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Birth to 5: Watch Me Thrive! is a coordinated federal effort to encourage healthy child development, universal developmental and behavioral screening for children, and support for the families and providers who care for them.
Birth to 5: Watch Me Thrive! will help families and providers:
As many as one in four children through the age of five are at risk for a developmental delay or disability. Early identification allows communities to intervene earlier, leading to more effective and cheaper treatment during the preschool years, rather than expensive special education services in later childhood.
This initiative draws heavily on previous developmental and behavioral screening efforts by consolidating materials from a wide array of federal agencies and their non-federal partners. As part of this initiative, we have published a list of research-based developmental screening tools appropriate for use across a wide range of settings. Select your appropriate audience from the list below to view a tailored guide for use with the compendium that addresses the importance of developmental and behavioral screening, how to talk to parents, where to go for help, and how to select the most appropriate screening tool for the population served as well as the provider implementing the screening.
The Compendium of Screening Measures for Young Children (PDF) is a collection of research-based screening tools for children under the age of 5. Practitioners in early care and education, primary health care, child welfare, and mental health can use this reference to learn cost, administration time, quality level, training required, and age range covered for each screening tool.
The federal partners contributing to this initiative include: