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Infant Development Program

The Infant Development Program is a provincial program and various agencies throughout the province offer the program.  To find out more about IDP BC click here.  Richmond Society operates one division of the Infant Development Program and serves children in the Richmond and Vancouver areas.

The Infant Development Program serves children from birth to three years old, who are at risk for, or who already have a delay in development.  It brings parents and professionals together to help children overcome developmental difficulties.

It's an opportunity...

For parents to:

• learn ways to encourage your child's development
• meet other parents
• discuss parenting issues
• make the best use of other community resources and activities

For your baby to:

• become more independent
• discover abilities
• learn new skills

Philosophy of the Infant Development Program

     All children have the right to grow up in a safe and loving family with access to a full range of social, educational, and community experiences. It is the overall intent of the Infant Development Program to support families so that these rights may be realized. Central to this is assisting families in developing and maintaining loving relationships with their child.

     The family thus becomes the primary focus of services for the Infant Development Program and a family centered philosophy is practiced in I.D.P. include the following: respect for the unique relationship between infants and their families, recognition that families are diverse and must be respected for their diversity. Families and professionals must collaborate and, to do so, traditional practices must change. Team work is critical.

     The aims of the program are to help parents to make optimum use of available services, to enlarge their knowledge of those factors pertinent to the overall growth and development of their child, and to learn skills that will enable them to encourage the development of their child.

Services Available

Infant Development Program services may include:

• home visits to encourage progress, develop new activities and support parents
• developmental assessments and written reports
• play group with parent participation
• parent workshops or support groups
• therapy consultation
• a toy and book-lending library
• assistance for you and your child making the transition to a preschool/daycare program
• service coordination