Special Initiatives

Multiplying Connections

A training and policy initiative linking early brain development
research to better practice by:

• Strengthening the connections between what is known from research and what is done in practice;
• Enhancing the connections between training, practice standards, and program policies; and
• Increasing the connections among child-serving systems and between systems and families.

Multiplying Connections, a program of the Health Federation of Philadelphia, is a cross system initiative designed to lessen the impact of trauma – abuse, neglect, exposure to violence and other early adverse experiences - on Philadelphia’s youngest children and their families. 

Begun in 2007, Multiplying Connections is a three year initiative funded by the William Penn Foundation. Through a partnership of public and non-profit organizations, the initiative is focused on the key public systems that affect children’s earliest experiences - early education through the School District of Philadelphia and children’s health, behavioral health and human service agencies through the City of Philadelphia. The specific activities of Multiplying Connections are to:

Create a Cross-Systems Training Institute of professionals involved in the public child serving systems who have become a cadre of local experts on developmentally appropriate practice, trauma prevention and trauma informed services.  Together, they design and provide training that is targeted to meet the needs of their respective systems and integrated into their systems infrastructure.

Develop policies, protocols, and practice standards  that promote and support developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed practice and services for young children and their families. 

Evaluate Change by measuring whether the new strategies result in positive changes in policy and practice. While measurable outcomes for children within the term of this capacity building effort are not anticipated, measures will be developed that provide baseline data and allow tracking of the impact of the initiative over a 5 to 10 year timeframe. 

The outcomes expected from this initiative include

• A well-trained workforce whose practice is based on an understanding of early child development and the impact of trauma;
• Changes in organizational policies, protocols and standards  that support trauma-informed, developmentally-appropriate practice; and
• Development of practice guidelines, curriculum, and professional competencies that sustain the change effort.

For more information about Multiplying Connections visit their web site at: www.multiplyingconnections.org

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