Chaminade University has been awarded a five-year, $1.25 million federal grant aimed at bolstering Hawai‘i’s early intervention workforce so that infants and toddlers with developmental concerns have greater access to high-quality and timely services.
Elizabeth Park, Ph.D., who is a professor and director of Chaminade’s Early Childhood and Montessori Programs, said the islands face a critical shortage of early intervention professionals. The lack of early intervention services is especially acute in rural or Neighbor Island communities.
And the greatest cause of the shortage? A gap in higher education programming. Park said no university-level academic program in Hawai‘i previously focused on preparing early intervention (birth to age 3) professionals—and those who sought training on the mainland didn’t always return.
With the grant funding, Chaminade plans to launch an Early Intervention Certificate and offer generous scholarships to cohorts. Project MĀLAMA (Mentoring and Advancing Local Access for Meaningful Achievement), as Park’s initiative is dubbed, will also work to build partnerships with local organizations so that students can get hands-on opportunities and job placement.
Park said the hope is to help build a stronger ecosystem for early intervention in the islands.
The inaugural cohort is slated to include 10 to 12 students with Jonathan Alexander (also pictured) serving as project co-director.
Early intervention services are delivered by a range of professionals focused on cognitive development, including social workers, speech pathologists, physical therapists and occupational therapists. Park said early interventionists train on neurodiversity, inclusion and much more.
And, she added, early intervention can sometimes make all the difference. “Especially for those children who are really at the borderline, with a little bit of early intervention like speech therapy or physical therapy, they can really transition to the mainstream for education,” Park said.
The early intervention grant comes as Chaminade continues to collaborate with the state Department of Health, Early Childhood Action Strategy, Kamehameha Schools and other entities to increase the number of highly-trained early childhood educators in the islands.
Park said a strong focus on serving Hawai‘i’s youngest keiki will pay big dividends.
And through Project MĀLAMA at Chaminade, “graduates will be well-equipped to deliver inclusive, equitable early intervention services across Hawai‘i,” Park said, in the grant application.
“The project strengthens long-term workforce sustainability,” she continued,” by fostering a pipeline of professionals who reflect the communities they serve and are committed to improving developmental outcomes for young children and their families.”
Park said she decided to apply for the grant after conferring with other professionals and academics focused on improving the pipeline of services to young children. She added the grant was a collaborative effort and was made possible with technical assistance from Chaminade’s Sponsored Programs and Research Integrity team and grant specialist Andrew Perez.
Additionally, Park said she received support from the state Department of Health, Executive Office on Early Learning, Hawaii Pacific University, University of Connecticut Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, and Early Childhood Action Strategy.
Grant number H325M250147 .
