Annual Early Head Start and Infant/Toddler Conference

Welcome to the 12th Annual Early Head Start and Infant/Toddler Conference. This summer's conference takes place August 6-7, in Vancouver, Washington, with optional day-long pre-conference sessions offered on August 5.

This year’s theme, Imagine the Possibilities, speaks to what we hope to support with families—imagining new possibilities for themselves and their young children. It is also relevant at the program level as we imagine cultivating new dimensions in our service-delivery approaches.

Purpose
You will attend sessions that present up-to-date research, theory, and proven practices that support optimal infant, toddler, and family development across a comprehensive range of services in diverse communities. You will also have the opportunity to meet and network with colleagues. Whether you are attending or presenting, you will leave the conference with expanded professional awareness, skills, and knowledge.

Conference guiding values

• Change, healing, and growth are possible
• Promote and support healthy relationships at every level of the program
• Clarity of purpose and intentional practices matter
• Respect and reflect diversity and provide responsive services
• Recognize that families want the best for their children, and that infants, toddlers, and their families deserve the very best
• Partner with families at every step, so that approaches are family centered and family driven

Attendees
The conference is directed toward professionals in Early Head Start, child care, health, mental health, early intervention, and child welfare. It is intended for direct service providers, managers, and specialists from a variety of programs across the Pacific Northwest, including Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

Partners
The Early Childhood Training Center at Portland State University has organized and hosted this event for the past 11 years. Key partners and sponsors make this possible. This year they include:

• Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP Training Consortium
• Kaplan Early Learning Company
• National Head Start Family Literacy Center at Sonoma State University
• Pearson Assessments
• Lakeshore
• Helen Gordon Child Development Center at Portland State University
• Oregon Head Start Association

Attendees have the option of staying at the conference site at the Hilton in Vancouver, Washington. Call 1-800-HILTONS to reserve a room and request the reduced conference rate using the group code, “PSU.”

We are excited to see you this summer! Please stay tuned as the conference gets underway.

Mary Foltz, Conference Chair
The PSU Early Childhood Training Center
Portland State University