Best Starts for Kids offers free workshops, trainings, and peer learning opportunities to build up the knowledge and skills of King County providers, caregivers, and community members. We know it’s essential to invest in the expertise of our workforce to promote the health and well-being of babies, children, and young people.
We are posting this new blog series to highlight upcoming Best Starts workshops and learning opportunities. This blog post features workshops scheduled from September to December 2026. We will continuously update this blog post as new workshops are scheduled.
If you have any questions, please email us at Best.Starts@kingcounty.gov.
Facilitating Creatively advanced intensive
Deadline to register is September 4.
Date: October 21 – 23 plus coaching sessions
Facilitators: Mari Shibuya and Rose Waterstone
Free, in-person 3-day training intensive for intermediate/advanced facilitators interested in deepening creative, somatic and artistic facilitation approaches and joining an ongoing Community of Practice. This unique 3-part training blends foundational facilitation practices with creative, somatic, and visual frameworks to support leaders and community members with tools to guide and design meetings, group processes, and coalitions—especially in times of complexity and change.
Nuestra salud mental nos pertenece: Herramientas prácticas para cuidarnos y apoyar a nuestras familias
Spanish only/En Espanol. Periodo de aplicaciones cierra el 7 de Septiembre, 2026.
Date: September 16, September 30 (9:00 am – 12:00 pm); October 14, November 18, December 9 (11:30 am – 1:00 pm)
Facilitator: Angélica Zapata
La salud mental es una parte fundamental del bienestar individual, familiar y comunitario. Sin embargo, muchas personas enfrentan momentos de estrés, ansiedad y sobrecarga sin contar con herramientas sencillas para responder de manera efectiva. Esta serie de cinco sesiones ofrece una introducción a prácticas preventivas y de primeros auxilios de salud mental basadas en evidencia científica. Los participantes aprenderán estrategias prácticas para fortalecer su propia regulación emocional y brindar apoyo inicial a familias que atraviesan situaciones de estrés o dificultades emocionales.
Fundamentos de la herramienta de monitoreo del desarrollo, Cuestionario de edades y etapas (ASQ-3) y ASQ: Social-emocional (ASQ:SE-2), en inglés Ages and Stages Questionnaire
La inscripción cierra el 9 de septiembre de 2026
Date: September 18, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
Facilitator: Cindy Johana Chibertoni
La identificación temprana de las preocupaciones relacionadas con el desarrollo físico (motricidad fina y gruesa), la resolución de problemas, la comunicación (habla), las habilidades sociales individuales y socio emocionales son esenciales para apoyar el crecimiento y el éxito de los niños pequeños. Este taller interactivo presenta a los participantes los cuestionarios Ages & Stages, tercera edición (ASQ-3) y Ages & Stages: Social-Emotional, segunda edición (ASQ:SE-2), dos herramientas de evaluación ampliamente utilizadas y fáciles de usar para las familias, diseñadas para niños desde el nacimiento hasta los 6 años.
A Reflective Space for Neurodivergent and/or Disabled Early Childhood Providers
If you do not identify as a neurodivergent and/or disabled provider, we invite you to apply for another community circle offering in the future.
Date: September 8, October 13, November 10, December 8, 2026; January 12, February 9, March 9, April 13, May 11, 2027 (11:00 am – 12:30 pm)
Facilitator: Rosanne Carter
This Community Circle is a 90-minute, closed, healing and reflective group for early childhood providers who identify as neurodivergent and/or disabled — self-diagnosed or formally — and are in ongoing, direct relationship with young children and families across King County.
Grounded in disability justice principles and a deep commitment to equity, belonging, and relational care, the group weaves together reflective practice with neuro-somatic approaches that honor how your nervous system experiences the world. This space holds neurodivergence and disability not as deficits to manage, but as part of the full humanity you bring to this work. Time together may include presence-based practices designed to support regulation, spacious reflection, and honest conversation among people who understand this work from the inside.
Connecting the Dots: Upstream Causes and Downstream Consequences of Disparities in Access to Early Support Services
Date: September 14, 10:30 am – 1:00 pm
Facilitator: Adana Protonentis
Racial disparities continue to limit BIPOC children’s access to early support services in Washington and nationwide, resulting in long-term impacts on health, well-being, and community inclusion. This workshop explores how systemic racism within health care, education, and related systems contributes to these inequities and equips organizations, providers, and community members with strategies to remove barriers, advance equity, and improve outcomes for BIPOC children and families.
