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.
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.
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.
"It takes a village to raise a child." -African Proverb-
Thank you for sharing the information on homelessness and mental illness. We have seen more homelessness in the last couple of years, much of it due to the economic climate. More families have experienced stressful situations as well. Fortunately, our program has two mental wellness consultants. One of the agencies has staff that speak Spanish. Both our children and families can receive help that they need. We also have a mental wellness agency within our community that provides resources for our families. All programs should have a mental wellness consultant as a community partner.
ReplyDeleteIt really touches my heart when I read information like this. Its so hard to image that in the USA their are so many children without their basic needs beeing met. Thank you
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