May 29, 2007

On Tuesday, May 22, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi convened the National Summit on America’s Children chaired by Representatives George Miller (D-CA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and Chaka Fattah (D-PA).  The Summit brought together many national experts to inform members of Congress about recent scientific findings in the areas of the science of early childhood development, early learning, health and mental health, and income and family support systems. 

Among the expert panelists who spoke on the science of early childhood development were:

• Dodie Norton, Ph.D., ZTT Board Member and Professor, School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, who testified on the importance of relationships in the early years;
  
• Jack Shonkoff, M.D., ZTT Board Member, Professor of Child Health and Development, and Director of the Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, who emphasized the need to pay attention to the social and emotional development of children and focus on early and effective prevention and intervention services for the most at-risk children; and
  
• Megan Gunnar, Ph.D., former ZTT Board Member and Professor, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, who discussed the value of supportive care and early attachments with parents and caretakers in order to promote the proper management of stressful situations in children’s lives.

In addition, Col. Elisabeth Stafford, M.D, Fellowship Director, Adolescent Medicine, San Antonio Military Pediatric Center, served as a presenter on the health and mental health panel, where she described ZERO TO THREE’s Coming Together Around Military Families initiative as an example of a valuable program to assist families of deployed Service Members with very young children deal with trauma, grief and loss.

Nobel laureate economist, Dr. James Heckman, delivered a luncheon keynote address in which he focused on research which indicates that investing early in a child’s life provides the biggest return on one’s investment.  He stated that prevention and early intervention programs are far more economical than remedial programs such as job training, adult literacy, and GED preparation in promoting school readiness and workforce productivity and reducing crime, teen pregnancy, and welfare dependency. 

In a “Pre- Summit” event, two ZERO TO THREE graduate fellows, psychologist Judy Silver and Judge Cindy Lederman, participated in an intimate briefing on children’s issues with key House leaders including the Speaker and Chairs of the House Education and Labor Committee, Commerce Committee, and Ways and Means Committee, to talk about the needs of infants and toddlers in the child welfare system and Court Teams for Maltreated Infants and Toddlers (http://www.zerotothree.org/courtteams).
 
In response to the testimony provided, Speaker Pelosi outlined a series of legislative priorities which the Democratic party will focus on in the 110th Congress, including reauthorization of Head Start with a focus on expanding Early Head Start, improving the quality of the early childhood workforce, helping families find affordable quality child care, improving the child welfare system, and reauthorizing the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act and the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.  A full list of the legislative priorities and an archive of the webcast will be made available at: http://speaker.gov/issues?id=0032.

May 14, 2007

Head Start Reauthorization Passes in the House:  On May 2, the House of Representatives voted 365-48 to approve HR 1429, the Improving Head Start Act of 2007.  The legislation doubles the set-aside for Early Head Start from 10-20% of total program funding over the life of the five year authorization and makes that percentage a floor rather than a ceiling, meaning the Secretary of Health and Human Services would have the discretion to allocate additional dollars to Early Head Start.  Both adjustments to the set-aside would allow more infants and toddlers to be served if new funding is appropriated.  The legislation would also allow Head Start programs to convert funded preschool slots to serve additional infants and toddlers where community needs suggest such a change and the programs meet all Early Head Start performance standards, further expanding services to low-income infants and toddlers.  A floor amendment sponsored by Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-2nd HI) also received approval (372-50), ensuring that the Early Head Start training and technical assistance program is integrated with the preschool Head Start program, as well as providing programs with ready access to the specialized knowledge of infant-toddler development through a designated infant-toddler specialist in each state or consortia of states.  During the floor debate, a procedural motion to amend the legislation with provisions allowing Head Start providers to hire staff based on their religion failed by a vote of 195-222.  (The same provision was included in last year’s House bill and led to final passage of the measure by a one vote margin.)  Now, all eyes are on the Senate as Head Start reauthorization moves forward with possible floor action in the coming weeks.  If both chambers can reconcile their differences in conference committee and the President approves a final bill, it will be the first time Head Start has been reauthorized since technical authority for program funding expired in 2003.  Since that time, authority for the program has been extended by annual appropriations bills pending reauthorization.

National Summit on America’s Children: In late March, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-8th CA) announced that she would convene a National Summit on America’s Children on May 22.  The Summit, which is an effort to bring together many national experts to inform members of Congress about recent scientific findings on the development of the brain and the well-being of children, will be an all-day affair focusing on four panels: the science of early childhood development, early learning, health and mental health, and income and family support systems.  ZTT Board members Dodie Norton and Jack Shonkoff will be presenting on the science of early childhood development, focusing on how their research can inform policymakers in the development of federal policy.  Nobel Laureate economist Dr. James Heckman of the University of Chicago will be featured as the luncheon keynote speaker, discussing the value of investing in early childhood programs.  The Summit’s attendance is limited to Members of Congress and a few advocacy groups.