Special Edition on Social and Emotional Health

Social and emotional development is an integral part of the foundation that helps guide a young child into adulthood and is firmly tied to every other area of development - physical growth and health, communication and language development, cognitive skills, and early relationships. This special edition of The Baby Monitor focuses attention on children's mental health policy and the critical role that social-emotional health plays in the development of infants and toddlers. When an infant or toddler's social and emotional development suffers significantly, they can, and do, experience mental health problems as well. But skilled providers can accurately screen, diagnose and treat mental health disorders in early childhood before they impact other areas of development. Federal and state policymakers can strengthen the foundation being built for infants and toddlers by improving the continuum of services for the promotion and prevention of infant and early childhood mental health problems, as well as the provision of early intervention services for at-risk infants and toddlers.

Below you will find a variety of tools and resources on social and emotional health which you can utilize in your advocacy on behalf of infants and toddlers.

• Download ZERO TO THREE's Advocacy Developmental Milestone Calendar for May, which focuses on the emotional health of infants and toddlers in honor of Mental Health Month. Your challenge this month is to invite three people who work with young children to meet you for coffee on May 7th to talk about early childhood mental health and how you can help policymakers recognize and support this important aspect of development.

   

• ZERO TO THREE's new Early Experiences Matter Policy Guide features an issue brief entitled Laying the Foundation for Early Development: Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, which outlines policy recommendations, the research supporting those recommendations, and fast facts about social-emotional health in very young children.

   

• Helping Young Children Succeed: Strategies to Promote Early Childhood Social and Emotional Development is a joint research and policy report developed by ZERO TO THREE and the National Conference of State Legislatures that describes how state policymakers can support the healthy social-emotional development of young children from birth to age five.

   

• Click here to read an overview of the National Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Systems Summit and the recommendations that resulted. Click here to see the agenda, notes, and power points from the sessions at the summit.

   

• Search Baby Matters: A Gateway to State Policies and Initiatives for information on state policies and initiatives impacting infants, toddlers, and their families. You can search under the category of "Social and Emotional Health," search for your state, or search by keyword.

   

• Connect with other professionals focusing on early childhood mental issues on the ZERO TO THREE Policy Network Facebook page. You can post your advocacy stories from Mental Health Month on the Wall, create a discussion group focused on social and emotional health issues, or post links to related articles and information.

Federal Policy Update

Last week, Congress approved a final Budget Resolution by a vote of 233-193 in the House and 53-43 in the Senate. The measure calls for $1.086 trillion in discretionary spending, approximately $10 billion less than President Obama requested. The FY10 Budget Resolution also includes deficit neutral reserve funds for higher education, health care, child nutrition, education, and home visiting, thereby highlighting these program areas as budgetary priorities for the fiscal year. The next step is for the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees to set specific funding levels for individual programs within their jurisdiction.

In addition to passing the budget, the Senate approved Governor Kathleen Sebelius as the new Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). For a list of HHS programs serving infants, toddlers and families, please see ZERO TO THREE's Federal Agencies Responsible for Implementing Programs Affecting Infants and Toddlers.

Also in the Senate last week, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party in anticipation of his 2010 re-election campaign. Specter's move brings the Democratic majority to 59 seats in the Senate, including two Independents who typically align themselves with the Democrats. Depending on how the Minnesota State Supreme Court rules on the contested election between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman, the Democrats could reach the 60 votes needed to end filibusters and cut off debate. Regardless of the outcome, however, Specter has indicated that his vote is not a guarantee for the Democratic Party.

Publications & Resources

Developmental Screening Policy Briefs
In March, the National Academy for State Health Policy released three policy briefs related to the Assuring Better Child Health and Development (ABCD) Screening Academy. The first brief, State Policy Improvements that Support Effective Identification of Children At-Risk for Developmental Delay, relays strategies to advance state policy around developmental screening tools. The second policy brief, State Strategies to Support Practice Changes that Improve Identification of Children at Risk for or with Developmental Delays, describes ways to aid providers in improving developmental screening in primary care settings. The third brief, Measurement to Support Effective Identification of Children at Risk for Developmental Delay, looks at gathering and drawing upon on data to inform future work around developmental screening.

Family Child Care Findings
A new policy brief from the Herr Research Center for Children and Social Policy at the Erikson Institute finds that a relationship with a staffed support network is associated with higher quality among licensed family child care providers. In addition, the brief offers recommendations to both policymakers and family child care networks in an effort to improve high quality care in family child care homes.

New Findings on Poverty Rates for Children in Immigrant Families
Child Trends and the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at the University at Albany have released a new research brief, Children in Immigrant Families - The U.S. and 50 States: Economic Need Beyond the Official Poverty Measure. The brief uses Census 2000 data to present new estimates of poverty rates for children by using two new measures. Findings indicate that many children are poorer than the official poverty rate shows and almost half of all children in immigrant families live in poverty.

Download ZERO TO THREE's ARRA Interactive Tool - Recently Updated!
ZERO TO THREE's Navigating the Opportunities for Families with Young Children in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is an interactive tool intended to help decision makers and advocates navigate the ways in which ARRA funds may be used to positively impact the healthy development of our youngest children. The tool is organized around the needs of the whole child - Good Health, Strong Families, and Positive Early Learning Experiences and is simple to navigate. For each featured program, just click on the links within the tool to explore the programs and funding opportunities of interest. The interactive tool is updated regularly to include new information and guidance as it is released.