Partner Page

In December, 2005, The Colorado Trust granted WONDERbabies (Ways of Nurturing Development through Enhancing Relationships) a Partnerships for Health award to focus on systems of care for babies and young children with special health care needs and their families. Please see the press release for more details about the Partnerships for Health Initiative by The Colorado Trust.  To see a list of the Founding Partners, please click here.

WONDERpartners include state departments, parent advocacy groups, research programs, local community organizations, Latino networking organizations, mental health agencies and hospitals, with representation from around the State. See below for information about our current Partners and links to Partner websites. Partners engaged in a six month strategic planning process where they completed an environmental scan of the population to be serviced and created goals, objectives and indicators of success. Through this strategic planning process, Partners developed the WONDERbabies mission and vision statements, our guiding principles, and the direction for our implementation plan.

If you are a Partner, please log in on the left to view: meeting minutes, upcoming dates, archived materials, event highlights, and important documents.

For more information on becoming a Partner, please contact us.


Welcome our newest Partner!


Colorado Bright Beginnings is empowering parents with the guidance, knowledge and tools to create a bright beginning for their child. By the age of three, most of a child's physical, intellectual and emotional development is well underway. Everything a parent does has a lasting affect on the child's success, including the child's readiness to learn. Parents have the power to shape their child's future and Colorado Bright Beginnings has the power to help parents. We'll give you some simple ways to start with a free packet of powerful tools. In Colorado communities throughout the state, we will meet you at home, your work or any other community setting that's easy for you. Since 1995, we have helped over 100,000 Colorado families unleash the power of parenting.

Other WONDERpartners include:

The Center for Family and Infant Interaction promotes the best outcomes and relationships between families and their infants, particularly those infants who have developmental challenges and/or special health care needs at birth. The Center addresses this goal through education, consultation, research, and support of professional/parent collaboration. The Center houses the Family Infant Relationship Support Training (FIRST) Program, The Rocky Mountain Fragile Infant Feeding Institute (FIFI) and the Colorado Newborn Individualized Development Care and Assessment Program Training Center (NIDCAP). These educational programs are designed to enhance the outcomes for infants born prematurely; infants born with special needs; infants born at term but who are not behaviorally well organized; and infants born to high risk families.


JFK Partners is a multifaceted Interdepartmental Program of the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. The mission of JFK Partners is to promote the independence, inclusion, contribution, health, and well-being of people with developmental disabilities and special health care needs and their families through consumer, community, and university partnerships. At the core of our mission is a commitment to family and person-centered, community-based, culturally competent programs and services. This mission is accomplished through the pursuit of excellence in education and training, consultation, technical assistance, direct service, research, program development, policy analysis, and advocacy.

ENRICH (Enrichment using Natural Resources In Communities and Homes) is an early intervention team that provides supports and services to families who have children up to three years of age with developmental delays. ENRICH has been supporting children's learning and development in Colorado since 1994.  Children with developmental delays sometimes need extra support to fully enjoy, participate, and learn in everyday routines and activities such as playing, communicating with others, moving around, eating, sleeping, and bathing. ENRICH works with families to support each child's learning and development in the every day places where families spend time - in the home, childcare program, and other places in the community.



 

The Irving Harris Program in Child Development and Infant Mental Health is an infant mental health program that provides program consultation, training, advocacy, research and clinical training in infant mental health. The program sponsors the Robert J. Harmon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Infant Mental Health, which offers training for postdoctoral graduates and experienced infancy and early childhood professionals seeking "mid-career" training. It is an advanced 1-year clinical fellowship in infant mental health, consultation, and treatment, with a particular focus on the problems of infancy, toddlerhood and parenthood.




The Colorado Trust is a grant making foundation dedicated to advancing the health and well-being of the people of Colorado. In 1985, the nonprofit PSL Healthcare Corporation - Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center - was sold to a for-profit organization and the proceeds of the hospital sale were used to create The Trust as an independent foundation. The Trust focuses its grant making on health in the broadest sense; in addition to physical and mental health care, it also addresses family, community and social needs to help people lead healthy, productive lives.


