Sharing Web Resources

For the past several weeks, I have been studying the Children Defense Fund's website.  Out of all CDF's policy priorities, the top policies that are particular relevant to my professional development are "Ending Child Poverty," "Early Childhood Education and Care," and "Special Projects for Children in Need."  I found it extremely difficult to narrow it down to these three, as all issues regarding children are relevant to my professional development.  The "Moments in America, " and "Each Day in America" sections really made me think about public policy (as it relates to children and families) in a different way.  Those alarming numbers of disturbing events that happen to children, on a daily basis, really makes you wonder how is it that the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA can NOT get a "grip" on child poverty, child abuse/neglect, accessible health care and affordable HIGH-QUALITY early childhood education for ALL families?? That really opened my eyes and cause me to realize that much is still needed to be done at the federal and state levels of government to ensure a bright future for children.

CDF has an extensive list of how other organizations support the early childhood field.  CDF also refer many people to these organizations (nationwide) to enhance their work in improving the quality of life for children.

The other insight that I have gained from CDF's website are the many issues that various chidlren from diverse cultures and ethnic groups face.  I have learned so much from this section of CDF's website.

Sharing Web Resources

WEBSITE ADDRESS:  http://www.childrensdefense.org/

The organization I selected was the Children's Defense Fund.  The Children's' Defense Fund is the leading voice and advocacy organization for all children.  They have many agendas and initiatives that are leading the fight against child poverty, ensuring access to healthcare for all children and basically simply promoting a 'better" world for children.  The Children's Defense Fund Leave No Child Behind^® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities (www.childrensdefense.org).

THE FOLLOWING CURRENT ISSUE, ON CDF'S WEBSITE, CAUGHT MY ATTENTION:

A Call to Action for Infants and Toddlers

Infants and toddlers are the age group most vulnerable to child abuse and neglect and the largest group of children entering foster care. Just as their brains are undergoing dramatic development, these young children experience maltreatment that can lead to permanent damage to the brain’s architecture and lifelong problems. When not attuned to developmental needs, child welfare practices can compound this damage. CDF, in collaboration with ZERO TO THREE and other early childhood and child welfare organizations, recently released A Call to Action on Behalf of Maltreated Infants and Toddlers, with recommendations for policies, programs and practices to better address the developmental needs of infants and toddlers who come to the attention of the child welfare system. It provides a starting point for federal, state, and local policymakers and administrators to assess and identify where and how they can revise or institute policies and practices that protect the development of infants and toddlers and their safety (www.childrensdefense.org).

My Supports

• Here is the basic rule for winning success. Let's mark it in the mind and remember it. The rule is: Success depends on the support of other people. The only hurdle between you and what you want to be is the support of other people.
  ~ David Joseph Schwartz 
  
  
  
  
  My family has always been my biggest supporter.  Support can be in many forms, it can be emotionally, physically, intellectually, domestically and sporadic!  As I think about my daily supports, it would begin with the custodial staff in my building.  My boyfriend supports me in my career decision and during stressful times.  In the office, it is often times very stressful.  I believe that we support each other, in the office, through humor, lending a hand and friendship. My administrative assistant makes my daily work life much easier.  She supports me in the highest way possible.  As I sit here and think about my life without these supports, there is no way possible I could achieve the things I do.  As I reflect on this assignment, I am really humbled by the level of support I have received consistently throughout my life. 
  It's kind of hard for me to think of a challenge, but it was deaf, I would need hearing supports.  Due to my career, I would definitely need someone to communicate via sign language  to attend all of my meetings, with me, everyday.  I would also have to make sure that my staff were introduced to sign language, as well.  These supports would be needed, as they would enable me to communicate effectively with staff and and in meetings.  
  
  

"My Connections to Play"

"Play is our brain's favorite way of learning."
Diane Ackerman, Contemporary American author

"Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning."

