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The Lullaby Project - Carnegie Hall
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Programs

The Lullaby Project

Overview

Delivery Approach:
  • Individual
  • Group
  • Dyadic
Delivery Format:
  • In-Person
  • Virtual
  • Hybrid
Provider Requirements:
  • Other – Musicians
Type of Experience Addressed:
  • Domestic Violence
  • Child Abuse
  • Neglect 
  • Verbal/Emotional Abuse
  • Family Separation
Engagement Methods:
  • Arts-based
Level of Intervention:
  • Tertiary Prevention
Length:
  • Less than 6 weeks
Setting:
  • Community-Based Agency
  • Correctional
  • Day Care
  • Domestic Violence Shelter
  • Family Service Agencies
  • Foster Care
  • Headstart and Early Education Programs
  • Health Service
  • Home
  • Homeless Shelter
  • Hospital-Based
  • Mental Health Setting
  • School
Program Details:
Type of services provided:

Facilitators/musicians will work closely with families, empowering parents and caregivers to create a personal lullaby for their child. Carnegie Hall supports national organizations to adopt the program to support families in their communities. As part of a formal partnership with Carnegie Hall, national partners will receive a range of free guides, materials, and training to get started. Organizations can feel free to reach out to lullabyproject@carnegiehall.org to learn more.

Program setting:

Outpatient clinic, school, inpatient, residential,  justice settings (or correctional facilities); involves collaboration with multiple community agencies

Length of program/number of sessions:

The Lullaby Project is designed to be a flexible program; each project can be tailored to specific community needs. Sessions can run for as little as 90 minutes with each parent, or can span multiple sessions with families over time.

Type(s) of trauma/concerns addressed:

The songwriting experience is focused on supporting any caregiver in writing a personal lullaby for their child and expressing their hopes, dreams, and parenting experiences. 

Domestic violence, child abuse, neglect, verbal/emotional abuse, and family separation.

Education level of providers:

While there is no education level requirement, program implementers must have a strong background in understanding the dynamics of domestic violence and sexual abuse. The program is best implemented by a DV/SA advocate or a DV survivor. Additionally, the program is delivered with the support of trained musicians.

Unique/Innovative Characteristics:

The Lullaby Project enables partner organizations nationally and internationally to adapt the program in response to specific community and family needs. The program is designed to be flexible in structure, allowing partners to shape projects accordingly, with parent creation, expression, and agency at the core. Carnegie Hall provides free onboarding materials and consultation to new partners who are interested in bringing the project to their community.

Date Added/Updated:

January 9th, 2024.

Population Served

Age:
  • 18-25 (Young Adult)
  • 25 and Up (Adult)
Population Language:
  • English
  • Spanish
Ethnic Racial Group:
  • Asian
  • Black or African American
  • Hispanic or Latino
  • Indigenous People – American Indian/Native American, Alaska Native
  • Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
  • Unspecified Ethnic or Racial Group
  • White
Client/Audience:
  • Child and Non-Abusive Parent/Caregiver
  • Family
  • Grandparents
  • Survivor Parent
  • Foster/Adoptive Parents
Population Adaptations:
Age range of children served:
    • 0-5 years (Early Childhood)
Are parent/adult caregiver(s) included in intervention?

This program primarily supports new and expecting parents/caregivers (typically pregnant persons or parents of children ages 0-3). Parents/caregivers can include teenage and adult parents.

Ethnic/racial and other groups served:

The program model is not created for any particular racial or ethnic group.

Specific cultural adaptations:

The program is meant to be adapted and tailored to meet the needs of specific communities. Partners can decide on specific cultural adaptations that are needed to best support families.

Languages that service/resource is available:

Partner materials, onboarding, and training can be supported in English and Spanish. Partners are encouraged to consider additional language needs for their localized projects and are welcome to translate materials and identify local facilitators who can meet the language needs of the community.

Evaluation

Foundation:
Goals of the program/services:

The Lullaby Project, a project of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, pairs new and expecting parents and caregivers with professional artists to write and sing personal lullabies for their babies, supporting parental/maternal health, aiding childhood development, and strengthening the bond between parent and child. In New York City, the Lullaby Project reaches parents across healthcare, social service, justice and educational settings. Extending across the country and around the world, the Lullaby Project enables partner organizations to support families in their own communities.

Basis of Knowledge:

Practice-Based Evidence: The program model is based on various treatment approaches and supports derived from and supportive of the local community culture. Facilitators and musicians will work closely with families, empowering parents/caregivers to create a personal lullaby for their child and adapt their approach based on the input and experiences of their participants.

Research: The program model and materials have been investigated in a systematic process. As part of a commitment to sharing knowledge and new findings, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute commissions and participates in exploratory papers and research on its programs.

Evaluation Studies:
Has there been any evaluation?

Yes.

Key evaluation results:

Being Well: More parents experience a growing sense of their own agency, creativity, well-being, self-confidence, and capacity to be loving, sensitive, and responsive caregivers [Wolf Brown].

Strengthening Community: The writing and singing of lullabies strengthen relationships between parents, children, and their community members.

Early Child Development: Lullaby lyrics and the talking and singing that accompany them can soothe a child and provide important opportunities for young children to hear new vocabulary, figurative language, elegant phrases, as well as exaggeration and jokes [Wolf Brown].

The following evaluation can be found on our website here: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Education/Programs/Lullaby-Project#research.

  • WolfBrown’s report on music and early childhood, including the Lullaby Project: Why Music Making Matters: Singing, Playing, and Moving in the Early Years
  • WolfBrown’s takes a closer look at how and why lullabies make a difference: Lullaby: Being Together, Being Well
  • Bernard VanLeer report on global music in early childhood, including the Lullaby Project: Making a Joyful Noise: The Potential Role of Music Making in the Well-Being of Young Families
Is there an evaluation currently in progress or planned?

WolfBrown is currently evaluating the Philadelphia Lullaby Project as part of an NEA Research Lab, examining the role of extended family engagement and parent-child mutuality. In partnership with Mount Sinai Health System’s Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine, Carnegie Hall is also currently part of the NEA AMEND Lab (Assessment of Music Experiences in Navigating Depression), to understand the impact of music experiences in addressing depression and social/emotional well-being.

Publications about the program:

Palmer Wolf – WolfBrown, D. (2017). Lullaby, Being Together, Being Well. In https://wolfbrown.com/insights/reports/lullaby-being-together-being-well/. Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. Retrieved December 4, 2023, from https://wolfbrown.com/insights/reports/lullaby-being-together-being-well/

Training & Resources

Training Language
  • English
  • Spanish
Training Available:
  • Yes
Training Details:
Training manuals/protocols:

Partners can contact lullabyproject@carengiehall.org to get in touch with Carnegie Hall staff who can share various onboarding handbooks and training materials.

Training Contact:

Contact Project Team at lullabyproject@carnegiehall.org
Website Link: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Education/Programs/Lullaby-Project

Program Contact

Tiffany Ortiz
212-903-0786
tortiz@carnegiehall.org