Raising Change Agents
Date: September 21, October 19, November 30, December 21, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Facilitator: Nat Nadha Vikitsreth
A book club for over-scheduled & over-achieving radical caregivers who want to:
- Raise your children to survive and thrive in these times of yikes on bikes
- Practice justice and liberation in everyday caregiving with your children while promoting their development at the same time
- Unlearn “the master’s tools” of perfectionism, policing, punishment, and surveillance in your relationship with your tiny change agents.
Enraizadas en comunidad: Salvaguardando a nuestras generaciones en tiempos de Inseguridad
Spanish only/En Espanol.
Date: September 21, September 28, October 19, November 2, November 16, November 30, December 14 (12:00 pm – 1:30 pm)
Facilitator: Claudia Linares
Este grupo se ofrece completamente en español con enfoque en el bienestar de nuestras proveedoras de servicio y las familias a las que apoyan. Nuestra comunidad latina siempre se ha enfrentado con circunstancias complejas que incluyen factores culturales, linguísticos y de transmisión intergeneracional. Mientras navegamos cambios en nuestras comunidades que incrementan la inseguridad e inclusive el peligro, nos unimos en este grupo para abrir diálogo sobre el impacto de estos momentos en nuestro bienestar y el bienestar de las múltiples generaciones (desde bebés hasta bisabuelas) a las que ofrecemos servicios en nuestra profesión. Esperamos tu asistencia para enraizarnos juntas y seguir floreciendo.
Liberatory Leadership & Governance learning circle
Deadline to register is September 21.
Date: October 5 – 6
Facilitator: Victor Rodriguez, alterNative Consulting
The Communities of Opportunity (COO) Learning Community invites King County nonprofit executive leaders and board members to join our upcoming free, in-person Liberatory Leadership & Governance Learning Circle. This learning circle will create space for leaders to explore how we can strategically and intentionally use leadership and governance to transform how power flows, how systems are structured, and how culture is experienced within our organizations.
ASQ – Beyond the Basics: Meaningful Conversations with Caregivers to Discover What is Below the Surface
This is an ongoing series of workshops. You may register for one or all of the workshops in this series.
Date: September 23, October 23, November 16 (11:00 am – 1:00 pm)
Facilitator: Lynne Creed
September 23: ASQ: What’s behind the question? Examining cultural assumptions and diverse developmental experiences in ASQ screening. Learn more and register!
October 23: Social-Emotional Development: A pathway to School Readiness. Learn more and register!
November 16: ASQ as a Conversation not a Test. Helping families feel valued, heard and engaged in developmental screening. Learn more and register!
Nonprofit Risk Management Training
Deadline to register is September 23.
Date: September 28, 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Facilitator: Slalom Consulting
This interactive workshop with Slalom Consulting will introduce participants to a risk management framework, how to adopt the framework for your organization, and reduce the likelihood or impact of a risk. Participants will receive templates and tools to continue this work on their own as well as an opportunity for a free (provided by COO) post-training coaching call to support the implementation of learnings and tools. Note: Organizational staff & board members with strategic decision-making and leadership roles will benefit most from attending this training.
Attuning to the Fire’s Wisdom: Exploring Our Relationship with Power (El fuego como maestro: Una exploración de nuestra relación con el poder)
This workshop will also be offered Spanish.
Date: October 6, 9:30 am – 4:00 pm
Facilitator: Adrianna Cuestas
Using storytelling as a tool to access collective wisdom, this interactive workshop invites participants to engage in the exploration of their own stories. Through guided reflection, activities, and dialogue, participants will explore their social identities, values, and experiences with power, privilege, and belonging. Participants will be invited to consider how these experiences influence the ways they show up in relationships with babies, young children, families, colleagues, and communities.
Por medio de la narración de historias como una herramienta para acceder a la sabiduría colectiva, este taller interactivo invita a sus participantes a explorar sus propias historias. A través de actividades, reflexión guiada y diálogo, las personas participantes explorarán sus identidades sociales, valores y experiencias relacionadas con el poder, el privilegio y el sentido de pertenencia. Asimismo, reflexionarán sobre cómo estas experiencias influyen en la manera en que se relacionan con bebés, niñes pequeñes, sus familias, colegas y comunidades.
