CUIDAR

Mission

To promote healthy parent-child relationships and optimal child development, particularly in the socioemotional training of future behavioral domains, through culturally and developmentally-appropriate early intervention services for children 0 -5 and their parents.

CUIDAR 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 program was established in July 2004, and began servicing families in San Bernardino County in the fall of 2004.

The initial mission of CUIDAR 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.