Would you like to be a CDC "Learn the Signs. Act Early." Ambassador?

 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities and the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) with support from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), announce a funding opportunity for Act Early Ambassadors to work with CDC’s “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” 

 

 RFA for CDC's "Learn the Signs. Act Early." 2019-2020 Ambassador Program (.PDF).

 

Learn more about the Ambassador Program.

 

 

To be considered, applicants must:

• Reside or physically work in the state/territory they wish to represent as an Ambassador;

• be connected to or familiar with state/territory/tribal programs that serve young children and their families, such as child care, WIC, Early Head Start, home visiting, or others;

• be involved in or familiar with any cross-systems efforts to improve developmental monitoring/screening and early identification of developmental delay and disability in their state/territory; and

• have knowledge and expertise in child development and/or systems that support families with young children, and/or early identification and referral for developmental delay/disability;

• have good presentation and communication skills;

• • have a strong interest in working collaboratively to further the goals of the "Learn the Signs. Act Early." program in their state or territory.

Act Early Ambassadors are required to:

• • work with CDC’s LTSAE program, AUCD, fellow Ambassadors, and their state’s Act Early state team or other related collaborative initiatives to support national, state/territorial, and local activities to improve early identification of developmental delay and disability
• • focus efforts on increasing developmental monitoring through the promotion and sustained integration of LTSAE materials into statewide systems and other programs that serve families with young children;
• • collaborate with programs that serve young children and their parents, such as Head Start and Early Head Start, WIC, home visiting, IDEA Part C/Child Find and others, as well as health care and child care professionals to introduce and sustainably integrate LTSAE developmental monitoring tools and trainings into the work of those programs with parents and professionals
• • make a 2-year commitment to this program (March 1, 2019—Feb 28, 2021);
• • attend a 2-day Ambassador training at CDC in Atlanta each year (scheduled for April 30 and May 1, 2019; 2020 date TBA);
• • develop, maintain and implement a work plan that includes at least 2 Ambassador goals; at least 1 of your goals must advance the adoption and sustained integration of developmental monitoring using LTSAE in one statewide system/program such as WIC, home visiting, IDEA Part C/Child Find, early care and education (including early Head Start), child welfare, or similar.
• • participate in 90-minute Ambassador calls with AUCD and CDC every other month;
• • prepare an annual report of Ambassador activities; and
• • complete pre- and post-Ambassadorship surveys.

 

Additionally, Act Early Ambassadors are encouraged (but not required) to:

• collaborate with state agencies and others to improve policy and programs related to early identification;

• • post updates and share resources among the network of Ambassadors (through the Ambassador email listserv and other mechanisms);
• • participate in 1-hour "learning circle" webinars every other month;
• • participate in 1-hour evaluation workshops every month;
• • participate in 1-hour, topic-specific "Act Early" webinars on a quarterly basis; and
• • present Ambassador achievements and lessons learned at state and national conferences and other appropriate forums.

Act Early Ambassador responsibilities typically require about 6-10 hours per month.

 

To support Ambassadors, AUCD will provide:

• • $4,000 annual stipend plus travel expenses to Atlanta, GA, for annual Ambassador training. o Stipend can be used to support a variety of activities related to the implementation of the Ambassador work plan (e.g., local travel, meeting costs, printing, etc.). Please note, if you cannot accept a stipend for Ambassador efforts related to work you’re already carrying out, you can use the stipend for convening meetings, printing materials, etc.
• • Scheduled and as-needed technical assistance provided by email, phone and webinar.
• • Structured peer support, and a forum to network, share ideas and problem-solve with colleagues working on similar issues nationwide. o Note: participation in in-person meetings, webinars, and the Ambassador group email list helps keep Ambassadors connected with one another; this connection to other Ambassadors is among the most valued aspects of the Ambassador experience.
• • Technical expertise and consultation, and information from leading national experts in the fields of child development, developmental disability, and health promotion.

 

Informational Call: December 17, 2018 at 2:30pm ET - Dial-in: 1-866-794-4983

https://bit.ly/2G0JNZA

 

 

If you are interested in pursuing this please contact Doug Doty (ddoty@mt.gov) for additional information.