Fred Rogers, American television personality, 1928–2003

Play was supported tremendously in my childhood.  During my entire childhood, I was fortunate enough to have a play room.  This was a separate room, which was located down the hall from my bedroom.  I can remember spending numerous hours just playing! I had a dramatic play kitchen area, China tea set, pots, pretend food, my fabulous wonder horse (it made all the sounds of a horse, trotting, galloping, everything!), my milking jersey cow, easy bake oven, my Barbies, my Baby Alive, Baby Magic, Walking Doll, my Barbie head, puzzles and many more.  My friends would come over and play in the play room with me, as well.  My parents allowed me to enjoy my childhood and provided me with many opportunities to enter and create my "own" world within my play room.  When I have a child, I am going to do the same thing for him or her. They also taught me that it was my space and that I had to keep it clean, as well. I am pretty sure, as a matter of fact, I know I never cleaned it spotless like an adult would have; however, I was learning the concept of responsibility and taking care of property.  As I grew older, my parents home was the one that everyone in the neighborhood visited.  After homework was finished, everyone would make it to my house and we would play kickball in the yard.  We would play until dawn everyday! 

Play is very different today, as the majority of play involves digital media and watching television.  Children are so absorbed into hand-held games, X-Box's, online activities and fewer outdoor play games.  This is very different because when I was a child, I feel that I had more "hands on" experiences with toys (puzzles, cooking pretend food, making mud pies, easy bake oven, playing outside, lots of outdoor play).  I did not feel like I "had" to be entertained, as I was comfortable exploring the toys and activities that I had in my possession.  My hope is that toy companies would place more emphasis on toys that allow children to imagine, explore and strengthen their curiosity.

The role of play throughout my childhood was critical in the person that I have become today.  It is quite funny, because as I was working on this assignment, I noticed that all of my play experiences are connected directly to my present hobbies, which are cooking, hair styling, reading, interior decorating, hosting event gatherings and fashion.  I believe that through play, I was able to discover my interests, my likes, as well as, dislikes.  Who knew that this would transcend into my adult life? lol...Play is what makes us all "tick"...it enables us to have those rich, "aha" moments, even as adults.


http://www.thestrong.org/about-play/play-quotes

Relationship Reflection

Keith and I have been friends since Junior High. We have known each other for 24 years. Over a span of 10 of those years, we kept in touch sporadically. The relationship Keith and I share was built on mutual love, innocence and mutual respect. I really do not believe that it was not until later in our adult life that we really got a chance to "know" each other for the individual we had developed into as an adult. Knowing as much, we still had a sound foundation from which to build a "new" relationship, as I always loved him so very much. Keith is important in my life because I am going to spend the rest of my life with him. Our relationship is important to me because I can draw strength, support, acceptance, peace and comfort from our relationship. Our relationship is a constant source of "calmness" to my mind, body and spirt. With him....I am alright. Our relationship has been able to remain positive and healthy despite a few challenges. I believe the factors that has made our relationship remain positive attribute to our true, genuine friendship, allowing each other to have personal space/time to reflect during disagreements/disputes, forgiveness, respect, ongoing communication and true love. (yes, what we share is rare and it is definitely true love). In order to maintain our relationship, lots of communication has always been required, as for many years, our relationship was a long-distance relationship. For the past four years, we have had the opportunity to live approximately 20-30 minutes within each other! At first, that was a challenge, as we were use to speaking on telephone, email and texts. We were still in that mode! lol! We would spend time together and not say a word and when we would depart, we would burn up the phone and text messaging! lol! How funny when I think about it now! So in order to maintain healthy communication within our relationship, we had to adjust our habits. One of the challenges that we had that was detrimental in maintaining our relationship was time. With Keith being an opera singer and me being a Director of a Head Start program, mapping time out, to spend together, can be extremely difficult. From my experiences, I have learned that all relationships go through stages which include, initiation, rapport building, acceptance, adaptation, establishment of an agreement and scheduling. Special characteristics would be common goals/beliefs, mutual feelings and stability.

