The Early Childhood Champion Award recognizes an organization which has made important and lasting contributions to the field of early childhood in Flathead County through one or more of the following activities:

• Providing services and resources to families with young children
• Educating and supporting the development of the early childhood workforce
• Contributing to the development of a comprehensive, coordinated early childhood system in Flathead County
• Influencing policy, legislation and/or funding related to early childhood and families with young children in Flathead County

Our past recipients have been the Nurturing Center in 2017; Northwest Montana Head Start in 2018; ImagineIF Libraries in 2019; and Flathead City County Health Department in 2020, Tamarack Grief Resource Center in 2021, and for 2022 was Healthy Beginnings Pediatric Therapy.

We are pleased to announce the recipient of the 2023 Champions award is the Child Development Center. 

The Child Development Center is a western Montana nonprofit that supports children who have developmental delays or disabilities. Their team works primarily in families’ homes and communities, and we serve kids from birth to high school graduation. Their history goes back almost 60 years with a strong track record. 

CDC initiated Evaluation and Diagnosis (E&D) services in the mid 1960’s and also offered the first Cleft Lip and Palate clinics in the state to screen and provide treatment plans and options for children born with a cleft condition.  

In 1975, the Child Development Center was incorporated, as a private non-profit agency to provide Evaluation and Diagnosis services as well as early intervention services to children with disabilities or those suspected of having delays in development.  

Also in 1975, the CDC began providing Family Education and Support (FES) services.  FES services provide support coordination, family and child education, and assistance to families with children birth-18 years of age. These services enhance the family’s ability to promote their child’s development, help the family meet the challenges associated with having a family member who has special needs, and enable the child to remain in the home.  

In the 1980s, CDC opened their first NICU Follow-Up Screening Clinics for babies who were in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) who meet referral criteria to the clinic.  NICU clinics expanded in 1995 to Kalispell and in 1996 to Bozeman (called Infant-Toddler Evaluation Clinics today). Also in the ‘80s, CDC expanded their services to include Medicaid-funded which supports children with significant behavioral difficulties, multiple disabilities or medical challenges; and Early Intervention services known as Part C for children under the age of two with developmental delays or certain medical conditions. 

In the 1990s, several other services were added including Respite Houses, Supported Living Services for grown children, and an Early Head Start program.  

The 21st Century saw the expansion of services to include children exhibiting autism spectrum disorder. Through funding from the state and private insurers, CDC can provide screening, diagnosis, family training and support, community based services and individualized skills development with the child. 

CDC is there with families and children at critical turning points in a child’s development.  They shared some incredible data about services provided last year:

A total of 11,243 visits! Of those, 5,864 sessions with 22 different children were served through their Applied Behavior Analysis Clinic

Part C Early Intervention services served 348 children

454 Children went through part C Early Intervention Services Intake

Family Education and Support Children Served 169 families, with 387 Children going through the intake process

166 Children received Speech Therapy Sessions; 104 benefited from Occupational Therapy sessions; and 50 Children received Physical Therapy Sessions 

From the nomination received from Steering Committee member Collette Box: “Over the last 30+ years, there have been lots of changes in the early childhood system, for both CDC and the childcare world.  Many of them were for the better, including expanded preschool programming options for children with special needs, more collaborations between agencies, and more ways to share information.  Some have maybe been NOT so great, but CDC remained a player, sharing their knowledge with others to keep advocacy efforts alive.  CDC’s commitment to working and partnering with others for the benefit of young children and their families is at the core of what they do, and they are well-deserving of this Early Childhood Champion award.” 

From the nomination received from Steering Committee member and Health Department Lead Home Visitor Karen Weaver: “We refer children in our program to the CDC all the time.  They are so responsive in their intake and in their connections with families and I have seen such wonderful progress children make when they are involved with the Child Development Center.  We also receive referrals to our program from the Family Support Specialists and we are so grateful for that as well.”