a great deal of knowledge about job opportunities in the Virginia , D.C. area. I would like to keep in touch as this maybe the next area of interest for myself.
Thank you!
Haley
I have done research on the cradle to prison pipeline project and it sounds very promising! I would love to work on that project. We have a large population that almost seem like they are destined to be in prison before they even reach high school.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote for the administrator position that you do not YET have military experience.. is that something you plan on pursuing for a position similar to this or is this not quite the job you were looking for but you meet most of the requirements?
ReplyDelete