Honoring is an intentional process of holding someone in your mind, creating rituals and traditions to celebrate someone, making a commitment to live more like they lived, expressing stories, pains or prayers in gratitude or memoriam. When we honor, we praise, we appreciate, we adore, we applaud.
As we continue to stumble our way through the COVID-19 pandemic, let us take some time to honor; to honor those we have lost to this viral illness such as our dear friend and colleague, Elba Cruz Schulman; to honor our pain, grief and sadness; to honor our Jane C. Bourns recipient, Doug Edwards; to honor inspiration and perseverance; to honor our Democracy; to honor Amanda Gorman and her poetry; to honor contributions to the field of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health; to honor parents and caregivers in their courageous journeys and difficult sacrifices, to honor infants and young children and their critical needs and yearning for attachment; to honor healing and hope even in the midst of tragedy and sorrow; to honor one another through compassion, integrity, social and economic justice, and peace.
Let us honor our pain, our blessings, our connections, our treasures and the work we do to improve the lives of infants, young children and their families here in Connecticut.
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Elba Cruz Schulman was serving as a Board of Director for the CT AIMH at the time of her passing in December 2020. Our Board was shocked and saddened to learn that this legendary social worker and colleague passed away from complications of COVID 19. Elba was known on our board for her expertise and experience in fundraising, coalition-building and mobilization. We will miss her dearly. Here is a portion of her obituary which you can read in full at
“Elba was a most extraordinary Woman to come along in a lifetime. She cared so much for her family, the community, and anyone in need. She led a full life of service to the community, including employment as a drug counselor, family and youth Counselor and Therapist, Coordinator for Northern Connecticut for the Cuban Refugee Entrants Program, Community Educator and, for the last thirty (30) plus years, as a Medical Social Worker for the City of Hartford, where she started first in a new program 30 years ago as a supervisor in the Maternity Infant Outreach Program. She was the Coordinator for the Hartford Mayor's Passport to Success Program, aiming to provide all youth in the City of Hartford with the opportunity to succeed in life. She also coordinated and raised the funds for the annual Festival of Lights program in Hartford where 1000 children receive Christmas and holiday toys. However, that does not tell the full story about Elba Schulman. She has served on the Boards of Directors of numerous community organizations, including My Sisters Place, the United Way Allocation Committee and Y-US, Inc. She has served as President of the Advisory Board of the Institute for The Hispanic Family, President and now member of the Capital Region Board of Directors of Catholic Family Services/Catholic Charities and Charter Member and President of the Hartford Multinational Lions Club. She has served on the Lions District 23B Cabinet in various capacities over the years and has served as organizer and Guiding Lion of several area Lions Clubs, including the Greater Hartford West Indian Lions Club and the Hartford Hispanic Seniors Lions Club. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Hispanic Health Council, Inc. and Jewish Family Services, Inc. Elba has served as a member of her parish council at Sacred Heart Church in Bloomfield and serves further as a Commissioner of the Bloomfield Housing Authority. Elba has received a number of awards and recognitions, including the 1999 Lewis Fox Middle School Outstanding Woman of The Year Award, the Maria Sanchez Award for Outstanding Community Service and a University of Connecticut Certificate of Appreciation for a lifetime of outstanding commitment and dedication to help issues effecting women and children and being a role model for all citizens.”
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The CT-AIMH Jane C. Bourns Award celebrates Exemplary Service to Young Children and Families in the field of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. Jane set the standard in Connecticut for advocacy, direct service, and policy and program development on behalf of children and families. And Jane, was a founder of the Connecticut Association for Infant Mental Health. She died in 2003 and gave us a legacy of professionalism and expertise that have been hallmarks of the recipients of this award created in her name in 2006.
The 2020 Jane C. Bourns Award is endowed to Doug Edwards, the founder and Director of Real Dads Forever, a Fatherhood Strategies Development organization here in Connecticut. Doug’s work and way of being parallels Jane’s in many ways; both are passionate leaders, dedicated to preventing child abuse and neglect, remarkable in their tireless and focused energy, generous in their volunteerism and deeply committed to improving the lives of children and families in Connecticut.
