Dr. Jean Kelly is Co-Director of the Center on Infant Mental Health & Development at the University of Washington, a partnership between the School of Nursing and the Center on Human Development and Disability.

She is also Professor of Family and Child Nursing and Director of NCAST-AVENUW,an organization that develops and disseminates research-based products and training to provide nurturing environments for young children.

Dr. Kelly's research focus is on how early caregiving affects children's develoment, including chidren at high social risk, those diagnosed with delays and/or disabilities, and typically developing children. She developed and published a research- and practice-based preventive intervention program to enhance caregiver-child relationships, both in home-visiting and center-based programs. She also directs Promoting First Relationships, a prevention program dedicated to promoting young children's social-emotional develoment through responsive, nuturing caregiver-child relationships. She is chair of the Center on Human Development and Disability Early Intervention Task Force and is on the governing board of the Washington State Child Care Resource and Referral Network.

Projects

NCAST-AVENUW (Director)

Promoting First Relationships (Director)

Publications
Kelly, J.F., Booth-La Force, C.L., & Spieker, S.J. (2005). Assessing family characteristics relevant to early intervention. In M.J. Guralnick (Ed.), A developmental systems approach to early intervention: National and international perspectives. Baltimore, MD: Brookes. 235-266.

Booth, C. L., Kelly, J. F., Spieker, S. J., & Zuckerman, T. G. (2003). Toddlers’ attachment security to child care providers: The Safe and Secure Scale. Early Education & Development, 14, 83-100.

Kelly, J. F., & Booth, C. L. (2002). The early child care study of young children with special needs. L. M. Glidden (Ed.), International review of research in mental retardation, Vol. 25. New York: Academic Press.

Kelly, J.F. & Barnard, K.E. (2000). Assessment of parent-child interaction: Implications for early intervention.. In S. Meisels & J.P. Shonkoff (Eds.) The Handbook of Early Intervention, 2nd Edition. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Syndicate of the Press of the University of Cambridge, pp. 278-302.

Kelly, J.F., Buehlman, K., & Caldwell, K. (2000). Training and early intervention to promote quality parent-child interaction in homeless families. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, Vol. 20(3), pp. 174-185.