Our History
Changing Children’s Worlds/ICDP-USA was established in 2012 by Kimberly Svevo, Ph.D., who serves as the founder and trainer. The current team consists Kimberly, Diane McFarlin, Ed.D., Xenia Kozlov, M.A., and Luana Zaccharon.
Lutheran Child & Family Services /ICDP-USA serves families through the Child Welfare System (DCFS).
Feedback from caregivers continues to reflect their wonderment at the change in the quality of confidence and joy they find in parenting. Youth are an important focus for ICDP-USA, and we are exploring exciting new opportunities for 2026! The need to combine the benefits of supporting caregivers and their children/youth is just beginning to be understood.
We will work to strengthen this with all our ICDP partners in 2026!
Note: our CCW/ICDP-USA Web Site is in progress!
▾ 2025
We share highlights below.
Key areas for “Changing Children’s Worlds/ICDP-USA” include Professional/Community Education/Training, as well as Caregiver/Family, Youth, and Children’s programs:
A) Caregiver Support with specialized or marginalized populations.
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Populations speaking languages other than English (examples below);
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Communities with special needs;
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New Communities with high needs for support.
B) ICDP Education and Training
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Within the ICDP-International and ICDP-USA communities;
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Expanding within Educational Institutions;
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ICDP-USA-based "ACE Interface: Transforming from Trauma to Resilience & Hope.”
* The "ACE Interface” training was offered to over 100 professionals/community leaders statewide in 2025. * November and December 2025 ICDP-International training conversations on Regulation
Examples:
A1- Youth/Adults with Special Needs.
Name of ICDP Project: "All About YOU”
Contact person: Kimberly Svevo, Ph.D.
A pilot program based on ICDP-USA Best Start for Families “All About YOUth” program took place in November/December 2025 with 25 adults with disabilities. The program focused on Social/Emotional skills, recognizing and reaffirming positive communications and pro-social attitudes and behaviors.
Vision 2026: As a result of the positive feedback, the full “All About YOU” program will be offered in 2026!
March-December 2026 The 'All About YOU' program is supporting 30 adults with intellectual disabilities with partner Rising Lights Project (St. Charles, Illinois) - a new adaptation of 'All About YOUth."
A2- Virtual Russian Language Programs within and beyond the USA.
Name of ICDP project: ICDP Five o’Clock: Mindful Tea Time / ICDP online for Russian-speaking Families all over the world.
Contact person: Xenia Kozlov, M.A.
Main activities in 2025: In 2025, the project focused on program development and cultural adaptation for Russian-speaking families. ICDP materials were revised using accessible language, culturally relevant examples, and practical exercises. Additional perspectives from humanistic psychology, emotional literacy, communication theory, and classical ethics were integrated while preserving core ICDP principles. Preparatory work was also completed for future parent groups and outreach.
Numbers trained / beneficiaries: Intended beneficiaries are parents and caregivers from Russian-speaking and migrant communities.
Highlights: A strong culturally responsive version of the ICDP approach was developed for future implementation.
Difficulties: Limited time and capacity to run groups while balancing other responsibilities.
Future goals: Launch new ICDP parent groups, expand outreach, and continue building supportive parent communities based on empathy and respect.
These are expanded from the original 4 ICDP-related webinars in 2024:
ACEs, Playing and Trauma, Parental Burnout, Social-Emotional Learning - in Ukrainian, for Ukrainian specialists (15 people each), as well as building on the 2023 Ukrainian group of support for parents, 11 people, approximately 15 children impacted.
Vision 2026: In February, a new group of 7 people with 5 kids began ICDP Five O’Clock.
▾ 2024
In 2025, ICDP-USA, founded within the Changing Children’s Worlds Foundation (CCWF), completed its transition into two parallel entities:
1) ICDP-USA founder and trainer Kimberly Svevo, Ph.D., continued to advance ICDP-USA with new partners and communities. She continued to partner and train new “ICDP-Best Start for Families” facilitators to implement and expand community-based ICDP parenting programme support. She also partnered with and trained new “Best Start-All About YOUth” coaches to implement programming for children and youth. Finally, Kim partnered with community leaders to offer the ICDP-USA-based “ACE Interface: Transforming from Trauma to Resilience & Hope” training to over 100 professionals/community leaders statewide.
2) Lutheran Child & Family Services (LCFS-Illinois) continued to implement a state-wide strategy to offer the “ICDP-Best Start for Families” as their commitment was to increase the number of families served within the Illinois child welfare system. They also implemented “Best Start-All About YOUth” programming through schools and with foster youth.
In 2024-25, the LCFS Best Start for Families Dept., led by Kimberly Svevo and Rachel Fuentes, trained new professional resource persons state-wide, partly funded by a significant federal grant through the Department of Child and Family Services.
The Best Start for Families Dept. offered ICDP through a range of weekly group services for caregivers, youth, and children, and also included individual parent coaching for parents with deeper struggles. The Best Start for Families (BSFF) Department also provided the All About YOUth (AAY) Programme for middle school students through the Aurora School District.
Feedback from caregivers continues to reflect their wonderment in the change of the quality of confidence and joy they find in parenting.
Final note, the ICDP-USA best practice community model consists of an integrated approach. This occurs when we combine:
1a) Train Professionals/Community Leaders as Parenting Programme Facilitators
1b) Implement Parenting Programmes for Birth & Foster Parents/Extended Families (and coaching where helpful)
1c) Offer Children’s Social/Emotional programming in parallel or through parents at home for children 3-15 years.
2a) Train Youth Coaches/Mentors of All About YOUth Programmes
2b) Implement All About YOUth Programs for Youth (12-21 years)
3) Provide ACE Interface Training for broad communities of professionals and community leaders.
▾ 2023
The Changing Children’s Worlds Foundation has adopted a new state-wide strategy to expand and build sustainability for the “ICDP: Best Start for Families-A Health Equity Approach in Illinois.
The Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois (LCFS) launched the Best Start for Families to support more families involved with the Child Welfare system. This experiential training model provided families with the necessary motivation, tools, and skills to navigate the challenges of parenting successfully.
In parallel, the LCFS “Best Start for Families” Department continued its commitment to partnering with schools, community organizations, jails, and other agencies serving families and children.
The “Best Start for Families-A Health Equity Approach” curriculum is based on the International Child Development Program (ICDP), an internationally tested and supported psycho-social approach to strengthening adult caregiver/parent-child relationships. It is recognized as an Effective Practice by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC).
“Best Start for Families starts with the training of professional resource persons within institutions and communities who serve families,” explained Kimberly Svevo, Ph.D., Department Director at LCFS. “Its comprehensive parent learning group curriculum equips parents with a deep understanding of what they and their children need to thrive, as well as effective parenting techniques, communication strategies, and problem-solving skills, which strengthen and bring joy to family relationships.”
The program offered a range of services for caregivers, youth, and children, including individual coaching, weekly group sessions, and workshops. By providing parents with the tools they need to foster healthy relationships and create supportive home environments, LCFS strengthened families and promoted positive long-term outcomes for children.
“The Best Start for Families program felt like a natural fit for us,” said Mike Bertrand, President & CEO at LCFS. “It allows us to not only meet a significant need of the families we currently serve through our foster care program, but also aligns with our organization’s strategic direction of providing more preventative services to families within our local communities before things get bad.”