Stanford Center on Early Childhood

Extreme weather events are becoming more commonplace, raising concerns among parents of young children and child care providers. Facing these issues is the first step to addressing them, writes RAPID senior advisor Joan Lombardi, PhD, in this new guest commentary. https://lnkd.in/gD4xtwGi

When I first heard about states deregulating child care, I wondered how child care teachers and programs were doing-- before and at the time when lawmakers decided to increase group sizes and ratios and put teen workers into these classrooms. After all, exclusive data provided to us by RAPID Survey Project found nearly 45 percent of child care providers said the quality of the care they offer has been affected by pandemic-­related stressors. Are lawmakers making these decisions with full knowledge of what conditions are like and how hard it is to work in child care? (A Kansas lawmaker who cowrote a deregulation bill told me no, she was unaware of quality and safety concerns). My colleague Sara Hutchinson and I looked through hundreds of pages of inspection reports in states that are deregulating to find out. It wasn't hard to find disturbing conditions for kids. Programs were staffed with teachers who were getting so frustrated, they were yelling at children — including swearing at them, calling them “pussies” and telling them to “shut up” — and abusing children or in some cases, ignoring them. Teachers withheld food as punishment. There were examples of abuse and hazardous items being left within reach of young children, including cleaning supplies, medication, a gun safe with ammunition inside and the key in the lock, alcohol, a rat trap, knives and a saw. These conditions suggested that teachers were already stressed out and overwhelmed, likely not receiving the support needed to handle even more children in their care with less training, like lawmakers were pushing. (As one child care director told me when I asked how higher staff-to-child ratios impact her: "Literally all you're doing is changing diapers and trying to keep them alive.") Here's a look at how I started reporting this story, and what we found about conditions for children as we were tracking deregulation:

Ready for School, Ready for Life uses an integrated data system to connect families with needed services through every step of their parenting journey. The Guilford County, North Carolina organization is the focus of our newest #ECX spotlight. The series features voices who are making change in their communities. “Similar organizations are either linking data across partners to improve continuity of service or linking administrative and programmatic data sets for more of an analytic intention,” says Ready Ready Chief Impact Officer Jacqueline S. McCracken. “But they aren’t doing both at the same time, and that’s why we're being tapped by other communities," she said. "They want to see what we've put in place around tracking our progress and service and how we are using that to improve families’ experiences and outcomes.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/gUsY_9Cy #StanfordEarlyChildhood

“Many children spend their days in 'language isolation,' experts report, deprived of adequate interactions with caregivers. For decades, children have simply been surviving their care, not thriving in it. And, once again, Covid only exacerbated the problem: Nearly 45 percent of childcare providers said the quality of the care they offer has been affected by pandemic-related stressors, according to a survey earlier this year for The Hechinger Report by RAPID, a project of the Stanford Center on Early Childhood.” Read more from The Nation: https://lnkd.in/gC8b8RmA

The majority of Harris County, Texas, parents with young children report high levels of emotional distress. RAPID surveys ask parents with young children about their emotional well-being, and measures emotional distress as a composite of four experiences: stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness. RAPID survey data show that nearly two in three (64%) Harris County parents with young children report experiencing emotional distress. Of the parents who experience emotional distress symptoms, anxiety is the most prevalent symptom that parents experience (52%), followed closely by stress (43%), loneliness (42%), and depression (37%). In other analyses, RAPID data has consistently shown a chain reaction of hardship. That is, as parents’ experiences of hardship increase, they are also more likely to report emotional distress (higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness), which, in turn, is associated with an increase in emotional distress among their young children. https://lnkd.in/gYuxbe44

Every child deserves access to healthy food to help them grow up strong and well, but recent data from the RAPID Survey Project show that many parents and caregivers have been concerned about food security, especially since the pandemic. The good news? Strong nutrition policies can help. A new survey shows that in states with #UniversalSchoolMeals policies in place, families are experiencing lower rates of food insecurity. We know that a free school meals policy for all works on the state level—now, let’s implement that nationally! Explore other findings from RAPID on food security: https://lnkd.in/guC7nAad

In this new fact sheet, we lay out what we’ve learned from parents with children under age 6 in Harris County – the most-populated county in Texas and home to the city of Houston – about their experiences with child care, and family economic and emotional well-being. https://lnkd.in/gYMnzq4v

Only 29.9% of children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) receive adequate nurturing care during ages 2-5. This gap highlights the need for more comprehensive early childhood programs to ensure every child’s potential is reached. A new series in The Lancet, Early Childhood Development and the Next 1000 Days, is co-authored by SCEC Associate Director Jelena Obradović and Senior Advisor Joan Lombardi. Read part 1: https://lnkd.in/gpJ8U89m Part 2: https://lnkd.in/gdpD_jVN

"Nearly half of California’s parents with children younger than 6 are experiencing material hardship, according to the RAPID Survey Project at Stanford’s Center on Early Childhood. These parents have difficulty paying for basic needs such as food, housing and medical care. Intuitively, Stanford’s research also finds that when caregivers can’t meet their family’s basic needs, their emotional distress increases. And when their emotional distress increases, so does the emotional distress of children. "But the good news is that help helps. Stanford’s research found that government financial relief during the pandemic reduced emotional distress for young families because they could afford essentials and pay their bills." https://lnkd.in/gcdDt_Qp

Another Stanford Center on Early Childhood #ECX Community Spotlight featuring the transformative #earlychildhood systems work happening in Memphis. https://lnkd.in/gUNYe_89. Thank you Mark Swartz and all those engaged in this inspiring work.