Sharing Web Resources

Mental Health in Young Children

Below is a video on the first congressional brief held February 16, 2012.  It is monumental.  They met to discuss the developmental needs of homeless infants and toddlers including how to protect their future.  Many young children start out their life homeless.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid4853363001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAAP1OrgE~,Pg4k-7G5h8q5f5a18Ed-9RBn57qq9pZW&bctid=1543532738001

 

1 in 45 are homeless in the U.S.  One third of the homeless is families.  1.6 million were homeless in 2010.  Forty-two percent of the homeless are children between the ages of zero to five. 

Seventy thousand homeless are infants and toddlers.  They do not have their own things to make them feel secure.  Healthy development thrives from relationships.  The stress of being homeless cause relationships to less stable. 

Since the relationship is less stable, children experience altered brain development.  Homeless children are four times likely to become sick and twice as likely to become hungry than their peers.  These children are more likely to have development disabilities and emotional issues.  Chronic stress is not good for development due to a harmful chemical which is released for a long period of time.  If there is intervention early, it can change based off the brain's being mailable. 

Conrad Hilton Foundation founded Strengthening At-Risk and Homeless Young Mothers and Children.  They work with locally based partnerships that includes:

-housing

-homeless

-child development agencies

-family preservation

-domestic violence

-mental health

-substance abuse

-other support services

The program has marked improvement in health and behavior. 

May has been designated as Children's Mental Health Month.  I explored the website for mental health resources for infants and toddlers in honor of Children's Mental Health Month.  It is essential that babies and young children are loved by the people who care for them.  Caregivers which have the primary responsibility of the young children develop responsive relationships.  It assists with the healthy social-emotional development.  This is where the foundation is established for mental health in young children.

The video below is the renowned "Still Face" paradigm.  It is an experimental procedure designed by Edward Tronick to study the effects of social emotional development.

http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/early-childhood-mental-health/

Healthy social and emotional development is early childhood mental health.  There are techniques for promotion, prevention and treatment services which I looked into.  Parents of very young children receive information about how to take care of their children's social-emotional wellness to maintain good mental health.  Families which are dealing with large amounts of stress are at greater risk of mental health issues.  Support groups are offered as an outlet for families.  Members of the family can receive information about establishing a healthy environment to support social-emotional development.  Several resources are available to treat issues related to mental health and developmental concerns which are public/private mental health and early intervention programs.

After reading more about mental health, I am realizing that there needs to be more resources in early intervention.  In my program, we focus on the overall development of the young children while assessing for delays or gaps in development and supporting the family.  More families have concerns about mental health and behavior which are challenging.  There has been more young children being diagnosed with mental health concerns.  Our families need support with mental health concerns and our county is in great need of more mental health resources.

www.zerotothree.org



"It takes a village to raise a child." -African Proverb-

Getting to Know My International Contacts

Since my contact with Canada was unsuccessful this week, I chose to study the effects poverty has on Mongolia.  Historically, Mongolia was not part of the former USSR, though relied on the Soviet trading.  After Mongolia joined the World Trade Organization, the country became an open economy.  The rapid change in the economy caused unemployment and prices increased (Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre, 2012).

Even though the economy in Mongolia is more consistent, the gap continues to widen from those benefiting from the market and the ones who are not.  Families living below the poverty line have increased in the 1990's.  Many of the children which live in poverty are in families where the female is the head of the household or children birth to age sixteen.  Social Services in Mongolia was very accessible and high quality (Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre, 2012).

Currently, the health care system has many restrictions which does not allow for the people who need it to have access.  Health care services are horrendous.  More babies are living and the mortality rate has gone down.  Over half of the population does not have clean drinking water (Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre, 2012).

Education suffered due to major cuts to the budget.  Children living in poverty do not have the opportunity to go to school in order to receive an education.  The Mongolian government has stopped investing in education.  The people of Mongolia are extremely concerned about their children's future (Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre, 2012).

Many children and their families are not receiving the necessary support from the state.  Older siblings take care of their parents to go to work.  This means that children do not attend school or drop out.  Children which live on the street has dropped especially since Mongolia experiences extremely low temperatures during the winter months (Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre, 2012).

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre is doing research to assist families in poverty migrate into urban areas.  They view the effects of migration on children's education and techniques for families to get out of poverty.  It will give the families an opportunity to find jobs and better education for their children.  Since education in the rural area is very poor, many families do not understand how education can provide their children more options.  As a result, children in poverty are being left behind which causes the gap between the rich and poor to become wider (Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre, 2012).



References
Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre (2012).  Mongolia.  Retrieved from www.childhoodpoverty.org


"It takes a village to raise a child." -African Proverb-

Sharing Web Resources

I chose the Zero to Three website.  Zero to Three is a non-profit organization which provides resources to educate and assist society involved with infants and toddlers  Their mission is to ensure the healthy overall development of infants and toddlers.  I signed up for the e-newsletter called Baby to Big Kid.  I have not received a newsletter yet.  I look forward to reading what techniques they suggested to parents to enhance the overall development of their child.

Zero to Three has weekly downloads called Healthy Minds.  This week's download deals with promoting the healthy development of newborns to two months old.  The handout provides information about how parents can nurture their baby's development.  Research shows how essential the parents relationship is to the overall development of their baby in order to adapt to society.

There is an area which provides scenarios to help parents understand they are not alone, especially being a new parent.  The situation is taken apart and the techniques the parents used are explained in how it promotes the overall development of their baby.  A chart is provided which describes different situations, tips on what to do and things for parents to consider.  It is an useful resource to help parents determine what is normal and enhance their development.

"It takes a village to raise a child." -African Proverb-

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

I chose the zerotothree.org website because I work with the Infants and Toddlers program in Dorchester County.  This is a great website to use to help families.  Many of the parents, I work with, are having concerns with behavior.  I am encountering more young children with mental health concerns.  This website has excellent resources for mental health concerns in young children.  When I speak to the doctors, more children are becoming more aggressive, especially children on the autism spectrum.  I find this website extremely useful in explaining to parents with special needs children that some of the behavior concerns they have are similar concerns of parents with typically developing children.

Zero to three has excellent resources dealing with behavior, development, maltreatment, care, education, public policy and more.  It provides information to keep early childhood professionals current with the issues parents face today.  Many parents find they have quite a few questions about the correct way to raise their child.  More children are experiencing metal health issues.  This website provides tools parents can use to assist with mental health concerns.

There is a military families section which lists trainings taking place at varies military installations.  I am familiar with the challenges associated with deployment as a civilian military family.  The trainings provide techniques where early childhood professionals can be more supported of military and civilian families.  I am looking forward to reading the "From Baby to Big Kid" newsletter.

www.zerotothree.org

Please let me know if there are any questions I can answer from the Zero to Three website?

I contacted UNICEF globally.  I emailed the Cote d' Ivoire, France and Germany.  In junior high and high school, I took French.  I remember enough of French to speak and write it.  In college, I took German.  I speak enough German to communicate basic needs.  Since I took in school these languages, I would like to learn more about the culture of the languages I have studied. 

I would like to work on contacting the three countries for another few days before I use the alternate global contact.  It is exciting contacting Cote d' Ivoire, France and Germany.  Each country had the website in their home language.  I had to look up some words to understand how to fill in the forms when I was inserting my information.  I am hoping the countries respond to my email.  I am looking forward to building a relationship with early childhood professionals in these countries in order to observe their educational systems and collaborate with them.

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/index.html

 

"It takes a village to raise a child." -African Proverb-