As summer approaches, a significant transition is underway for the Help Me Grow (HMG) National Center’s Founding Director, Dr. Paul Dworkin. A visionary leader whose career has been dedicated to advancing child health and well-being, Dr. Dworkin is stepping away from his administrative duties as Executive Vice President for Community Child Health at Connecticut Children’s, the backbone organization where the HMG National Center was born.
Dr. Dworkin’s career has been marked by a profound commitment to improving the lives of children and families. A beloved pediatrician, he has long been recognized for his pioneering work in early childhood development, systems-building, and advocacy. His leadership at Connecticut Children’s, particularly in establishing and growing the Office for Community Child Health, has had a transformative impact on community health initiatives, solidifying his reputation as a national expert in the field. His passion and tireless advocacy have positioned him as a highly respected voice in pediatric care and public health.
However, while Dr. Dworkin embarks on this new chapter in his professional journey, his dedication to children and families and the HMG mission remains stronger than ever.
The National Center recently spoke with Dr. Dworkin to learn more about this exciting new chapter and what it means for the HMG Network.
HMG National: After years of dedicated administrative leadership at Connecticut Children’s, you are transitioning from those duties beginning at the end of May. Can you share what this change means for your role as the Founding Director of the HMG National Center?
Dr. Dworkin: As I retire from my administrative duties at Connecticut Children’s, I am grateful that the National Center has invited me to continue my role as Founding Director. While I am committed to finding a healthy personal-professional balance, I welcome the opportunity to offer support and guidance to the National Center and to continue taking pride in its growth and impact. I often acknowledge that the National Center staff does all the “heavy lifting,” so my role is limited to “pontificating and advocating.” I am pleased to continue my engagement as long as this is viewed as helpful.
HMG National: The HMG Affiliate Network has grown significantly under your leadership. As you step away from your administrative responsibilities at Connecticut Children’s, what aspects of your work with the National Center are you most looking forward to focusing on in this new chapter?
Dr. Dworkin: Despite the extraordinary evolution of the National Center and its prominent role in promoting system-building in support of children, families, and communities, as well as advancing such critical concepts as Family-Engaged Developmental Monitoring (FEDM) and Goal-Concordant Care (GCC), I continue to believe that our top priority is to bring the Model to spread and scale across the nation. This means both supporting current affiliates in their evolution from exploration to installation to implementation, as well as encouraging new jurisdictions to consider embracing the Model. I most look forward to engaging with our new and established affiliates and responding to Network requests for collaboration.
HMG National: What message would you like to share with our Network regarding your continued commitment to the vision and mission of HMG? How do you envision your engagement with the Network evolving, if at all?
Dr. Dworkin: I often cite that my career, over more decades than I care to admit, has been driven by the question, “How do we best strengthen child health services to promote children’s optimal health, development, and wellbeing?” Indeed, much of my early work focused on such content of child health services as anticipatory guidance and the early detection of developmental and behavioral concerns. This work demanded a process by which children who are found to be at increased risk for, but not yet manifesting delays and disorders, can be linked to community-based programs and services. The HMG Model proved to be an important answer as to how this need is addressed.
While HMG continues to be characterized as a comprehensive, integrated approach to developmental promotion, early detection, and referral and linkage, our knowledge of the “biology of adversity” and the extraordinarily important impact of social, environmental, behavioral, and (epi)genetic drivers of health, development, and well-being demands that we place our efforts in the context of comprehensive system building, engaging all sectors that influence and support family and community capacity.
As a consequence, HMG has now, while continuing to maintain its original purposes, expanded its focus to address an array of factors to strengthen families and communities. I now realize that the question that drove my early work has evolved to a much more appropriate one: “How do we best strengthen families and communities to promote their children’s optimal health, development, and well-being?” By focusing on this question, we ensure that HMG and the work of the National Center will continue to be relevant and impactful.
HMG National: Beyond your professional dedication, what personal motivations continue to drive your passion for the HMG mission and the well-being of young children and their families?
Dr. Dworkin: I have long subscribed to the importance of “servant leadership.” While I do not claim to have mastered this leadership style, I regard it as aspirational. The HMG mission is all about strengthening families and communities to achieve the best outcomes for children. The Model is distinguished by embracing family and community priorities, opinions, concerns, and needs through collaboration. My motivation to foster partnerships with families, communities, programs, and leaders is fueled by the work of the National Center and our shared commitment in service to promoting the optimal health, development, and well-being of all children and youth.
