Community Programs

Baby Talk

USF's Family Study Center is proud to be a participant in Baby Talk Week, a grassroots community-led initiative built from the ground up by the community organization COQEBS (Concerned Organizations for Quality Education of Black Students). Baby Talk Week provides annual forums for families, childcare providers, and all agency and field professionals serving Black and Brown children in St. Petersburg and Pinellas County. Its aims are to bring relevant partners together so that all can be working to affect a common vision, channeling the voices of parents, caregivers, and the community. Themes addressed each year are discussed together and decided by the COQEBS School Readiness Committee, a community collaborative. Priority is given to themes known to make a difference for infants, toddlers, and young children. Nationally recognized leaders have also taken part in the collaborative through the years, elevating the latest, cutting-edge, culturally informed knowledge. Partners make conscious efforts to work across systems and sometimes-invisible boundaries so concerned members of our community can work collaboratively to help ready children for the joys and challenges of preschool, kindergarten, and the years beyond.

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Register Now for Parent, Professional and Provider events during Baby Talk Week 2022

BABY TALK 12th Annual Workshop and Parent Appreciation for families
You Are Not Alone: Baby Talk Thursday event for parents (.pdf)

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Listening to Babies training events are designed for all those who serve children and families prenatally through age 5, and advocate for culturally sensitive practice in supporting the social-emotional development of young African American children. Marking its 10th anniversary year, Listening to Babies 2022 takes a considered look both at gains and at areas where promise remains to be met. The Friday event for agency professionals and Saturday event for childcare providers will also echo the voices of parents raised at the Thursday evening Baby Talk event. It is hoped that this year's event, the final formal gathering in the 10-year series, will serve as a useful springboard for coordinated discussions among diverse partners that can inspire community-driven collaborations during the next 10 years -- always prioritizing birth-to-three, 3- 4, and kindergarten year experiences and supports for Black children and their families.

Presenters: Twanna Monroe, B.S., Director, Infinite Potential Learning Center, Jackie Lang, B.S., Director, Imagination Station, Russia Collins, LMHC, Clinical and Training Director, USF Infant-Family Center and James McHale, Ph.D., Director, USF Family Study Center, with Special Guest Facilitator Maureen Joseph, LMSW, President, Transpire LLC, New Orleans, LA

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The Baby Talk initiative is comprised of 2 key components. (1) Baby Talk is an annual community event for parents, grandparents, relative and kin caregivers, and others in the community involved in the care and upbringing of infants, toddlers, and very young children. First held in 2011, it takes place on the last Thursday evening of each February, and provides a forum that celebrates and gives voice to the shared wisdom, aims, ambitions and concerns of parents and families. The event also provides community-based resources and offers information helpful in promoting the social and emotional skills that will serve as a foundation for school readiness. (2) Listening to Babies, which launched in 2013, is a two day themed event for professionals that has brought to our community the latest, cutting-edge, culturally-informed information available. While highlighting new developments in understanding the birth-to-three years, it also focuses on the family, community, and cultural systems within which infants' and toddlers' lives are embedded, and elevates consciousness regarding structural policies and practices that produce and reproduce child mental health thriving and vulnerability. The day-long Friday event, celebrating its 10th and final year in 2022, has provided training for professionals, community and civic leaders concerned with early education, health and mental health, and the half-day Saturday event supports the childcare providers who serve and support the largest numbers of African American infants, toddlers, young children and families in our city and county.