Founded in 1908 in Denver, Colorado, The Children’s Hospital set out to be a leader in providing the best healthcare outcomes for children. That calling has made us one of the top ten children’s hospitals in the nation, and, more importantly, a place parents have come to trust. As a private, not-for-profit pediatric healthcare network, The Children’s Hospital is 100-percent dedicated to caring for kids of all ages and stages of growth. That dedication is evident in more than 1,000 pediatric specialists and more than 2,400 full-time employees. It is also our continual dedication that has placed us at the forefront of research in childhood disease with several nationally and internationally recognized medical programs. Together, with our partners, we are responsible for virtually all of the pediatric research published in the Rocky Mountain region for at least a decade. From medical breakthroughs to late-night fevers, The Children’s Hospital provides complete pediatric care at its main campus and through a network that includes two emergency locations, three community based after-hours care sites, nine specialty care centers and more than 400 outreach clinics held in three states every year.




The Health Care Program for Children with Special Needs (HCP) is a statewide program of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. HCP is a unique resource for families, health care providers, and communities. HCP's vision is for all Colorado children with special health care needs will be valued, integrated, and thriving. HCP's mission is to ensure that children with special health care needs have the opportunity to grow, learn, and develop to their highest individual potential. HCP seeks to ensure statewide access to comprehensive and coordinated community based programs and services using a medical home approach. We work with families, providers, agencies and community leaders to connect kids with the care they need, and to help coordinate that care over time. HCP’s programs and activities include screenings, evaluations and clinics, service referrals for families and providers, care coordination, training, consultation, and capacity building with community partners.



Early Intervention Colorado is Colorado’s overall system of early intervention supports and services for families who have infants or toddlers, birth to age three, who have special developmental needs. Early Intervention Colorado is a voluntary program and is available at no cost to families.

The Part C/NICU Liaison Project, a program within Early Intervention Colorado, works with families of infants eligible for early intervention services who are at one of the ten Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Units in the Denver Metro Area. The project works with families from all areas of Colorado as well as families from other states who have babies hospitalized in Denver. The NICU Liaison Project works in collaboration with the local early intervention program and an infant’s primary medical team to support families during their infant’s inpatient stay to identify needed supports, access early intervention services and community resources, and ensure a smooth transition from hospital to home. 




The Colorado Association for Infant Mental Health (CoAIMH) is a 501.c3, nonprofit, membership organization that was founded in 2001. CoAIMHbecame an official affiliate of the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) in 2002. The purposes of CoAIMH are to promote education and research related to infant mental health; facilitate networking and cooperation among those concerned with the optimal development of infants and infant-caregiver relationships; promote scientifically-based programs of care, intervention, and prevention of mental impairment in infancy; and support local and state policies that promote family and infant mental health. Membership in CoAIMH is open to all disciplines and to all those who reside in Colorado and can provide evidence of some expertise in and dedication to the field of infancy.










Grupo VIDA is a family support network for Latino families who have a child or other family member with a disability. Our mission is to empower individuals with disabilities and their families with information and training that will support them to be their own best advocate and to collaborate with communities to facilitate natural connections for individuals with disabilities and their families. Hablamos Espanol!!!






In Colorado, as well as nationally, only 5% of pediatric practices report using a standardized developmental screening tool. Based on Colorado’s current population, potentially 40,000 infants and toddlers have disabilities but only 6,000 children from birth to three year olds were referred for early intervention services last year (Part C, Colorado Department of Human Services, 2006). This raises the concern that a significant number of children are not being identified and are missing the opportunity for early intervention services during these crucial first few years of life.

As a result of these findings, Colorado embarked on a three-year Assuring Better Child Health and Development (ABCD) project to improve the health outcomes for children birth to 3 years old. The focus of Colorado’s project is to:

• Increase the use of standardized development screening tools in pediatric and family health care settings.
• Assist practices in implementing an office process for the use of standardized developmental screening tools that is efficient and practical.
• Help practices learn about opportunities to obtain reimbursement for using standardized developmental screening tools.
• Promote early identification and referral.
• Facilitate a primary care provider’s ability to connect to early intervention and other community services.

The vision of the ABCD project is that for "Colorado's children reach maximum developmental potential" Our mission is "To promote the use of standardized developmental screening in health care setting throughout Colorado to facilitate early intervention and referral"