Consequences of Stress on Children’s Development

A close friend of mine had an unfortunate childhood.  This was due mainly to growing up in impoverished conditions.  His environment consisted of extremely poor living conditions, verbal abuse, raising his younger siblings (forced to be an adult at a young age) and an environment that was not conducive to the positive development of a child. My friend had an outlet that provided him with ongoing opportunities to cope, as well as, survive.  These coping and survival opportunities were granted during his visits to his grandmother and father.  The visits would take him "out" and "away" from his impoverished environment.  Although, he had opportunities to see and experience a positive and healthy environment, it was not enough, as what he needed was to experience a positive, healthy and loving environment in a stable, consistent manner, especially from his mother.  The ramifications were extensive. Although, he has done quite well for himself, (graduating from college, as well as, graduate school and having a successful career), he has severe trust issues, is a survivor verbal abuse and has trouble initiating relationships.  He is a great guy and has a big heart.  Despite such, he admits to having a "fort knox" built around his heart, which is evident.  On the positive side, he is very loyal, honest, a workaholic (blessing and curse) and great team player.  He is blessed because he knew his weaknesses and was able to find  resources through therapy and counseling that are constantly enabling him to improve his quality of life.

 Although, child poverty is prevalent everywhere, I struggle with concentrating my research in other countries, as child poverty is"right here" at home, in the United States.  "Nearly 15 million children in the United States – 21% of all children – live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level – $22,050 a year for a family of four. Research shows that, on average, families need an income of about twice that level to cover basic expenses. Using this standard, 42% of children live in low-income families" (http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html).  "Most of these children have parents who work, but low wages and unstable employment leave their families struggling to make ends meet. Poverty can impede children’s ability to learn and contribute to social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Poverty also can contribute to poor health and mental health. Risks are greatest for children who experience poverty when they are young and/or experience deep and persistent poverty"(http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html). 

I believe children that grow up in poverty develop resilience, determination, mistrust, chronic stress and self-dependence.  I believe that learn how to survive by any means necessary.  

• Child poverty rates are highest among black, Latino, and American Indian children (http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html).
• Across the states, official child poverty rates range from 10% in New Hampshire to 30% in Mississippi (http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html).
• Some stressors of Child Poverty can include size of family household, education status of parents, marital status, employment status and the surrounding community.

"Research is clear that poverty is the single greatest threat to children’s well-being. But effective public policies – to make work pay for low-income parents and to provide high-quality early care and learning experiences for their children – can make a difference. Investments in the most vulnerable children are also critical" (http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html).  Investments in America's most vulnerable children that can help address poverty include, increased and secure funding for Head Start, increased and secure funding for high-quality child care and child care workers, secure funding for adequate public housing and law enforcement, increased and secure funding for job training programs and public policies that will allow reasonable, healthy, logical and realistic opportunities for uneducated parents/families to achieve true self-sufficiency and asset development.

Child Development and Public Health

For my public health topic, I selected Child Maltreatment, but my emphasis is on Neglect.  I selected this topic because many children are neglected on a daily basis.  In my opinion, neglect is a silent killer of children, as physical neglect is the most prevalent cause of death in children. I often feel that anyone can do "anything" to a child and receive very little punishment, if any.  There's much to be done to improve policy and law to protect all children.  Based on everything I know and have experienced, it usually left up to educational staff, concerned family or neighbors, medical staff or concerned friends to report neglectful situations to the proper authorities. 

Child Neglect: The Story of Jordan Heikamp (Video)

Neglect is the failure to meet a child’s basic needs. These needs include housing, food, clothing, education, and access to medical care (www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention).

 

Many researchers include neglect or harm caused by a lack of care on the part of parents or other caregivers as part of the definition of abuse (as cited on http://www.who.int/en/). Conditions such as hunger and poverty are sometimes included within the definition of neglect. Because definitions vary and laws on reporting abuse do not always require the mandatory reporting of neglect, it is difficult to estimate the global dimensions of the problem or meaningfully to compare rates between countries. Little research, for instance, has been done on how children and parents or other caregivers may differ in defining neglect. In Kenya, abandonment and neglect were the most commonly cited aspects of child abuse when adults in the community were questioned on the subject (as cited on http://www.who.int/en/). In this study, 21.9% of children reported that they had been neglected by their parents. In Canada, a national study of cases reported to child welfare services found that, among the substantiated cases of neglect, 19% involved physical neglect, 12% abandonment, 11% educational neglect, and 48% physical harm resulting from a parent’s failure to provide adequate supervision  (as cited on http://www.who.int/en/).      

