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Birth to Six Initiative
Topic One: Introduction to Birth to Six
1
Getting to Know Each Other
• Introductions Activity:
– Share name, position, and one memory from
your childhood between birth and six years old.
2
Learning Objectives
• Gain understanding of the unique needs of young
children
• Understand the benefits of the Birth to Six Initiative
• Learn how trauma impacts young children’s
development
• Value the practice and systemic changes needed to
best meet the needs of these children
3
Pre-Test
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Overview of Birth to Six Initiative
• Acknowledges that young children require
special attention in the child Welfare system
• Addresses developmental needs of young
children
• Creates system change to align with values
and goals of Initiative
5
Goals of Birth to Six Initiative:
1. Meet the developmental needs of children in
foster care
2. Minimize the impact of separation and trauma on
development
3. Decrease the number/rate of children in foster care
4. Decrease the length of stay of children in foster
care
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Benefits of the Initiative
•
•
•
Increased awareness by staff and caregivers of the
importance of attachment and the impact of
separation and loss on a young child’s bonding
process.
Increased caregiver capacity to nurture and care
for the young child who has been impacted by
neglect, abuse and separation trauma.
Increased identification of foster children who are
impacted by trauma and loss and need early
intervention.
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Benefits (continued)
•
•
•
•
Increased number of children
receiving developmental
assessments.
Increased number of children
who receive appropriate
referrals and services that meet
their health, dental, education,
mental health and
developmental needs.
Improved childparent/caregiver visitation
protocol developed.
Increased timeliness for child
reunification with family.
• Increased timeliness to
permanency by way of adoption
and guardianship.
• Decreased re-entry into foster
care after reunification.
• Increased child well being in
health, mental health and in
attachments.
• Decrease in number of children
entering foster care.
• Decrease length of stay for
children who enter foster care.
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Unique Needs of Young Children
• Brain is growing and developing
“The capacity and desire to form emotional relationships
is related to the organization and functioning of
specific parts of the brain. Just as the brain allows us
to see, smell, taste, talk and move, it is the organ that
allows us to love – or not.” Bruce D. Perry, M.D.,
Ph.D.
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Unique Needs of Young Children
• Attachment and bonding are occurring
– “special enduring form of emotional relationship
with a specific person.”
• Rapid growth in physical, cognitive and
emotional development
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DATA
What do we know….?
11
California Foster Care
• In October 2010, there were 19,467 children
under the age of six in foster care
– 3313 children under age 1
– 7,586 1-2 year olds
– 8,747 3-5 year olds
34% of all the children (57,954) in foster care
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Impact of Trauma and Abuse
In the United States, approximately 5
million children experience some
form of traumatic event each year.
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Trauma is…
…a psychologically distressing event that is
outside the range of usual human
experience. Trauma often involves a sense
of intense fear, terror, and helplessness.
Not the same as stress.
14
Trauma…
…Overwhelms
a person’s capacity
to cope
15
How does trauma affect young children?
• The type of traumatic event will affect its impact on
a child
• The child’s age and developmental stage will
influence how powerful and dangerous the
traumatic event feels to him
• The child’s care giving environment and social
supports shape the way in which the child reacts
and copes with the traumatic event.
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Trauma Impact
• Causes developmental delays
• Causes eating problems (hoarding,
swallowing problems, throwing up food,
failure to thrive)
• Poor emotional functioning
• Inappropriate modeling of adult behavior
• Aggression
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The Problem is…
…social problems manifest later in life
-
Teen age pregnancy
Drug abuse
School failure
Victimization
Anti-social behavior
18
Traumatized Children
• Behaviors can be out of control, fearful,
disruptive, or excessively aggressive
• Children may be “flooded” with feelings of
fear and anxiety.
19
Neuropsychiatric Conditions Develop
–Dissociative Disorder
–Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
–Conduct Disorders
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Dissociation
• Mental process of disengaging from the
stimuli in the external environment and
attending to inner stimuli.
–
–
–
–
Inner fantasy world
Disorientation
Loss of identity
Perceptual disturbances
21
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• PTSD is a neuropsychiatric disorder that may
develop following a traumatic event.
• It is characterized by three key sets of
symptoms:
1) re-experiencing and re-enactment,
2) avoidance, and
3) physiological hyper-reactivity
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Hallmark Symptoms of PTSD :
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
RE-ENACTMENT
Play
Drawing
Nightmares
Intrusive ideations
AVOIDANCE
Being withdrawn
Daydreaming
Avoiding other children
• PHYSIOLOGICAL
HYPERREACTIVITY
• Anxiety
• Sleep problems
• Hyper vigilance
• Behavioral impulsivity
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What are some of the losses young
children have experienced?
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Young Children in Foster Care
• Have experienced abuse and/or neglect in the primary home
• Have not received healthy parenting experiences in the
primary home
• Experience separation from primary caregiver, usually the
mother
• Experience multiple caregivers
• Experience placement instability
• May not experience necessary nurturance to develop and
attach
25
Young children in foster care
• 80% of young children placed in out-of-home
care were exposed prenatally to substance
use.
• Nearly 40% were born premature or lowbirth weight and over half had a chronic
health condition and/or developmental
delay.
26
Young Children in Foster Care
• 4-6% of the general child population have
developmental delays
• As high as 60% of children in foster care have
developmental delays:
–
–
–
–
57% language delays
33% cognitive problems
31% gross motor delays
10% growth problems
27
Young Children in Foster Care
• 25-40% of children younger than six
entering out of home care have significant
behavioral problems as compared to 3-6% of
the general preschool population
28
• Developmental and behavioral impairments
are correlated with longer lengths of stay in
care and reduced likelihood of family
reunification or adoption
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Theoretical Framework
for Birth to Six Initiative
• Attachment Theory
• Optimal child development occurs when a
spectrum of needs are consistently met over an
extended period.
• Having at least 1 adult who is devoted to and loves a
child unconditionally, who is prepared to accept
and value that child for a long time, is key to
helping a child overcome the stress and trauma of
abuse and neglect.
30
Wrap Up
• Next Session – The Emotional and
Developmental Needs of Young Children
31