ZERO TO THREE is working with Sesame Street in Communities to explore resources that build racial literacy - “the skills needed to talk thoughtfully about race and to identify and respond to racism.”
Quotable & Notable
“The politics of climate change and the politics of care (encompassing caregiving policies for everyone from children to the elderly) are natural allies. Yet while youth climate activists like Greta Thunberg speak of losing their childhood due to the climate crisis, the two issues remain oddly separate when it comes to strategy. Climate chaos threatens not only children’s future, but their present: Young children’s bodies are especially vulnerable to air pollution that is supercharged by heat, and kids experience more severe psychological impacts from disasters like floods and fires. Last week, UNICEF released a groundbreaking Children’s Climate Risk Index, which showed when it comes to exposure to environmental shocks, U.S. children are tied for the third-highest threat level in the world. Moreover, extreme weather catalyzed by global warming can disrupt the physical care infrastructure; after Hurricane Harvey, more than 50 childcare centers permanently closed due to water damage.”
A national survey of child care providers conducted by NAEYC found that in Ohio alone, one third of respondents said their program likely would have closed without federal and state coronavirus relief funds. For family child care providers, that number jumped to 41%.
Policy Radar
Federal
Amid growing mental health needs for children and teens, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that they are directing $85 million to address the increase in demand for mental health services.
Here’s a good primer on child allowances which calls for the American Rescue Plan’s Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion to be made permanent. It offers up an analysis of implications of its permanent adoption on poverty, work, and the federal budget.
Events & Happenings
The 2021 National Prenatal-to-3 Research to Policy Summit will be held on October 7th and will focus on strengthening state policies and investments during the prenatal-3 period. The Summit is virtual and free of charge. Register here.
Beyond the Buckeye State
A new program in Michigan known as “Tri-Share” is making child care more affordable for working families, by splitting the cost equally between the state, eligible families, and their employers.
New America describes targeted efforts made by Oakland Unified Schools to ease the kindergarten transition for children – which is all the more urgent after COVID-19's disruptions. The efforts include having a kindergarten readiness manager, as well as the creation of a kindergarten transition “teacher leader program” that pairs pre-K and kindergarten teachers together to share information and “build support structures” for children.
What We're Reading
A new policy brief from Health Policy Institute of Ohio examines the health and economics costs of ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) in Ohio, as well as strategies to mitigate their long-term impacts.
In this article, Bipartisan Policy Center calls on employers to more actively join the conversation around child care access and provide a better business model for Black families in particular. “To accommodate child care centers and working families, employers should increase the number of employees with fixed work schedules, especially for parents with children under the age of 5.”
Child and Family Research Partnership at The University of Texas at Austin has a new policy brief on “The Importance of Father Involvement.” The brief focuses on “the importance of helping fathers maintain a healthy relationship with their children by describing the links between father involvement and positive child outcomes across the life course.” There are also suggestions for how organizations can support father involvement.
Research Round Up
This article in The Conversation describes how movement actually helps children learn, contrary to the notion that focus and attention requires the body to remain still. As the author describes, “To ask students to sit still while performing their work actually increases their cognitive load, or the burden on the mind. It requires them to concentrate on quieting their bodies, which are seeking out avenues for sense-making, as well as on the primary task that fixes them to their desk or digital screen.”
This edition written by: Jamie Davies O'Leary, Associate Director of Policy and Caitlin Lennon, Communications & Policy Specialist
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