Restorative Practice: Part of a Trauma-Informed Classroom Strategy (Evening)
2023-09-05 18:00 - 20:00, 2023-09-12 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Denver) | Online
Joint Initiatives for Youth + Families is offering a NEW learning session presenting the connection between trauma-informed practices and the five principles of restorative practice (relationship, respect, responsibility, repair, and reintegration).
Kathy Orr, Executive Director of Peaceful Households, will lead this learning session focused on understanding the role of trauma, building community in the classroom, and developing healthy relationships. Designed especially for early childhood educators, this training will benefit center-based directors and staff, family child care providers, paraprofessionals, and anyone working with young children.
To download flyer, click HERE.

UPK Town Hall for Early Childhood Programs
2023-09-06 16:45 - 18:45 | Online
Early childhood programs are invited to join us for a special El Paso County Virtual Universal Pre-K (UPK) Town Hall on Wednesday, September 6th from 4:45–6:45 pm*, hosted by Joint Initiatives for Youth + Families, the Local Coordinating Organization for UPK. This Town Hall will feature a presentation by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood and breakout sessions for center-based early childhood programs, family child care homes (FCCH), and school district preschools to learn and ask questions about UPK.

4:45–5:30 pm | School District Breakout Session
5:30–6:00 pm | CDEC Presentation on major updates
6:00–6:45 pm | Center and FCCH Breakout Sessions

*School Districts: Please join the Town Hall at 4:45 for the Breakout Session, followed by the CDEC presentation at 5:30 pm.
*Centers and Family Child Care Homes: Please join the Town Hall at 5:30 pm for the CDEC presentation, followed by Breakout Session at 6:00 pm.
To help us prepare for the event, participants are encouraged to submit questions in advance. This option is included on the registration form.
View and share Town Hall Flyer HERE.

Restorative Practice: Part of a Trauma-Informed Classroom Strategy (Sat.)
2023-09-23 10:00 - 14:00 | Online

EQIT | Sessions A, B, C, and D
2023-10-18, 2024-02-01, 2024-04-15 | Online
The 48-hour EQIT Curriculum provides a solid introduction to infant and toddler development, with a focus on providing quality group care for our youngest children. The EQIT course builds on the knowledge and experience of infant and toddler caregivers through interesting, interactive, and fun activities. The EQIT Curriculum has been approved by the Division of Child Care as one of the classes that can be used for Early Childhood Teacher (formerly Group Leader) Qualifications AND will count toward the Infant Toddler class that will be required for Director Qualifications. The Expanding Quality in Infant Toddler (EQIT) Care Curriculum consists of 16 modules, covering the following topics:

Emotional Development
Responsive Care
Family Partnership
Safety, Health, and Nutrition
Learning Environments
Curriculum
Language Development
Literacy
Physical Development
Culture
Children with Special Needs
Professionalism

Register in PDIS.
Session A: July 27–September 21, 2023
Session B: October 18–December 19, 2023
Session C: February 1–April 4, 2024
Session D: April 15–June 10, 2024
See PDIS for specific dates and times.

Eyes Toward the Future Fall Conference | PPRFCA
2023-10-21 07:30 - 16:30 | Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 4125 Constitution Ave., Colorado Springs
The Pikes Peak Region Family Child Care Association will present a fall conference, “Eyes Towards the Future,” on October 21, 2023. Family Child Care Providers and early childhood program staff are invited to register. Sessions include Circle Time Engaging Practices, Classroom Transitions, and Challenging Behavior in Children.
For details and the link to register, please click HERE.

CLASS (Classroom Assessment Scoring System) Tool Overview
2023-10-23 12:00 - 13:30 | Online
CLASS not only defines teaching quality through the lens of interactions, but it also provides the ability to measure and improve the interactions that matter most for children’s outcomes. And it’s a journey of continuous improvement that is data-driven.
As you implement CLASS, you will:
• Focus on high-quality interactions and create a shared understanding of quality in your program
• Measure the quality of interactions to create a system that enables data-driven improvement
• Improve teaching quality through tailored and individualized professional development
This training is presented by Cassy Reyes, Foundations Trauma Coach + Trainer.
View the flyer HERE.

