Questions for the Panel
Answered by Rick Allen, President, United Way of Pierce County

Does Pierce County have help for autistic children?

The Pierce County Early Learning Consortium business plan does include enhanced screening for children with special needs, and includes the idea of a “roving consultant” to help providers understand ways to identify and to help such kids.

Is there an effort in Washington State similar to the state-wide initiative in Massachusetts to “help traumatized children learn?”

The Pierce County Early Learning Consortium (PCELC) has not yet moved to address this very specific issue, probably because we have been focusing first on systems enhancements that will reach very large numbers of at-risk (but not necessarily traumatized) kids in the neighborhoods in which they live. When the fundamental design elements are fully developed and linked, we will be able to focus more precisely on specific issues such as helping traumatized kids. At the same time, the PCELC plan does include enhanced screenings and consultation to assist kids with special needs.

What can we do as a nation/community to eliminate the need for services for those who can’t give care [as parents] because they are in survival mode?

The Pierce County Early Learning Consortium participants believe one important answer is to begin working with very young children very early so that they are more successful in school and later in life. The research is clear—very early assistance results in children who grow to be adults who are more positive, more successful economically, and even better parents. So we are concentrating our work on very young children, taking the long-term view. If we stop the flow of kids into what becomes the “survival mode” when they are adults, we will have done something special. Interventions at a later age are not nearly as consistently effective and are much more expensive.

Since most children are raised by family, friends, and neighbors, what are the approaches and plans to provide these child care providers with the curricula they need to help kids get ready to learn?

When the Early Learning Consortium refers to “providers,” we include at-home care providers, family-friends-neighbors (FFN) providers, and licensed care providers. There are evidence-based models, proven to work, for all of these settings. A few include Parents as Teachers, Promoting First Relationships, the Nurse/Family Partnership, and Play and Learn. We hope to find models that can be widely used, are proven effective in a given setting, and are affordable and sustainable for the long-haul. We also want to use existing community administrative platforms (such as the Family Support Centers) as places to house these elements of the design.

There are hundreds of businesses and organizations involved in childcare and early learning in Tacoma/Pierce County. How can we create a system from all these entities to improve early learning?

You are correct. There are hundreds of pieces in this puzzle. For instance, we know there are about 800 licensed care providers in Pierce County, and about 175 kindergarten neighborhoods. And that’s just a fraction of all the players.

Vital to our success will be the ability to identify some important, simple, core elements of an overall design. For example, we know kids 0-5 years of age are in four basic provider settings: at-home care, family-friend-neighbor (FFN) care, licensed care, or state or federal programs like Head Start. We know there are 5 or 6 specific, evidence-based early learning models that work in these various settings. We know of about 10 key organizations doing groundbreaking work in Early Learning in our community, some of whom use these model programs. We know not all child care providers are ready to benefit from this work, but a small number are ready and willing to participate.

With such focus and using existing administrative structures, we can begin concentrating projects in targeted neighborhoods with ready-to-benefit providers willing to use selected evidence-based models. Once underway, we can slowly expand our outreach and link to other design elements.

Pierce County has a high rate of young teen moms. Would a reduction in this rate jump start a better start for early learning? Do we plan to help teens learn to parent before they become one?

Again, members of the Pierce County Early Learning Consortium believe the research: if you help very young kids to be ready to learn upon entering school, you dramatically increase their likelihood of success later in life. When that happens, lots of negative outcomes, including a high rate of teen moms, decline. There are teen mom programs aimed directly at teens. Our work aims at very young children, helping to ensure they are ready to learn and to succeed when entering school.

Answered by Dr. Jean Kelly of the University of Washington

1. What causes infant stress, and how does it effect brain development?

Infants experience stress due to physical discomfort, for example from receiving a shot or being overheated. Infants also experience stress due to social and relational causes, for example when they are separated from their caregiver or not receiving consistent, responsive care. Studies show that an infant’s level of stress goes up or down depending on whether he or she is able to maintain an emotional connection to a caregiver. This connection helps infants to regulate their physiology and behavior.

The physiology of stress shifts the body’s priorities to immediate survival. When stressed, our brains release hormones to cope, causing increased heart rate, blood sugar, and brain activity. Processes that are future-oriented, like learning things that don’t matter right now, are put on hold. The levels of stress experienced in infancy permanently shape stress responses in the brain, affecting memory, attention, and emotion. In this way, levels of stress during infancy can shape life-long abilities to learn, love, and work

Are these problems with early learning new? Why are we hearing so much lately?

There have always been challenges related to early development and learning in infants and young children. However, knowledge in this arena, as well as the social and economic circumstances of young children and their families, has changed.

An explosion of research has made inroads into explaining whether children get off to a promising or risky start in life. Insights into the importance of early life and relationship experiences, and the interactive influence of nature and nurture on the developing brain, have altered our understanding and capacity to support infant development. This is timely, as many infants and families are affected by profound changes in the balance of work and family life, economic hardship, and racial and ethnic disparities in health care and outcomes.

Are there any Pierce County Agencies involved in developing/working with your program?

Yes, we are very pleased to be working with several Pierce County agencies. Early Head Start, the Pierce County Health Department and the Alternative Response System are using Promoting First Relationships. The following Pierce County mental health agencies are also using PFR: Good Samaritan, Catholic Community Services, Greater Lakes, and Comprehensive Health. We have also trained Phoenix Housing Network staff and Healthy Child Care Washington child care consultants in Promoting First Relationships.