There are Four Types of Neglect:

Physical neglect (the most prevalent cause of child death)

Physical neglect accounts for the majority of cases of maltreatment. Physical neglect generally involves the parent or caregiver not providing the child with basic necessities (e.g., adequate food, clothing and shelter). Failure or refusal to provide these necessities endangers the child’s physical health, well-being, psychological growth and development. Physical neglect also includes child abandonment, inadequate supervision, rejection of a child leading to expulsion from the home and failure to adequately provide for the child’s safety and physical and emotional needs. Physical neglect can severely impact a child’s development by causing failure to thrive; malnutrition; serious illness; physical harm in the form of cuts, bruises, burns or other injuries due to the lack of supervision; and a lifetime of low self-esteem (www.americanhumane.org)

Educational neglect

Educational neglect involves the failure of a parent or caregiver to enroll a child of mandatory school age in school or provide appropriate home schooling or needed special educational training, thus allowing the child or youth to engage in chronic truancy (www.americanhumane.org)

Emotional/Psychological neglect

Emotional/Psychological neglect includes actions such as engaging in chronic or extreme spousal abuse in the child’s presence, allowing a child to use drugs or alcohol, refusing or failing to provide needed psychological care, constantly belittling the child and withholding affection (www.americanhumane.org).

Medical neglect

Medical neglect is the failure to provide appropriate health care for a child (although financially able to do so), thus placing the child at risk of being seriously disabled or disfigured or dying (www.americanhumane.org) 

Although medical neglect is highly correlated with poverty, there is a distinction between a caregiver’s inability to provide the needed care based on cultural norms or the lack of financial resources and a caregiver’s knowing reluctance or refusal to provide care (www.americanhumane.org).

These situations do not always mean a child is neglected. Sometimes cultural values,  

the standards of care in the community, and poverty may be contributing factors,

indicating the family is in need of information or assistance. When a family

fails to use information and resources, and the child’s health or safety is at risk,

then child welfare intervention may be required. In addition, many States provide

an exception to the defi nition of neglect for parents who choose not to seek medical care 

for their children due to religious beliefs that may prohibit medical intervention (www.childwelfare.gov).

Athough I focused my research on "neglect", the physical abuse rates in other countries were quite disturbing and might be higher than the United States  Please see below.

Available research suggests that the rates for 

many other countries are no lower, and may be 

indeed higher than the estimates of physical abuse

in the United States. The following findings, among

others around the world, have emerged recently:

In a cross-sectional survey of children in

Egypt, 37% reported being beaten or tied up

by their parents and 26% reported physical

injuries such as fractures, loss of consciousness

or permanent disability as a result of being

beaten or tied up (as cited on http://www.who.int/en).

In a recent study in the Republic of Korea,

parents were questioned about their behaviour

towards their children. Two-thirds of

the parents reported whipping their children

and 45% confirmed that they had hit, kicked

or beaten them (as cited on http://www.who.int/en).

.A survey of households in Romania found that

4.6% of children reported suffering severe and

frequent physical abuse, including being hit

with an object, being burned or being

deprived of food. Nearly half of Romanian

parents admitted to beating their children

‘‘regularly’’ and 16% to beating their children

with objects (as cited on http://www.who.int/en).

 In Ethiopia, 21% of urban schoolchildren and

64% of rural schoolchildren reported bruises

or swellings on their bodies resulting from

parental punishment (as cited on http://www.who.int/en).

PLEASE READ: What are the Signs of Child Neglect and its Effect on Children

American Humane Association.  (2011).  Child neglect.  Retrieved from www.americanhumane.org

Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  (2010).  Understanding child maltreatment fact sheet.  Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention

Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2008, April).  What is child abuse and neglect?  Retrieved from www.childwelfare.gov

World Health Organization. (2002).  Child abuse and neglect by parents and other caregivers.  Retrieved from http://www.who.int/en/