Health + Well-Being Committee Meeting
2023-10-25 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-01-24 12:00 - 13:30 | Online
The Health + Well-Being Committee is a subcommittee of the Alliance for Kids Council and meets quarterly (January, April, July, and October). The committee is made up of agencies and individuals working collaboratively to guide the work of Alliance for Kids in meeting the goals and objectives of its Strategic Plan, which are aligned with the Early Childhood Colorado Framework.
Meeting details will be shared with committee members via email. If you have an interest in joining this committee, please contact Bernadine McCarron, Foundations Wellness Manager, at bmccarron@jointinitiatives.org.

ChildcareRead
2023-11-14 18:00 - 20:00, 2023-11-15 18:00 - 20:00 | Joint Initiatives for Youth + Families, 1600 N. Union Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO, 80909, United States
The ChildcareRead 4-hour workshop provides certification for people who work directly with children birth-5 years old. In this training, participants will gain ideas and strategies to energize storytime, make reading fun, and expand literacy into other parts of the child care day. They will participate in sample lessons from the Story Exploring® curriculum and learn the step-by-step model for planning the use of books with young children. Participants will become certified as a Story Exploring® Facilitator Earn 4 hours in Colorado Shines PDIS; learn ways to meet high-quality child care and education standards in language and literacy; and receive the curriculum of over 60 lessons, parent take-home materials in English and Spanish, and several children’s books, and more.
This is a two-day training on November 14 and 15th.
Click HERE to view the flyer.

Focus Group on Infant + Toddler Care
2024-01-09 12:00 - 13:30 | CPCD giving children a head start, 2330 Robinson St.,, COS
SHARE YOUR STORY
Join us for a Focus Group discussion on infant and toddler care in our community. This focus group welcomes families that would want to share their experience with finding Infant/Toddler care for their young child. Your thoughts would be confidentially combined with others and used to develop a community plan to address services for young children across El Paso County.
January 9 | Noon-1:30 pm
CPCD…giving children a head start (2330 Robinson Street, COS)
Download the FLYER HERE.
Registration required to participate. Register HERE.

Simple Gift Scholars | Early Childhood Enrichment Training
2024-01-20 08:00 - 14:00 | Simple Gift Scholars, 127 1/2 Bijou St., Suite 1, Colorado Springs
Join us for a morning of networking and enrichment training featuring the music and literacy programming of the early childhood Simple Gift Series on PBS. Launched here in Colorado Springs, this unique program works to quiet the world around every child, while honoring the power of human connectedness and gratitude for all life’s Simple Gifts! Join Linda Weise, the creator of the program, as she shares original songs and books, and teaches you how you can bring these elements to your classroom while utilizing the program as an additional teaching tool.

Collective Impact Committee
2024-01-31 12:00 - 13:30 | Joint Initiatives for Youth + Families, 1600 N. Union Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO, 80909, United States
January 31, 2024, meeting canceled due to unforseen circumstances. Please stay tuned for the rescheduled date!
Collective Impact is the commitment of a group of important actors from different sectors to a common agenda for solving a specific social problem. Key ingredients of successful community efforts to move “from fragmented action and results” to “collective action and deep and durable impact” include a common agenda, shared measurement, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and backbone support.
As a backbone support organization, JI’s role is to guide vision and strategy, support aligned activities, establish shared measurement practices, cultivate community engagement and ownership, advance policy, and mobilize funding.
Meeting details (time and location/Zoom link) are shared with committee members via email. If you would like more information about this committee, please use the Contact Us form or contact Kimberly Smith at ksmith@jointinitiatives.org.

Verbal De-Escalation and Active Shooter Survival Skills
2024-02-07 17:30 - 20:00 | Joint Initiatives for Youth + Families, 1600 N. Union Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO, 80909, United States
Join Officer Brian P. Corrado for the emergency preparedness training on verbal de-escalation and active shooter survival skills. Topics will include: Warning signs of hostile behavior, listening skills, Personal Safety, Situational Awareness, Run/Hide/Fight, preparation and planning.

Leading Edge™ For Family Childcare Providers
2024-02-10 09:00 - 2024-03-16 12:00 | Online
In partnership with Joint Initiatives for Youth + Families/Foundations, the Pikes Peak Small Business Development Center LEADING EDGE™ for Childcare Providers helps both licensed childcare providers (home-based) and start-ups. The program assists childcare providers in strengthening business practices when coping with the ever-changing landscape of the Colorado workforce.

Social-Emotional Health and Development – Trauma 1
2024-02-22 18:30 - 20:00 | Online
This training will go over promoting social-emotional development in a trauma-sensitive environment helping both teachers and students have a successful learning environment. This class will also help earn points toward the Colorado Shines rating. It is highly recommended to take this training before taking Trauma 2.

