Training

The Ounce of Prevention Fund's robust training programs build an early childhood workforce skilled at improving outcomes for Illinois' most vulnerable young children.

The Ounce's Illinois Birth-to-Three Institute is a training and technical assistance provider to early childhood programs, including home visiting and doula programs, funded by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), and Chicago Public Schools (CPS). In 2009, we trained 700 early childhood professionals who, in turn, served an estimated 8,900 families throughout Illinois.

Our expertise in training is based on our experience developing, testing and refining innovative programs. Our trainings help early childhood professionals use research results to most effectively serve low-income children and their families.

The Ounce provides training in a range of topics, including:

• Early Childhood Development
• Family Support Strategies
• Child Abuse Recognition & Response

We operate training facilities in Springfield and Chicago. Trainings are open to all direct service and management staff of early childhood programs funded by IDHS and ISBE's Prevention Initiative programs.

Early childhood program staff can register for trainings through the links below.

• DHS programs including Healthy Families Illinois, Parents Too Soon, Parents As Teachers, and Doula.
• Prevention Initiative programs including Baby Talk, Parents As Teachers, Healthy Families, Nurse-Family Partnership and Doula.

The Ounce is the recognized training provider for all home visitors in Healthy Families, Parents Too Soon, and Parents as Teachers programs in Illinois. Funding for Ounce training is provided through IDHS, ISBE, and CPS.

We also offer online specialized training for any staff in programs serving families with children age birth to three. To learn more about these courses open to the general public, and to register for them, visit this site: http://open.opftrainingcenter.org

The Ounce provides technical assistance and consultation for more than 40 partner agencies in Illinois. Our teams help organizations build capacity to successfully operate a home visiting, doula, or Early Head Start/Head Start programs. We emphasize the importance of full implementation of program models and create solutions to meet the ongoing challenges of operations, staffing, supervision, and funding.



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