Nobody makes a conscious decision to be a bad parent. People often just lack the resources or skills needed, they encounter other barriers, or make bad decisions along the way that result in the inability to effectively parent a child, more often than not perpetuating their disadvantage for yet another generation. Disadvantage allows poor social determinants to take hold. To break the cycle that is a root cause of today’s healthcare costs, we must find ways to finance programs that will inoculate disadvantaged children against poor social determinants.
While we can’t mandate a certain degree of financial stability, competency, and commitment to fully engage in the art/science of child-rearing before issuing a license to conceive, we can build upon the thinking behind models such as the Perry Preschool and Abecedarian Projects, as well as Healthy Start and Regional Intervention Program (RIP) concepts and their successes in an attempt to break the cycle of disadvantage and its role in the health of our nation. Public Health should focus on a continuum of services that begins during prenatal care with a needs assessment. Based on assessment scoring related to socio-economic status, potential for cross-generational determinants and other factors, at-risk families would be auto-enrolled in these types of programs. Healthy Start would be mandatory for all at-risk families, with progression through other services as ongoing screening dictates, using healthcare informatics in conjunction with public health, welfare, and education data to stratify families into specific social determinant risk categories for prevention and intervention services. When Little Johnny is taken to the doctor for his third ear infection in two months, th...
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Educare: creating comprehensive early care and education centers. (2014) CLASP Policy Solutions that Work for Low Income People. Retrieved on 2/22/14 from http://www.clasp.org/babiesinchildcare/state/educare-creating-comprehensive-early-care-and-education-centers
Heckman, J. J. (2012). Promoting social mobility. (cover story). Boston Review, 14-34.
Maher, E., Zulliger, K., Marcynszy, L., Wilson, D., Carroll, C.L., & Calpin, C. (2013). Making the Case for Early Childhood Intervention in Child Welfare. (2013). Casey Family Programs. Retrieved on 2/21/14 from http://www.casey.org/Resources/Publications/pdf/EarlyChildhoodIntervention.pdf
Pay now, break out of poverty later. (2007). Prevention Action. Retrieved 2/21/14 from http://www.preventionaction.org/what-works/pay-now-break-out-poverty-later
Vignette two: Families who previously had children enrolled in a nearby preschool have told you stories of what happened to their children in that center. They describe dirty sheets on the cribs, harsh punishments including withholding food, and ratios of twenty children to one adult. One day you drive by and see a lot covered with asphalt and dry grass. There are a few rusting pieces of playground equipment. Several children are standing along the chain link fence looking at the cars going by. There are no adults in sight.
In fiscal year 2009, the latest year for which data is available from the Administration for Children and Families (2010), the home to the Office of Head Start within the Department of Health and Human Services had an enrollment of 904,153, of which 3% were five-year-olds or older, 51% were four-year-olds, 46% were three-year-olds, and 10% were under three years of age. Children three and under are part of what is known as Early Head Start, an extension of the program that serves the youngest children. The Administration for Children and Families further disclosed that, in fiscal year 2010, 39.9% of children enrolled in Head Start were white, 30% were African-American or Black, and 35.9% were Latino. The sum of the...
In recent years, the number of children whose families fall under the line of poverty has risen at an alarming rate. Crosson-Tower (2013) postulated a reason for this increase when she said, “The recent weakening economy, a higher unemployment rate, unprecedented numbers of home foreclosures and a decline in the safety net for children and their families have resulted in a gradual continuing increase in children living in extreme poverty” (p. 57). Apparently, nearly every aspect of the United States’ crumbling economy affects a family’s ability to meet basic needs. The rise in single parent, mother headed families has not helped poverty statistics because of the lower earning potential of women. A major reason so many children liv...
meeting educational, health, social service, and parental needs. “Head Start also wants to help bring about a greater degree of social competence in these children (Mallory and Goldsmith, 2002).” The program has met a goal of impacting child development and day care services, and the increasing availability of services offered to low-income families and their children (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2002).
