We understand the fears associated with missed developmental milestones or a diagnosis of developmental delay for your child. You are not alone – we are here to help. At the Child Development Institute (CDI), we have supported thousands of families by guiding them through their child’s development process, educating them regarding available resources and providing them with quality, family-focused and age-appropriate clinical services.
For young children and their families in the San Fernando Valley, CDI provides high-quality, relationship-based early intervention and therapeutic services. We observe children reaching their greatest potential when we listen to parents and work with them as the expert on their child. CDI approaches families with warmth and care while helping them navigate services from assessment to therapy to a brighter future.
Child AND Family Focused: CDI’s unique approach engages the family. A core value of CDI is to support and empower parents as active participants and collaborators in their child’s development.
“Whole Child” Approach: Therapists use an integrated “whole child” approach guided by research in child development, brain science, attachment and learning theory.
Individualized & Relationship-Based: We meet children where they are developmentally and work alongside them and their family to build on individual and family strengths. Research shows that when a child is calm, happy and engaged – they learn best. We work to create this warm, nurturing environment in therapy. Our model is not one-size-fits-all and is individualized for each child and family.
CDI is a family, it’s a community. All the therapists support each other and work together. Our family engages with multiple therapists and it really is amazing!
– Natalie Blunda,
CDI Client Family
In order to strengthen families, CDI offers a range of early intervention therapeutic services that include:
- Assessments
- Child & Family Counseling
- Developmental Support Services
- Feeding Therapy
- Occupational Therapy and Sensory Integration
- Physical Therapy
- Speech Therapy
- Therapeutic Groups and Classes
CDI’s professional therapists work with children to reach their developmental potential and to help prepare them for success in school by supporting social-emotional, language, cognitive and motor development. CDI therapists use evidenced based practices, such as DIR/Floortime and Strengthening Families.
CDI’s Hospital to Home Bridge Program provides early intervention services for babies from birth to age three who are at risk for developmental delays due to medical conditions or complications during pregnancy or birth.
Including parents and families within the Early Intervention services is important because so much of what it takes to make a healthy kid is beyond what happens in service or therapy. The more you can include the family and the community at large the more they can get input, counseling and positive influences to lead a better life.
-Dr Tom Backer, PhD
Senior Research Fellow and
Executive Director, Valley Nonprofit Resources
CDI’s Hospital to Home Bridge Program Provides:
- Warm referrals directly from hospitals and medical professionals
- Multi-disciplinary specialists with expertise in supporting optimal developmental outcomes for each baby
- Free developmental screenings and consultations
- Free services (Baby & Me Classes, Parent Support, Lactation Support, Postnatal Recovery)
- Support in navigating Regional Center and Health Insurance
- Family centered, whole child approach
In my career as a family therapist, I saw the extreme distress a parent experienced when they were seeking help for their child with developmental delays. I observed how vital it is that parents are supported. They need a place where they are respected and intervention needed to be done differently. It needed to incorporate the family. Our Early Intervention Services provide comprehensive care that focuses on the entire family so that the needs of the family can be balanced. We believe that this all-inclusive approach creates multiple systems of support which strengthen families and position them for greater success.
– Joan Maltese, PhD
CDI CO-CEO/Founder