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CT-AIMH Executive Director Heidi Maderia, MS, IMH-E® and Current Board Member and Past President Margaret Holmberg, PhD, IMH-E® contribute to the World Association for Infant Mental Health Journal "Perspectives"!
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The Center for Children's Advocacy developed a video presentation "COVID 19 Resources and Critical Information for Professionals Working with Vulnerable Children and Youth"
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Anne Giordano, MS, IMH-E® led a Connecticut panel discussion at our CT-AIMH Fall Conference (after our esteemed colleagues from Pennsylvania presented) on community approaches to addressing homelessness for early childhood families. Anne has dedicated her career to working with infants, toddlers and families. Anne’s role with CT-AIMH includes developing, coordinating and presenting statewide training in infant mental health for child welfare staff, early care providers and home visitors; and facilitating group Reflective Supervision/Consultation. Anne is Endorsed® as an Infant Mental Health Clinical Mentor through the CT-AIMH and presents frequently at local, state, and national conferences on issues related to infant toddler mental health and development.
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Find here a partner toolkit which includes sample social media copy and a graphic. We encourage you to share the messages found within the toolkit with your networks throughout 2021! Also, Zero to Three invites you to tag Congressional leaders and other Members, including @SenateDems, @SenateGOP, @HouseDemocrats, and @HouseGOP when sharing this information on social media.
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Thanks to funding from the CT Office of Early Childhood, we are able to offer free screenings of The Raising of America: Early Childhood and the Future of Our Nation. A number of Connecticut organizations participated in the support and development of this documentary film produced in 2015 by California Newsreel.
The CT-AIMH Promotion & Education Advisory Committee is proud to share each of the five film episodes with you from February through June on the 3rd Friday of each month.
and we look forward to seeing you later this month for Episode 1 :
"The Signature Hour."
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Find more information about our Raising of America film project here
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Are you wondering how to start your journey to Endorsement®? We would like to encourage you, to answer any of your questions and to help you take the next steps.
A variety of webinars are also available to provide specific information about Endorsement®
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Honoring the Spanish Language |
CT-AIMH will be offering an 11-session virtual infant mental health series for childcare providers en Español, beginning March 18, 2021.
We will be purchasing the Spanish version of Endorsement®, and offering Reflective Supervision/Consultation and Endorsement® support in Spanish, beginning this year.
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Thank you to our members who contributed to the annual Celebrate Babies campaign!!! A video was developed with reflections from our campaign survey and shared at the Fall 2020 Conference. Please enjoy this inspirational video! |
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Please renew your membership with us! Your membership offers...
- Conference fees reduced and the opportunity to register first.
- First to receive the Newsletter with updates on CT-AIMH initiatives.
- Connect with other infant and early childhood mental health professionals.
- Access to Infant and Early Childhood Endorsement through CT-AIMH (See Endorsement Tab)
- News from the World Association for Infant Mental Health
- News from the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health (over 29 states, including Connecticut, and 2 countries offering the Endorsement in Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-focused Practice Promoting Infant Mental Health®).
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Why become a WAIMH member?
- To promote principles of infant and child health, development and mental health.
- To become part of a global learning community and professional network that speaks for infants, young children and families around the world.
- To have access to resources that promote infant mental health.
- To learn from world experts about the health, mental health and optimal development of infants, toddlers and their families across cultures and around the world.
- To expand your professional, social network.
- To exchange of information about infants and infant-family programs.
- To contribute to the protection of health and well-being in infancy, early childhood and parenthood on a global level.
- To get opportunities to keep pace with new findings and innovations in scientific, clinical, and educational research and programs involving infants and their caregivers.
- To contribute to a professional global learning community: WAIMH.
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Funding from the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood will allow CT-AIMH to offer a Reflective Supervision/Consultation Training series this year specifically for Master's level clinicians who hold IMH-or ECMH- Endorsement® or are in the process of currently applying for Endorsement®!
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Netflix Series "Babies" a Game Changer for Infant Mental Health Advocacy! |
Okay, so who has seen at least Episode 1 of "Babies" a Netflix original series? Chalk full of exciting research brokered for the public, this series is sure to help us unlock the mysteries of infancy and Celebrate Babies!
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