In the 1980s, child care was back on the national agenda due to the education reform movement (Tejada, 2010). Tejada further disclosed that several states even launched pre-kindergarten programs for disadvantaged children. Why the Need for Universal Preschool Two-thirds of 4-year-old children in the United States attend preschool, as well as 40% of 3-year-olds (Tejada, 2010). Half of those are enrolled in a public program, such as state prekindergarten (preK), Head Start, or special education, and the other half are in a private program (Adams, 2009). Despite such a large enrollment of children in these programs, there is still a handful of children who are missing out on obtaining a head start in obtaining a good quality education.... ...
Child welfare and family services: Policies and practices, USA: Parson Education Inc. Garbarino, J. (1992) The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secon Children and Families in the Social Environment, New York, NY: Walter De Gruyter, Inc. Walls, J. (2005). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary The Glass Castle, New York, NY: SCRIBNER.
According to the Children Defense Fund 1 in 13 children will live in extreme poverty in the United States and a family of four is extremely poor if their income is below 10,000 or half of the official poverty line. (http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/state-data-repository/census/census-2007-child-poverty-data.pdf,). Despite being wealthy the U.S. . has the highest rate of child poverty among all the other countries. Poor children are more likely to go hungry and are less likely to be read to during their early years. They are less likely to have health insurance and needed care. Poor children are more likely to start school behind their affluent peers and are less likely to graduate high school. They are more likely to grow up as poor adults and become involved in the criminal justice system. A family of four's annual income must be lower than 23,000 to reach child poverty. (http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/state-of-americas-children/documents/2014-SOAC_child-poverty.pdf(). Children in single parent homes were four times more likely to be poor than children in two adult families. Almost 70 percent of all children live with two parents.(http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/state-data.) The south has the highest child poverty rate with 1 in 4 children compared to 1 in 5 children in the rest of the country. Growing up in child poverty can be a major effect on a healthy development for a child. Poverty and stress about finances can have an effect on children's cognitive development and their ability to learn. It can contribute to behavioral problems, social and emotional problems, and poor health. Living in poverty affects how a chil...
Downs, S., Moore, E., McFadden, E., & Costin, L. (2004). Child welfare and family services: Policies and practice. (7th. Ed., pp. 319-363) Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Head Start does an adequate job at meeting the needs of children in the manner in which it was originally founded. The Head Start program is not bad and should not be done away with. But, from what I have learned through this study, amendments could be made to increase the longevity of the desired results. In this paper I will discuss the Head Start program. How Head Start has succeeded. The way it attempts to influence children’s behaviors. I will also discuss some of the shortcomings of the Head Start program and ways to make the program more effective.
In past few years, there are many countries that developed different programs and plans for intervention in child abuse and neglect. But, some of them fail to reach the goal. When there is contact with family or client, at this moment this is intervention. Effective prevention and early intervention services can make a difference when provided at the right time. Intervention is all about time, matter of weeks. In fact, at this critical period you can achieve a progress that is not even equivalent up to 3 years of case treatment and management. Intervention methods are just putting a bandage on the issue of child abuse and neglect (Mathieson, Reynolds, & Topizes, 2009).
.... (2013). Early childhood poverty and adult achievement, employment and health. Family Matters, (93), 27-35.
Morrison, G. S. (1976). Chapter 6: Early Childhood Programs APPLYING THEORIES TO PRACTICE. In Early childhood education today (10th ed., pp. 5-31). Columbus, Ohio: Merrill.
Programme planning is a vital sector in diverse early childhood education (ECE) service to provide quality education and care for young children. There are many ways we could plan things. The planning will link to the document of desirable of objectives (DOPs), Te Whariki and the licensing criteria which provide by the government. Planning in ECE cycle has no beginning and no end; it is a continued cycle day after day, week after week and year after year. Play is basic element to learn and develop in child’s life.
O'Halloran, P. (n.d.). Pregnancy, Poverty, School and Employment. www.moapp.org. Retrieved May 23, 2011, from www.moappp.org/pregnancypovertyschoolandemployment
Early childhood education plays a key role in a child’s academic development because he or she learns soft skills, job skills, and develop positive traits. Preschool is not like kindergarten, but instead a stepping-stone that prepares young students for the years of schooling they will have later in life. As more schools began to open families wanted to be able to verify that programs would benefit and protect their children. In response, the National Association for the Education of Young Children was made to help families find the best care for their children, by providing the early childhood educators with training and ensuring the quality of children’s daily experiences. (“NAEYC”5).