The Harvard Family Research Project separated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education to become the Global Family Research Project as of January 1, 2017. It is no longer affiliated with Harvard University.
Harvard Family Research Project and the Brazelton Touchpoints Center Named as National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement
September 28, 2010
We are pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has named Harvard Family Research Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Brazelton Touchpoints Center® at Children’s Hospital Boston to develop a National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement, along with their partners, Save the Children, National PTA and the Council of Chief State School Officers. The Center will receive up to $3 million per year for a five year project.
The National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement is one of four new centers comprising Head Start’s Training and Technical Assistance System, which will identify and disseminate evidence-based best practices to Head Start programs across the country. Information provided by the newly selected Centers will allow the Training and Technical Assistance System to support Head Start programs and bring best practices into classrooms around the country, promoting continuous improvement and innovation at the ground level.
Harvard Family Research Project, The Brazelton Touchpoints Center, and their partners bring a unique blend of experience working with Head Start as well as a significant capacity in parent, family, and community partnerships in the broader context of early childhood and public education programs.
“We are thrilled to work with Head Start, one of the country’s premier organizations serving children, families, and communities to support early childhood education,” says Dr. Heather Weiss, founder and director of Harvard Family Research Project. “Together with Head Start and our other partners, we will build an even stronger foundation for family and community engagement from cradle to career.”
About Harvard Family Research Project
Since 1983, Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) has helped stakeholders develop and evaluate strategies to promote the well being of children, youth, families, and their communities. HFRP works primarily within three areas that support children's learning and development—early childhood education, out-of-school time programming, and family and community support in education. Underpinning all of HFRP’s work is a commitment to evaluation for strategic decision making, learning, and accountability. Building on the knowledge that schools alone cannot meet the learning needs of our children, HFRP also focuses national attention on complementary learning. Complementary learning is the idea that a systemic approach, which integrates school and nonschool supports, can better ensure that all children have the skills they need to succeed. To learn more about HFRP, please visit www.hfrp.org.
About the Brazelton Touchpoints Center
Founded in 1996, the Brazelton Touchpoints Center develops links between research and practice around the key elements for successful early learning. Working with parents and the professionals, programs, institutions and systems of care who serve them, the Center has developed innovative, strength-based, practical strategies and practices to equip and engage families and other caregivers to successfully support all domains of children’s development that are essential to successful early learning. Our services include: professional development; technical assistance and collaborative consultation; and intervention and practice innovation. Based on the research and practice of renowned pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton, MD, Brazelton Touchpoints Center has worked in across multiple sectors: social services, early care and education, early intervention, parenting programs, public health (home visiting, homeless shelters), mental health. For more information visit www.touchpoints.org.
About Children's Hospital Boston
Founded in 1869 as a 20-bed hospital for children, Children’s Hospital Boston today is one of the nation’s leading pediatric medical centers, the primary pediatric teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, and the largest provider of health care to Massachusetts children. In addition to 392 pediatric and adolescent inpatient beds and more than 100 outpatient programs, Children’s houses the world’s largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries benefit both children and adults. More than 1,100 scientists, including nine members of the National Academy of Sciences, 12 members of the Institute of Medicine and 13 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Children’s research community. For more information about the hospital visit www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom.
To learn more about out other partners, visit the following: Save the Children (www.savethechildren.org); National PTA (www.pta.org); and the Council of Chief State School Officers (www.ccsso.org).