Child Development Center
More than 50% of survivors residing at Sojourner Center are children, most of whom are under 5 years old. Sojourner Center’s onsite Child Development Center (CDC) is a licensed, 5-star Quality First, NECPA-accredited childcare. The CDC offers comprehensive care and early learning opportunities to children from birth to age twelve residing in our Emergency Shelter and Transitional Housing. This program is designed to equip children with the tools and resources to help them build brighter futures.
Approach To Learning
The CDC employs the Reggio Emilia Approach to learning, which includes crucial elements to counteract the harmful effects of childhood trauma and exposure to family violence. The Reggio Emilia Approach supports traumatized populations through positive relationships, comforting environments, child-centered activities, and parent participation to restore family bonds and promote healthy attachments. For our child survivors, the collaborative, individualized learning environment paves the way to more promising futures.
Development Assessment
As a part of the program, every child in the CDC undergoes a developmental assessment, which helps teachers and parents assess how well the child is developing and reaching important milestones. This assessment also helps determine how to best support the child’s development by providing parenting support, activities, community connections and referrals.
