Steps to Success
Behavioral Intervention Program

NCCDI strongly believes that children's social and emotional skills are foundational to school readiness, future achievement and success later in life. Research demonstrates that social competence is integral for academic success and that social relationships form the basis for life-long learning.

Steps to Success is a behavioral intervention program that promotes children's development of a sense of safety, importance and belonging in society. The programs goal is to support children, families, teachers, and agencies that work with children in order to maximize children's social and emotional development. The program aims to reduce the number of children who are removed from group care environments due to behavioral issues. Research demonstrates that children who are forcibly removed from preschool because of violent behavior are more likely to drop out of high-school, thus limiting their future opportunities, competencies, and earnings in adulthood. If concerning behaviors are not addressed early in life, these children often enter the juvenile delinquency system at a greater cost to society.

Research shows that parents and childcare providers that receive social support improve their early childhood development knowledge. Steps to Success is a program based on the NCCDI Behavioral Intervention model that works as an interactive approach by incorporating a team effort into developing behavior plans that are implemented at home, school, and in the early childhood environment. The approach addresses issues at the child, family, agency and community level to provide a comprehensive intervention system for children exhibiting concerning behavior. The program serves children aged 0-8 years in preschools, elementary schools, Head Start and other group care environments. This is possible through a funding model comprised of state of California Welfare to Work funds, Alternative Payment funds earmarked for children with special needs from our local Childcare Resource Referral and Education program and offset costs of mental health supervision hours that are provided in conjunction with Head Start mental health requirements. This program is also supported by National University and California State University , Chico and their graduate departments of Psychology and Social Work. Steps to Success is comprised of the following elements:

Drop in Parenting – This is a free weekly support group and parenting class facilitated by a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Intern. The program uses a modified parent curriculum that corresponds to the Second Step Social Emotional Curriculum used in the Head Start centers and local elementary schools. Parents can come as often as they wish and sometimes choose to come once or return to the group each week to address continuing issues. During the class, parents are encouraged to discuss behavior and discipline issues in the home and network with others for a solution. Parents leave the group with a plan to implement with their child and share outcomes at the next group meeting.

$15.00 Counseling – The Fifteen dollar counseling program was developed to meet the needs of families in search of mental health services. These services are offered on –site at the Head Start office in private and discrete counseling facilities. Three Marriage and Family Therapist Interns provide couples counseling, individual, adolescent counseling and family therapy. We also have a state of the art Parent Child Interaction Therapy facility in which parents and children can interact to resolve conflicts while a therapist observes their interactions from an observation room and provides guidance to the parent through a headset. These services are provided free to Head Start families.

Behavioral Intervention Assistance - Behavioral intervention assistance activities are conducted in preschool centers, licensed family childcare homes, elementary schools and childcare environments. To receive behavioral intervention assistance community members, parents, or teachers make a referral to the Steps to Success program. Upon receipt of the referral an early childhood specialist is sent out to the center to assess the environment and child. This allows the early childhood specialist to observe the child in their natural care environment and identify behaviors and environmental issues that may not be consistent with the child's needs. Upon completion of the observation and assessment process the early childhood specialist meets with the caregiver and parents to design intervention services that will help the child succeed in school.

Training and Consultation - Training is provided to community agencies and early childhood professionals on an as needed basis and as part of annual training conferences. Steps to Success training is focused on the use of evidence based practices related to guidance and discipline and focused on helping others understand the unique social and emotional development that occurs during early childhood.

For more information about Steps to Success, contact:
1-800-224-7772