(NAME-MCE) STATEMENT OF ZERO TO THREE POLICY CENTER
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KispokoT at aol.com
Sat May 5 12:34:45 EDT 2007
Greetings,
This was shared with me by Dale King of the Mesa United Way. MUW serves
youth from many cultures and walks of life and their staff is truly dedicated to
helping all youth everywhere.
STATEMENT OF ZERO TO THREE POLICY CENTER
SUBMITTED TO THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SUBMITTED BY:
MATTHEW E. MELMED, J.D.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ZERO TO THREE
JANUARY 24, 2007
Chairman Rangel and Members of the Committee:
I am pleased to submit the following written testimony on behalf of ZERO TO
THREE. My name is Matthew Melmed. For the last 12 years I have been the
Executive Director of ZERO TO THREE, a national non-profit organization that has
worked to advance the healthy development of America’s babies and toddlers for
close to 30 years. I would like to start by thanking the Committee for its
interest in examining the economic and societal costs of poverty and for
providing me the opportunity to discuss the interaction between poverty and the
healthy development of our nation’s infants and toddlers and how federal policy
can help address the issues raised.
Some may wonder why babies matter in public policy. Surely they are the
province of their parents or caregivers. Yet, public policies often affect very
young children, policies that are sometimes created with little thought as to
their consequences for this age group. In addition, many policies focus on
the effects of ignoring the needs of infants and toddlers, for example, by
having to address the cognitive gaps between low-income preschoolers and their
more affluent peers or providing intensive special education services for
problems that may have begun as much milder developmental delays left untreated in
a young baby. Mr. Chairman, my message to you is that babies can’t wait—we
know that early intervention and prevention works best and we know what works
to promote healthy development in young children.
The early years create an important foundation for later school and life
success. We know from the science of early childhood development that infancy
and toddlerhood are times of intense intellectual engagement.i During this time
– a remarkable 36 months – the brain undergoes its most dramatic
development, and children acquire the ability to think, speak, learn, and reason. All
babies and toddlers need positive early learning experiences to foster their
intellectual, social, and emotional development and to lay the foundation for
later school success. These years may be even more critical for young
children living in poverty.
One of the most consistent associations in developmental science is between
economic hardship and compromised child development.ii The malleability of
young children’s development and the overwhelming importance of the family
(rather than school or peer) context suggest that economic conditions in early
childhood may be far more important for shaping children’s ability, behavior,
and achievement than conditions later in childhood.iii Lower-income infants
and toddlers are at greater risk than middle to high-income infants and
toddlers for a variety of poorer outcomes and vulnerabilities such as later school
failure, learning disabilities, behavior problems, mental retardation,
developmental delay, and health impairments.iv Babies and toddlers living in
high-risk environments need additional supports to promote their healthy growth and
development.
Congress must consider the unique needs of very young children and their
families who are living in poverty. Policies should help attack the
intergenerational cycle of poverty by laying the foundations for early learning and
improving prospects of later school success on the part of the children. We know
that intervening early in the life of a child at-risk for poor development can
help minimize the impacts of these risks. We must
ensure that infants, especially those living in poverty, have time at home
with their parents in the first months of life. We must also ensure that
infants and toddlers living in poverty have access to quality, developmentally
appropriate early learning programs such as Early Head Start or quality child
care to help ensure that they are ready for school.
Portrait of Infants and Toddlers Living in Poverty
There are more than 12 million infants and toddlers living in the United
States. Twenty-one percent – 2.6 million – live in poor families.v After a
decade of decline, the percentage of children under the age of 3 living in
low-income families is on the rise again.vi Between 2000 and 2005, the number of
children of all ages who were poor increased by 11 percent.vii During the same
period, the number of infants and toddlers who were poor increased by 15
percent.viii It is important to note that young children are disproportionately
impacted by economic stress. Forty-three percent of children under the age of
3 – 5.2 million – live in low-income families (defined as below 200 percent
of poverty).ix
The environmental stresses to which these children are more likely to be
exposed, such as inadequate nutrition, substance abuse, maternal depression,
exposure to environmental toxins, and trauma/abuse can all negatively influence
their development.x For example, the existence of maternal depression and
other adult mental health disorders can negatively affect children if parents
are not capable of providing consistent sensitive care, emotional nurturance,
protection and the stimulation that young children need.xi Maternal
depression, anxiety disorders, and other forms of chronic depression affect
approximately 10 percent of mothers with young childrenxii -- this number is even higher
for families in poverty. In fact, findings at enrollment from the Early Head
Start Research and Evaluation Project indicate that nearly half (48 percent)
of mothers reported enough depressive symptoms to be considered clinically
depressed.xiii Early and sustained exposure to the aforementioned risks can
influence the physical architecture of the developing brain, preventing babies
and toddlers from fully developing the neural pathways and connections that
facilitate later learning.
The Importance of Unhurried Time
Welfare to work policy is an area where the importance of infant and toddler
development may not be so obvious, but is a factor that should be given
great weight. The need for infants, especially, to spend time with their parents
should be balanced against society’s goal of moving adults quickly into the
workforce. Often, when this need is considered, it is only in the context of
the expense of providing child care for this group.