Social-Emotional Health and Development – Trauma 2
2024-02-29 18:30 - 20:00 | Online
This training is the second part of Trauma 1 and it is highly recommended you take Trauma 1 before taking Trauma 2. This training goes more in-depth about the effect’s trauma has on the young brain and what you can do to help promote a trauma-sensitive classroom, both for adults and children. This class will also help earn points toward the Colorado Shines rating.

4JD Juvenile Delinquency Summit
2024-03-01 09:00 - 16:00 | Tesla PD Building for D11, 2560 International Circle, Colorado Springs
A Juvenile Delinquency Summit is scheduled for March 1, 2024, and will include CLEs, speakers, and presenters. Lunch will be provided.
8:30–9 | Check-In
9 am–Noon | Drugs, Drugs, Drugs, and More Drugs
Noon–1 pm | Lunch + Presentations
1–4:00 pm | Don’t Get Stuck in Vicarious Trauma. Focus on Vicarious Healing.
PRESENTER BIO
Thea Wessel is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Licensed Addiction Counselor (LAC) in Colorado. She is also Nationally certified through NNADAC as a Master Addictions Counselor (MAC) and National Certified Adolescent Addictions Counselor (NCAAC). Additional credentials are an Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist (ADS), Reiki Master/Trainer, and a level III practitioner in Cherokee bodywork. She is currently a Ph.D. student at The California Institute of Integral Studies.
Thea continually challenges herself and others to continue providing quality treatment for substance use disorders and further educate the community about addiction, criminal justice, and mental health issues.
Download the 4JD Summit Flyer HERE.

Early Childhood Trauma Training for Families and Caregivers
2024-03-08 18:30 - 20:00 | Online
This training is for families or anyone in the community who would like deeper knowledge of what childhood trauma looks like and how to promote a trauma-sensitive home environment. You will learn how to: 1) define trauma; 2) understand the developmental implications of early childhood trauma; 3) understand the prevalence of trauma; 4) identify the basic brain structures involved in the biological response to trauma; and 5) understand how toxic stress impacts the brain.
This training is presented by Cassy Reyes, Foundations Trauma Coach + Trainer.
View the flyer HERE.

Coffee Chat with Coaches
2024-03-13 12:00 - 14:00 | Online
Grab your favorite coffee or tea and join JI’s Foundations Coaches for some time to chat. This is a NEW virtual forum for early childhood professionals to connect with us, seek resources, and bring questions and concerns about topics such as staffing challenges, ratings, licensing, stress/workload, professional development, tension in the workplace, challenging behaviors, and evaluations for children with special needs.

PRE-LICENCIA PARA HOGARES DE CUIDO INFANTIL FAMILIARES
2024-04-15 09:30 - 13:00, 2024-04-16 09:30 - 13:00, 2024-04-17 09:30 - 13:00, 2024-04-18 09:30 - 13:00, 2024-04-19 09:30 - 13:00 | CO
NUEVA! PRE-LICENCIA PARA HOGARES DE CUIDO INFANTIL FAMILIARES
15-19 de Abril | 9:30 am – 1:00 pm
La capacitacion Previa a la Licencia para un Hogar de Cuido Infantil Familiar es una requerida de 15 horas. Los participantes deberán asistir los 5 dias y completar los 7 modulos para recibir el certificado de finalización.
Regístrese aquí en PDIS | $50

Conflict Resolution Within Your Workplace
2024-04-18 18:30 - 20:00 | Online
Whether a program would like to be prepared if conflict arises, or needs strategies to address current challenges, this training will offer information related to employee engagement and retention, workplace culture, and resilience.

Guiding Growth: Mastering The Implementation of Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Childhood Education
2024-04-23 18:00 - 20:00 | Online
Guiding Growth: Mastering The Implementation of Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Childhood Education
This training session is tailored to early childhood educators seeking to master the implementation of developmentally appropriate practices. Through interactive workshops, case studies, and hands-on activities, participants will delve into the core principles of child development and explore how to effectively apply these principles in educational settings. From understanding individual learning styles to creating inclusive environments, this training will equip educators with the tools and knowledge needed to foster holistic growth and development in young learners. By embracing evidence-based strategies and fostering reflective practice, participants will leave empowered to create engaging
and supportive learning experiences that honor each child’s unique journey of discovery and growth.
