Professional Formation Center
The Professional Formation Center for the Early Relational Health Workforce
The Professional Formation Center for the Early Relational Health Workforce at the Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health at Montclair State University (PFC) is the first of its kind in the nation, state-wide system of access to professional formation, coaching, and consultation in early relational and developmental health, combined with systems coordination aimed at centralizing early relational health across all prenatal through Kindergarten serving systems in New Jersey.
All services of the PFC are also offered in Spanish. Supported by the New Jersey Department of Human Services, Division of Family Development, the PFC serves as a resource for New Jersey’s early childhood system and diverse infant and early childhood workforce to better work towards the promotion and enhancement of early relational and developmental health for expectant families and families of young children.
The PFC is the operationalization of two beliefs:
- Early relational health is the core practice of the early childhood educational and family support services.
- Early relational health is the common ground shared by all early childhood educational and family support services in New Jersey.
The PFC envisions an effective, efficient, and empathic workforce, competent in relational and emotional developmental knowledge, skills, and reflective practice, and an equitable, unified system that promotes the early relational and emotional health necessary for optimal learning and school readiness for all children in New Jersey.
Under the auspices of the PFC, CAECMH personnel participate in local, state, and national workgroups, committees and Boards. A selection of these include the State Interagency Coordinating Council for New Jersey Early Intervention; The Governor’s Council for Young Children, The Task Force for Child Abuse and Neglect, the Advocates for Children of New Jersey Unlocking Potential Leadership Committee; the New Jersey Association for Infant Mental Health; the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health; the New Jersey Breastfeeding Coalition; the Division of Early Childhood, and many more.