According to a groundbreaking report released by the National Academies of
Science, From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood
Development, parents structure the experience and shape the environment within which
a young child’s early development unfolds.xiv Infants and toddlers need
unhurried time with their parents to form the critical relationships with them
that will serve as the foundation for social, emotional, and cognitive
development. The better parents know their children, the more readily they will
recognize even the most subtle cues that indicate what the children need
to promote their healthy growth and development. For example, early on
infants are learning to regulate their eating and sleeping patterns and their
emotions. If parents can recognize and respond to their baby’s cues, they will be
able to soothe the baby, respond to his cues, and make the baby feel safe
and secure in his new world. Trust and emotional security enable a baby to
explore with confidence and communicate with others -- critical characteristics
that impact early learning and later school readiness.
At-risk infants and toddlers in particular need time with their parents
because their early attachments can help serve as a buffer against the impact of
the multiple risk factors they may face. Early attachments are critical for
infants and toddlers because a positive early relationship, especially with a
parent, reduces a young child’s fear in novel or challenging situations
thereby enabling her to explore with confidence and to manage stress and also
strengthens a young child’s sense of competence and efficacy.xv In addition,
early attachments set the stage for other relationships, foster the exploratory
behavior that is so critical to early learning, and play an important role in
shaping a young child’s ability to react to stressful situations.xvi
The need for time with infants has direct relevance to welfare to work
policies, and Congress should consider the developmental needs of infants and
toddlers in shaping these policies. Excessive mandatory work requirements for
low-income parents who are receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
(TANF) make unhurried time difficult. While states have the option of exempting
parents with infants from work requirements, many do not take advantage or
exempt these parents for only a few months.
There is evidence to suggest that long hours of maternal employment in the
child’s first year, can be a negative factor for infant development.xvii It is
particularly difficult for mothers with young children living in poverty
because of the kinds of jobs they tend to have (i.e. service jobs), the
nontraditional hours they are often required to work, and the poor quality child care
that is available. Young children living in poverty are much more likely to
have a mother who works nontraditional hours compared with young children
living above the poverty line.xviii Service jobs, which often entail very low
wages, few benefits and nontraditional work hours, are disproportionately
filled by less-educated women who now comprise a large group of mothers who are
entering the labor force as a result of welfare reform and federal work
requirements.xix
Finally, we know almost nothing about how the TANF program with its work
requirements has affected infants and toddlers, for good or ill. Some studies
have looked at the impact of TANF on older children, but ignore the impacts on
the youngest. I urge Congress to require research into the impacts this
program has on the well-being of infants and toddlers.
Early Head Start: A Beacon of Hope for Babies Living in Poverty
Comprehensive high quality early learning programs for infants and toddlers,
such as Early Head Start, can help to protect against the multiple adverse
influences that may hinder their development across all domains. Very young
children living in poverty are
more at-risk for a variety of poor outcomes than low-income families.
Programs like Early Head Start not only set the stage for later school readiness
and success, but also for the parent’s road to self-sufficiency.
Research from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, and its
companion follow-up results, concluded that the program is making a positive
difference in areas associated with children’s success in school, family
self-sufficiency, and parental support of child development. For example, Early
Head Start produced statistically significant, positive impacts on
standardized measures of children’s cognitive and language development. A smaller
percentage of Early Head Start children scored in the “at-risk” range of
developmental functioning. Early Head Start children had more positive interactions
with their parents than control group children. In addition, Early Head Start
significantly facilitated parents’ progress toward self-sufficiency. Although
there were not significant increases in income, there was increased parental
participation in education and job-training activities. The study also found
that Early Head Start parents were more involved and provided more support
for learning. Early Head Start parents were observed to be more emotionally
supportive and less detached than control-group parents. They also provided
significantly more support for language and learning than control-group parents.xx
The experience of Early Head Start suggests that exempting parents of young
children from work requirements need not mean an unproductive period. They
can be engaged in activities that are good for their own development as well as
that of their children—if resources are available. In fact, a few states
have channeled TANF funds into expanding Early Head Start services.
Although the benefits of Early Head Start are clear, the program is only
reaching a small proportion of at-risk children and families. Currently, only 10
percent of the overall Head Start budget is used to serve 61,243 low-income
families with infants and toddlers in the Early Head Start program – less
than three percent of those eligible. In order to ensure that the program can
serve more eligible babies, Congress must increase the Early Head Start
set-aside to at least 25 percent over five years and expand funding for Head Start
to make those increases a reality. We can’t wait until these at-risk children
are ready behind at age four to intervene.
Quality Child Care for At-Risk Infants and Toddlers
Second only to the immediate family, child care is the context in which
early childhood development most frequently unfolds, starting in infancy.xxi
According to 2005 data, 42 percent of one-year-olds and 53 percent of
one-to-two-year-olds have at least one regular non-parental care arrangement.xxii The
increase in the number of working parents with babies and toddlers comes at a
time when science has demonstrated the critical importance of supporting the
development and learning of children ages birth to three, and makes the need
for quality child care even more significant.