HMG National: Looking back at your time in both administrative and directorial roles, what are you most proud of when you reflect on the evolution of the HMG Model?
Dr. Dworkin: I am always inclined to acknowledge that the evolution of the HMG Model has far exceeded even my most ambitious expectations. While I was initially hopeful that we could scale and sustain the implementation of the Model beyond Hartford and across Connecticut, I did not recognize the potential for national spread until we were approached by colleagues across the nation interested in exploring HMG for their jurisdictions. The current scale of HMG implementation, so well facilitated by the National Center, is a source of both amazement and satisfaction.
Perhaps my greatest source of pride is the extent to which the HMG Model is assisting families near and far. I recall a video by HMG Washington, literally across the country from Hartford, Connecticut, that featured a family from Snohomish County, WA, poignantly speaking of the profoundly important support provided by HMG in securing services for their child. The impact of our work on families in such remote locations is both humbling and overwhelming.
HMG National: While your day-to-day administrative tasks may be shifting, can you give our Network a glimpse into some of the key projects or initiatives you’ll be actively involved in moving forward?
Dr. Dworkin: As I conclude my administrative responsibilities directing the Office for Community Child Health, I am privileged to have the opportunity to continue select activities that will both fulfill my professional interests and offer a much-desired personal-professional balance of my time.
In addition to continuing my role as Founding Director of the HMG National Center, I will continue my tenure as Project Director for a U.S. Department of Education Promise Neighborhoods grant. This work is focused on creating a “cradle-to-career” pathway for children and youth in three underserved neighborhoods in North Hartford. Our approach embraces many of the key concepts that are so relevant to HMG, such as the importance of eliciting families’ priorities, opinions, concerns, and needs, as well as ensuring the linkage of families and their children to desired community-based programs and services. Both North Hartford Ascend and HMG exemplify our commitment to strengthening families and communities to promote children’s optimal health, development, and well-being.
I will also continue to collaborate with Connecticut Children’s Government Relations Department to advocate in support of relevant policies and priorities.
HMG National: The early childhood landscape is constantly evolving. In your continued role with HMG, what emerging trends or challenges are you particularly focused on, and how do you see the Network playing a crucial part in addressing them?
Dr. Dworkin: The HMG Network is instrumental in enabling the building of systems so crucial to strengthening families and communities and ensuring the best outcomes for children. This role will continue to evolve as the importance of system-building with cross-sector collaboration is increasingly understood and embraced. HMG is also playing a critical role in advancing concepts that promote optimal health, development, and well-being. Concepts such as developmental promotion, FEDM, GCC, and Targeted Universalism (TU), are well known to and increasingly embraced by our affiliates, who are making important contributions to the fast-paced evolution of the early childhood landscape. We are privileged to have the opportunity to contribute to this evolution through our support of affiliates.
Over the decades, the HMG Model has served as a vital infrastructure through periods of change and disruption, with HMG leaders consistently emerging as catalytic changemakers for families with young children. During the pandemic, HMG systems across the country responded swiftly to seismic shifts in family needs and service landscapes. Within weeks, affiliates adapted operations, data strategies, technology platforms, partnerships, and service delivery, meeting an unprecedented moment without a roadmap. What’s most inspiring is not just this rapid transformation, but the unwavering commitment to core values: community voice, family co-production, equity, and the well-being of all children.
In response to today’s shifting federal priorities, funding uncertainties, and persistent inequities, the National Center recently launched the Adaptive Leadership for Visionary Systems Change initiative. This effort supports affiliates in navigating uncertainty, sustaining progress, and boldly imagining new ways to center families in system design. It will offer practical tools, strength through partnerships, consultation opportunities, and policy insights to help HMG leaders move from crisis response to long-term vision.
Together, we are not only responding to change, the Affiliate Network is helping to define what comes next. I’m proud that HMG continues to be both a source of stability and a driver of transformation in the early childhood landscape.
We at the Help Me Grow National Center are incredibly excited for this next chapter in Dr. Dworkin’s professional journey. His unparalleled expertise, unwavering passion, and visionary leadership have been foundational to our growth, and we are truly fortunate to retain his strategic guidance as our Founding Director.
As we look ahead, we are inspired by his continued commitment to expanding the reach and impact of the HMG Model across the nation. We hope you, our valued affiliates, share in this excitement as we continue to work together, leveraging Dr. Dworkin’s insights and our collective dedication, to strengthen families and communities and ensure the optimal health, development, and well-being of all children nationwide. The journey continues, and we are thrilled to embark on this next phase with renewed energy and purpose.