Making and Keeping Connections

2. Making and Keeping Connections Jean M Clinton B.Mus MD FRCP(C) McMaster University and Children’s Hospital Voices for Children October 16 2007

3. The Health and creativity of a community is renewed each generation through its children. The family, community, or society that understands and values its children thrives---the society that does not is destined to fail www.childtrauma.org

5. UNICEF REPORT CARD 2007 “The true measure of a nation’s standing is how well it attends to its children-their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved, valued and included in the families and societies into which they are born.” Unicef Innocenti Report 2007

6. Material Well Being Health and Safety Educational Well being Family and Peer Relationships Behaviours and Risks Subjective well being Overall 6 SWEDEN 1 13 SWEDEN 1 2 BELGIUM 1 18 ITALY 1 17 SWEDEN 1 15 NETHERLANDS 1 12/21 Canada Unicef Innocenti Report 2007

7. The Long Reach of Early Childhood Early Years Study 2 CHAPTER 1

8. Experience Experiences in early life activate gene expression and result in the formation of critical pathways and processes.

9. Adult-child interaction Sound Vision Touch Smell Proprioception Taste

10. Binocular vision ‘Sensitive periods’ in early brain development Central auditory system Habitual ways of responding Language Emotionalcontrol High Symbol Peer social skills Relative quantity Sensitivity Low 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Years CECD

12. Epigenetics Each person has an individualized genetic code. To be expressed, it must be activated. Genes need nurturing.

13. 80 High School Diploma by Level of Aggression at Age 5 75.8% 62.5% 60 % 40 27.5% 20 3.3% 0 Never Low High Chronic Level of Aggression

14. It takes a Child to Raise a Village EYS2 Chapter 2

15. Families Families are the basic social units of human societies.

16. Monitoring development Longitudinal surveys & birth cohort studies allow researchers & policy makers to monitor children’s development.

17. Receptive Vocabulary, Age 5 (NLSCY, 2002-03) Source: Thomas, 2006

18. ¼ of children • ¼ of Canada’s children between birth to age6 are experiencing some learning or behavioural difficulty.

19. Social Risk Index • 9 comprehensive indicators of social risk • those with rate higher than the national average = contributing to the overall risk • zero (0), indicating no social risk • nine (9) indicating the highest risk

20. 31 N=36 276 N=402 98 N=192 121 N=349 N= 221 S4 Student Performance by SES Group Language Arts Standards Test 2001/02 17/18 year olds who should have written Pass/Fail rates of test writers

21. How are Children Doing? Chapter 3

22. The EDI has Predictive Validity! (more than we want) # of Vulnerabilities % Failing the FSA % Not ‘Successful’ Numeracy 0 7.5 12.3 1 11.8 22.2 2-3 18.7 33.8 4-5 27.5 55.6 Reading 0 13.6 17.8 1 26.7 33.9 2-3 29.5 43.1 4-5 48.4 68.3 (Grade 4) (Grade 4) (EDI)

24. 06-116 Decrease in the % of vulnerable children as a result of improved ECD in South Australia Year 2003 2006 Floreat 47.22% 14.3% Wembley 47.11% 11.8% AEDI S.Australia

25. CHAOS EYS2 Chapter 4

26. Top level: Provincial/state Early intervention Health Education Social services Family support

27. Middle level: Munici-palities Public health Local school authorities Parks and recreation Community services Local authority

28. Bottom level: Family supports Early identification and intervention Kindergarten Child care Public Health Communityprograms

29. Chaos Early intervention Health Education Family support Social services Local school authorities Public health Munici-palities Community services Parks & recreation Parenting centres Kindergartens Preschools Children’s mental health centres Child care

30. Thinking big, starting small ECD: the 1st tier of human development Start in local communities

31. Thinking big… starting small Communities need more than opportunities to create a collective vision; they need the mandate & resources to realize it.

32. Investing in Early Childhood Development Chapter 6

33. Full-day, full-year options Nutrition Problem- based play Pre- and post-natal supports Parental participation Resources for families Early Child Development & Parenting Centres

34. Exceptional Returns on Investment:Long-Term Benefit-Cost Ratios for Four Exemplary ECD Programs Up to 16% rate of return on investment in ECD, compared to the highly touted 6% rate of return of the U.S. stock market (1871-1998) Sources: Lynch (2004), Rolnick & Grunewald (2003) Sources: Karoly et al. (1998), Masse & Barnett (2002), Reynolds et al. (2002), Schweinhart et al. (2004)

35. 03-074 Rates of Return to Human Development Investment Across all Ages 8 6 Pre-school Programs Return Per $ Invested School 4 R Job Training 2 Pre- School School Post School 0 6 18 Age Carneiro, Heckman, Human Capital Policy, 2003

36. OECD Report, 2004 Source: Starting Strong ll: Early Childhood Education and Care; September 2006

37. Importance of Relationships "Human beings of all ages are happiest and able to deploy their talents to best advantage" when they experience trusted others as "standing behind them." Bowlby, 1973

38. Our Biological Unit of Survival“The Clan” We are WIRED to connect. We are unavoidably inter-dependant on each other YET . www.childtrauma.org

39. The Relational Landscape is changing.Children have fewer emotional, social and cognitive interactions with fewer people www.childtrauma.org

40. POVERTY OF RELATIONSHIPS The compartmentalizing of our culture has resulted in material wealth yet poverty of social and emotional opportunity. Modernity’s Paradox Hertzman and Keating www.childtrauma.org

43. Robert Putnam-Bowling Alone Social Capital “Defined as a resource-that stems from participation in certain social networks-that possess specific characteristics-which open up access to resources of varying value.

44. Collective Efficacy • A fusion of shared willingness of residents to intervene and social trust, shared sense of common values and a sense of engagement and ownership of public space.” • CE was found to affect crime rates more than factors typically associated with crime like poverty, unemployment or discrimination. Resulted in dramatically lower crime rates among communities with similar demographics. DR Felton Earls

45. Broken Windows or Collective Efficacy • Physical and social disorder in a neighbourhood lead to increased crime, if one broken window or aggressive squeegee man is allowed to remain in a neighbourhood, bigger acts of disorderly behaviour will follow.

46. In the year of our Lord 2007 • Bowling Alone • National Family Dinner Day • Spending more time studies…. • If not our culture , then whose? CLINTON

47. Relational Community (Tribe, Religion, etc.) Health Status, Cultural Environment and Socioeconomic Status & Resources ECD Services and Programs Civil Society Family, Cultural, Economic, & Social Environment Institutional/historical time Individual Brain and Biological Development, Genetics, Age, Sex Family Health Status and Dwelling Environment Residential Community Health Status and Cultural, Economic, Service & Social Environments Regional Health Status and Ecological, Economic, Policy, Political & Social Environments National Health Status, Ecological, Economic, Policy, Political & Social Environments Global Ecological, Corporate/Economic, Policy, Political & Social Environments

48. Many things we need can wait. The child cannot. Now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made, his mind is being developed. To him we cannot say tomorrow, his name is today. ~Gabriela Mistral