The evidence associating the quality of infant and toddler care with early
cognitive and language outcomes “is striking in consistency.”xxiii High
quality child care is associated with outcomes that all parents want to see in
their children, ranging from cooperation with adults to the ability to initiate
and sustain positive exchanges with peers, to early competence in math and
reading – all of which are key ingredients to later school success. However,
more than 40 percent of infants and toddlers are in child care rooms of poor
quality.xxiv
Research indicates that the strongest effects of quality child care are
found with at-risk children – children from families with the fewest resources
and under the greatest stress.xxv Yet, at-risk infants and toddlers who may
benefit the most from high-quality child care are unlikely to receive it – they
receive some of the poorest quality care that exists in communities across
the United States.xxvi Poor quality child care for at-risk children may
diminish inborn potential and lead to poorer developmental outcomes.xxvii
Congress should ensure that all babies and toddlers, particularly those
living in poverty, have access to quality child care. An increase in federal
funding for child care would lead to increased investments in quality and would
help to ensure that more low-income infants and toddlers have access to
quality child care settings. More funding needs to be directed specifically at
improving the quality of care for infants and toddlers, and providing
professional development opportunities with infant-toddler content for early childhood
staff who work with this age group.
Conclusion
During the first three years of life, children rapidly develop foundational
capabilities – cognitive, social and emotional – on which subsequent
development builds. These years are even more important for infants and toddlers
living in poverty. All young children should be given the opportunity to succeed
in school and in life. We know that all babies, especially those at-risk,
need unhurried time in the first months of life with their parents. We also
know that access to comprehensive, high-quality, developmentally appropriate
programs and services – whether Early Head Start or child care – can serve as a
protective factor for at-risk infants and toddlers.
Too often, the effect of our overall policy emphasis is to wait until
at-risk children are already behind developmentally before significant investments
are made to address their needs. I urge the Committee to change this pattern
and invest in at-risk infants and toddlers early on, when that investment can
have the biggest payoff -- preventing problems or delays that become more
costly to address as the children grow older. We do not need to accept that
vulnerable children will inevitably have already fallen behind at age four and
then provide special education and intensive prekindergarten services to help
them play catch up. We know what at-risk babies need to help them grow up
healthy and ready to learn. I urge the Committee to consider the very unique
needs of babies living in poverty as you address the economic and societal costs
of poverty.
Thank you for your time and for your commitment to our nation’s at-risk
infants, toddlers and families.
i Shonkoff, Jack and Phillips, Deborah. 2000. From neurons to neighborhoods:
The science of early childhood development. Washington, DC: National Academy
Press.
ii Ibid.
iii Ibid.
iv Ibid.
v Douglas-Hall, Ayona., Chau, Michelle., and Koball, Heather. 2006. Basic
facts about low-income children: Birth to age 3. September 2006.
_http://www.nccp.org/media/ecp06b_text.pdf_ (http://www.nccp.org/media/ecp06b_text.pdf)
(accessed February 5, 2007).
vi Ibid.
vii Ibid.
viii Ibid.
ix Ibid.
x National Center for Children in Poverty. 1999. Poverty and Brain
Development in Early Childhood. _http://www.nccp.org/media/pbd99-text.pdf_
(http://www.nccp.org/media/pbd99-text.pdf) (accessed February 6, 2007).
xi Cohen, Julie., Onunaku, Ngozi., Clothier, Steffanie., and Poppe, Julie.
2005. Helping young children succeed: Strategies to promote early childhood
social and emotional development. Washington, DC: National Conference of State
Legislatures and ZERO TO THREE.
xii M. O’Hara, Postpartum Depression: Causes and Consequences (New York, NY:
Springer-Verlag Inc., 1994).
xiii Early Head Start Evaluation and Research Project, Research to Practice:
Depression in the Lives of Early Head Start Families (Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and
Families, January 2003).
xiv Shonkoff, Jack and Phillips, Deborah. 2000. From neurons to
neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Washington, DC: National
Academy Press.
xv Ibid.
xvi Ibid.
xvii Ibid.
xviii Ibid.
xix Ibid.
xx U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children
and Families. 2002. Making a difference in the lives of infants and toddlers
and their families. The impacts of Early Head Start.
xxi Shonkoff, Jack and Phillips, Deborah. 2000. From neurons to
neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Washington, DC: National
Academy Press.
xxii Schumacher, Rachel, Hamm, Katie, Goldstein, Anne, and Lombardi, Joan
2006. Starting off right: Promoting child development from birth in state early
care and education initiatives. Washington, DC: Center for Law and Social
Policy and ZERO TO THREE.
xxiiiShonkoff, Jack and Phillips, Deborah. 2000. From neurons to
neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Washington, DC: National
Academy Press.
xxiv Cost, Quality and Child Outcomes Study Team. Cost, Quality and Child
Outcomes in Child Care Centers, Public Report, 2nd edition. (Denver Economics
Department, University of Colorado at Denver, 1995).
xxv Shonkoff, Jack and Phillips, Deborah. 2000. From neurons to
neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Washington, DC: National
Academy Press.
xxvi Ibid.
xxvii Ibid.
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