Developmentally, the first five years of a child’s life are crucial. If children do not get the support for healthy development early on, these children and their families may experience serious challenges down the road. Assuring Better Child Health and Development, or ABCD, was established in Colorado in 2006 to address some of these needs. As a statewide nonprofit, they are focused on improving the lives of Colorado children through early identification of developmental needs. Within this nonprofit, is a program called HealthySteps. This program is the only program of its kind that places a child with a development specialist within a pediatric primary care team. Their mission is to align and mobilize pediatric and community partners to improve early childhood developmental outcomes.

Melissa Buchholz is the state director for HealthySteps in Colorado. She is a licensed clinical psychologist and an associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Susan Burton is the Manager of Practice Improvement for HealthySteps. She offers clinical quality improvement and supports community partner’s professional development through trainings on child development and HealthySteps implementation.