How much does it cost to attend a training day?
The program is funded by the State of California. All trainings are free.

What previous experience is necessary?
No previous experience is necessary to attend Day 1. To attend Days 2-5 you must be a practicing professional with developmental experience committed to becoming skilled in newborn observation.

Is This Training Appropriate for Me?
This education program is for community service providers and caregivers, including parents and foster parents, in California who receive an infant and family discharged from the intensive nursery within the last six months. This includes public health nurses, early interventionists, community therapists, parents, child care workers, physical, occupational and speech therapists, social workers, and Part H personnel, who serve the population of high risk newborn graduates from the intensive care nursery. This includes infants born prematurely, infants with special needs, infants not behaviorally well organized and infants born to high-risk families.

How long does a training day last?
Generally training days last between 4-8 hours. A practice day with a trainer lasts four hours and a training day teaching specific skills lasts 8 hours.

When is your next training?
Please refer to the calendar page.

I am a representative of a potential host site. Can we set up a training?
Please contact us with all requests for trainings.

Who are the babies that can benefit from this type of training?
Infants born prematurely of low birth weight, small for gestational age, those born with special needs, infants born at term who are not well organized behaviorally or have been sick in the NICU, and those infants exposed to substances or HIV in utero.

How do participants become certified?
To become certified in the Family Infant Relationship Support Training [FIRST], a trainee must attend four separate training days and agree to practice up to approximately 40 hours. The trainee must demonstrate to the trainer that the use of the FIRST can be accomplished independently with achievement of inter-rater reliability with the trainer.

What do continuing education days emphasize?
The SSTP trainers provide one-day seminars that provide additional in-depth knowledge into requested areas of newborn development. These topics include the Development of Self-Regulation, Behavior and Strategies to Support the Disorganized Feeder, Updated Medical Issues for Medically Fragile Infants, and Infant Mental Health Issues for High-Risk Newborns. We are always interested in additional topics of interest. Please let us know your ideas and needs.

What support is offered to trainees to become certified?
After trainees complete 6 observations they are offered a mentoring day in the FIRST assessment by the trainers to support their understanding and use of the assessment tool. After the Mentor Day, each trainee completes 6 more assessments for a total of 12 before becoming eligible for Skills Check Session with their trainers. The trainer is available for discussion and questions along the way.

What is the difference between the SSTP, FIRST, and NIDCAP?
The SSTP is a training program for community service providers funded by the California Dept of Social Services to provide training to community professionals and foster parents in the State of California who work with medically fragile preterm and other high risk infants and their parents.

The FIRST is an observational tool that gives professionals and caregivers behavioral information about the interactive capacities of the baby and the parent. It was adapted from the Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program, or NIDCAP® [Als, & Gibes, l985].Training for this program is available from l0 training centers. visit nidcap.org for more information.

Do you offer continuing education credit?
Not currently, but we will in the near future.