Community University Initiative for the Development of Attention and Readiness

Mission To promote healthy parent-child relationships and optimal child development, particularly in the socioemotional and behavioral domains, through culturally and developmentally-appropriate early intervention services for children 0 -5 and their parents. The Community-University Initiative for the Development of Attention and Readiness (CUIDAR-SB) was modeled after the CUIDAR (CHOC/UCI Initiative for the Development of Attention and Readiness) program in Orange County, California. Through the investment of First 5 San Bernardino, the CUIDAR-SB program was established in July 2004, and began servicing families in San Bernardino County in the fall of 2004. The initial mission of CUIDAR-SB was stated as, "To improve school readiness in children ages 3-5 who display signs of behavioral problems, by enhancing their parents' management skills and improving the children's self-management skills." Based on our growing understanding of the San Bernardino community and the needs of parents of children zero to five, our mission has been modified to focus more directly on the quality of the parent-child relationship and to expand to include parents of children zero to five, rather than focusing solely on children ages three to five. We provide parent education based on early childhood research and neurodevelopmental science, which indicate that the strength of the parent-child attachment and parental attunement and responsiveness to children's needs create the foundation for the development of the child's internal ability to self-regulate, thereby reducing his or her risk of developing an emotional or behavioral disorder.

Leadership

Dr. Kimberley Lakes, Co-Director
Email: klakes@csusb.edu Phone: (951) 233-5603

Dr. Laura Kamptner, Co-Director
Email: kamptner@csusb.edu Phone: (909) 537-5582

Dr. Karina Bravo, Director of Early Intervention
Phone: (909) 537-5945

Laura González-Rivera, MPH, Associate Director
Email: lgonzale@csusb.edu Phone: (909) 537-3266

Deanna Herndon, BA, Children's Program Coordinator
Email: dherndon@csusb.edu Phone: 909-537-3256

CUIDAR-SB
CSUSB: C/O Psychology Department
First 5 Early Intervention Program
5500 University Parkway
San Bernardino, CA 92407
(909) 537-5945
Fax: (909) 537-7759

Program Services:

Parenting Groups
CUIDAR provides FREE, evidence-based parent education groups across San Bernardino County. Group leaders facilitate discussions that help participants develop, practice and strengthen the skills that will allow them to achieve their individual goals for parenting their young children. By the end of the 8 week series of sessions, parents should have the tools they need to help their preschoolers prepare for their school-aged years. It is time well invested as the skills parents learn can greatly enhance their effectiveness as parents. Groups are provided during the evening hours, and dinner and childcare are provided for participating parents. 

Child Enrichment Groups While their parents participate in parent education groups, children are eligible to participate in developmentally-appropriate child enrichment groups that run at the same time as the parenting group. Children's groups are designed to provide children with high quality social experiences and activities that have been shown to improve children's social skills, support their development of language, and that can help children learn to better control and manage their emotions and behavior. The child enrichment groups were crafted by developmental and clinical psychologists at Cal State San Bernardino in order to offer children the best in child development experiences. The child enrichment group staff are typically child development or psychology students recruited from local universities who receive continuous special advanced training.