Sharing the Heart of Your Program: Grant Writing Approaches that Reflect Core Program Values and Practices
Deadline to register is October 13.
Date: October 20 and October 28, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm
Facilitator: Innovation Supports Team
Join this series of 2 half-day workshops to leverage existing program materials and wisdom for successful grant applications. This series is for anyone who is part of a team that contributes to grant writing or if you would like to learn more about how to support grant writing in your organization. Workshops will be hands on. We invite participants to bring existing program materials to use in the grant writing process, including things like a Theory of Change or Logic Model, Program Guides or Practice Profile, and Evaluation plans.
The Foundation of Developmental Screening Tool, Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) & ASQ: Social Emotional (ASQ:SE-2)
Date: November 9 – 10, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Facilitator: Cindy Johana Chibertoni
Early identification of developmental concerns of the physical (fine and gross motor), problem-solving, communication (speech), social-individual, and social-emotional skills are essential for supporting young children’s growth and success. This interactive workshop introduces participants to the Ages & Stages Questionnaires, Third Edition (ASQ-3) and Ages & Stages: Social-Emotional, Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2), two widely used, family-friendly screening tools designed for children from birth through age 6.
MEND for Leadership: Leading From the Inside Out
Date: November 13, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Facilitator: Siemone Smith
This interactive session invites leaders into the relational foundation of how they show up, with one another and with the people they serve. Grounded in the MEND model, participants explore their relationship to self and to others and practice the kind of repair and reflection that helps teams stay connected through tension and change. Leaders leave with language, self-awareness, and practical tools for leading in a way that is both grounded and human.
The Foundation of Developmental Screening Tool, Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) & ASQ: Social Emotional (ASQ:SE-2)
Deadline to register is November 29.
Date: December 4, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
Facilitator: Cindy Johana Chibertoni
Early identification of developmental concerns of the physical (fine and gross motor), problem-solving, communication (speech), social-individual, and social-emotional skills are essential for supporting young children’s growth and success. This interactive workshop introduces participants to the Ages & Stages Questionnaires, Third Edition (ASQ-3) and Ages & Stages: Social-Emotional, Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2), two widely used, family-friendly screening tools designed for children from birth through age 6.
Tejiendo nuestras medicinas: Somática ancestral y salud mental perinatal y de la primera infancia como camino hacia la liberación colectiva
Spanish only/no interpretation
Date: January 8, 2027 (9:00 am – 12:00 pm); January 22, February 5, February 19, March 5, March 19, 2027 (9:00 am – 11:00 am)
Facilitators: Dr. Haydeé Lavariega, Monica Alejandra Noriega
Tejiendo nuestras medicinas es un recurso para dejar emerger la sabiduría y las tecnologías —corporizadas y culturalmente específicas— de quienes acompañan el nacimiento y trabajan en el campo de las primeras infancias. Vemos a quienes acompañan los nacimientos en un sentido amplio, incluyendo a todas las personas y profesionales que apoyan directa e indirectamente la ceremonia del nacimiento, incluidas las personas gestantes y sus hijxs. Esta es una invitación para que los profesionales de los ámbitos perinatal y de salud mental de la primera infancia (IECMH) reconecten con la sabiduría de sus cuerpos y comunidades como una forma de resistencia frente a los legados persistentes de daño hacia niñx y familias. Juntos, aprenderemos a tejer las medicinas de nuestros linajes personales y profesionales para acompañar el ver nacer del futuro de la salud mental perinatal y de la primera infancia. Al integrar prácticas ancestrales y somáticas en nuestra labor en este campo, creamos caminos hacia la liberación colectiva a nivel corporal, de la díada y del colectivo.
Newsletter sign-ups
In addition to finding workshops and learning opportunities on the Best Starts blog, subscribe to the following newsletters for updates:
- Best Starts for Kids Innovation Supports newsletter
- Best Starts for Kids Workshops newsletter (Click “Subscribe for updates” in bottom right corner)
- Communities of Opportunity Learning Community newsletter
To stay up to date on Best Starts for Kids funding opportunities and announcements across the initiative, sign-up for Best Starts monthly community newsletter.
