CHILD exists to provide innovative school programs, therapies and training that promote social, emotional, and academic development for children with special needs. We serve children who typically are denied access to local education programs and later to employment opportunities, because of broad range of conditions that interfere with learning, including:
We provide therapeutic day-school services and pediatric clinical services for students and private clients (ages 3 - 18), and support and training services for parents and professionals. Our goal is to help children successfully transition back to school programs in their home communities.
Our Mission: to provide innovative school programs, therapies and training that promote social, emotional and academic growth for children with special needs.
Our Vision: creating a world in which every child succeeds.
CHILD's Founder, Trina Westerlund began CHILD in a Bellevue church basement in 1977 in response to the needs of four 5-year old boys. That they could be experiencing the pain of failure as early as kindergarten was inconceivable to her. Mrs. Westerlund knew that if provided responsive educational interventions that included developmental therapy and mental health services these children could overcome early failures to achieve ongoing success. Guided by Mrs. Westerlund's beliefs, CHILD has grown steadily since its inception.
CHILD's history and the compelling stories of several CHILD students are captured in the 2014 documentary film, Am I Broken?
Carrie Fannin became the first Executive Director to follow Mrs. Westerlund when she took the helm of CHILD in 2012. Ms. Fannin is also a strong advocate for children challenged by autism and sensory processing issues. In 2009, she founded Sensory Planet©, an international online parent support network with accompanying in-person and phone support, over 120,000 members strong in 2019.
CHILD has been recognized for its demonstrated leadership in the delivery of services to children who have severe sensory processing, mental health, and other complex learning disorders. KCTS awarded CHILD its Golden Apple Award, the National Board of the Learning Disabilities Association presented CHILD an Excellence in Education Award, and former Washington State Governor, Christine Gregoire, issued a proclamation for a CHILD Day every October 25.
CHILD aligns the efforts of children, their families, and school personnel to reach children who otherwise would continue to fail at school. Students are placed at CHILD in partnership with school districts and most transition back to their home school districts within 1-3 years. We offer an open enrollment, year-round, full-time program, subject to availability. Children from 25 school districts travel to our campus in Renton from as far away as Stanwood in the north and Olympia in the south to receive the therapeutic interventions they need.
"The CHILD Way" focuses on developing a set of durable core strengths, increased levels of self-regulation, an increased ability to maintain relationships, and increased coping skills to help children achieve ongoing resilience. Our project-based curative curriculum includes integrated arts, videography and outdoor education. We follow the empathy-driven, non-punitive, psycho-educational approach developed by Dr. Ross Greene, Collaborative and Proactive Solutions. At CHILD, we believe Children do well if they can. Through ongoing practice of self-expression and collaborative problem solving fostered by small class sizes, CHILD students build the resilience required to participate in more typical settings.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, CHILD is approved by the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) as a Non-Public Agency (NPA) and certified to provide in-service training. CHILD does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, gender, ancestry, age, political ideology, religion or other personal characteristics.
Our Diversity Statement:
Diversity as a concept focuses on a broader set of qualities than race and gender; it is multicultural. In the context of the workplace, valuing diversity means creating a workplace that respects and includes differences, recognizing the unique contributions that individuals with many types of differences can make, and creating a work environment that maximizes the potential of all employees.
A diverse workforce that feels comfortable communicating varying points of view provides a larger pool of ideas and experiences. Employees from diverse backgrounds bring individual talents and experiences in suggesting ideas that often lead to better solutions.
CHILD’s Leadership Team participated in a facilitated workshop in the Spring of 2015 that resulted in the creation of the following Diversity Statement for the agency:
CHILD is committed to ensuring the value of diversity is upheld in everything we do with our students, families, staff and community.
We hold ourselves accountable to creating an environment that nurtures respect for diversity in all its forms.
We are dedicated to the shared examination of our different perspectives, inherent privileges, disadvantages, prejudices and practices, especially in terms of disability, race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual identity, socioeconomic status and political ideology.
| (425) 336-3260 | |
| (425) 277-7726 | |
| Carrie@CHILDnow.org | |
| Carrie Fannin | |
| Executive Director | |
| http://www.CHILDnow.org |
