Effects of an Early Childhood Training Program on Vulnerable Children’s Outcomes: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

This exploratory study assessed the effect of an innovative early childhood training approach on the development of children attending an early childhood education and care drop-in centre called Halte-garderie du Coeur offered by a general and vocational college. The direct beneficiaries of the services were children aged four months to five years, who had either experienced maltreatment or were from recently immigrated refugee families. This article presents a mixed methods exploratory and comparative evaluation study based on multiple data sources, including standardized developmental scales measuring child development, data from structured questionnaires with parents and program staff, and interviews with parents and staff. Participants included two cohorts of children and their parents, involving a total of 25 children, 16 parents, and four professionals. The results show that a significant proportion of children attending Halte-garderie du Coeur made gains in their emotional, affective, and social development between the start and end of each of two 12-week sessions. The effects seen in children were consistent with those set out in the program theory. To explain these results, we hypothesize that the training program helped students to develop specific skills that allowed them to positively influence children’s development particularly for children from vulnerable families.