Connecting Health and Learning Part I: The Science

Contents Podcast Additional Resources Transcript   In December 2023, we continued our Place Matters webinar series with our second installment: “Understanding Racism’s Impact on Child Development: Working Towards Fairness of Place in the United States.” During the webinar, Stephanie Curenton, PhD, Nathaniel Harnett, PhD, Mavis Sanders, PhD, and Natalie Slopen, ScD, discussed their latest research, exploring how racism gets “under the skin” to impact children’s development and how it contributes to unequal access to opportunity in the places where children live, grow, play, and learn. Together, they explored ways to dismantle systemic barriers and work toward solutions that promote healthy child development. The webinar discussion has been adapted for this episode of the Brain Architects podcast.  Additional Resources Place Matters: The Environment We Create Shapes the Foundations of Healthy Development Moving Upstream: Confronting Racism to Open Up Children’s Potential Priorities for Child Trends’ Applied Research Agenda on Black Children and Families - Child Trends A Bibliographic Tool on Protective Community Resources for Children and Youth - Child Trends Black Children and Youth Can Benefit From Focused Research on Protective Community Resources - Child Trends Black Adolescents Are More Likely to Flourish in Neighborhoods Featuring Four Key Amenities - Child Trends Transcript   Cameron Seymour-Hawkins: Welcome to The Brain Architects, a podcast from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. I’m Cameron Seymour-Hawkins, the Center’s Communications Coordinator.Our Center believes that advances in the science of child development provide a powerful source of new ideas that can improve outcomes for children and their caregivers. By sharing the latest science from the field, we hope to help you make that science actionable and apply it in your work in ways that can increase your impact. In December, we continued our Place Matters webinar series with our second installment: “Understanding Racism’s Impact on Child Development: Working Towards Fairness of Place in the United States.” During the webinar, Doctors Stephanie Curenton, Nathaniel Harnett, Mavis Sanders, and Natalie Slopen, discussed their latest research, exploring how racism gets “under the skin” to impact children’s development and how it contributes to unequal access to opportunity in the places where children live, grow, play, and learn. Together, they explored ways to dismantle systemic barriers and work toward solutions that promote healthy child development. We’re excited to share this conversation on today’s episode of the Brain Architects podcast. Now, without further ado, here’s Tassy Warren, the Center’s Deputy Director and Chief Strategy Officer, who will set the stage for our conversation. Tassy Warren: Hello. Welcome to today's webinar. Understanding Racism's Impact on Child Development. Working towards fairness of place in the United States. We're so excited to bring you into this conversation. Whether you're joining us for the first time or are a regular to the Center on the Developing Child, thank you for being here today. This webinar is part of our Place Matters Webinar series. The series is designed to expand upon our Center's recent work on how influences from our environments, particularly the built in natural environments, play a role in shaping early childhood development beginning before birth. Throughout this series, we're highlighting scientific and community expertise and offering strategies to work towards fairness of place and to create the conditions that will allow all children to thrive. Today's conversation will explore the intersection between policy, systemic inequalities, racial disparities, and children's healthy development. We hope that you'll gain insights that are helpful to you in the work you do in support of children and families.

Contents Podcast Panelists Additional Resources Transcript   In the fall of 2023, we kicked off our three-part Place Matters webinar series with our first installment: “A New Lens on Poverty: Working Towards Fairness of Place in the United States.” The webinar discussion featured the work of Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH, FAAP, whose research uncovered the water crisis in Flint, H. Luke Shaefer, PhD, co-author of the new book The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America, and their groundbreaking new program, RxKids, an innovative effort to address child poverty and improve health equity. This conversation, moderated by our Chief Science Officer, Lindsey Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP, has been adapted for the Brain Architects podcast.   Panelists Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH, FAAPFounding Director, Pediatric Public Health Initiative  H. Luke Shaefer, PhDProfessor of Public Policy and Director of Policy Solutions, University of Michigan  Lindsey C. Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP (Moderator)Chief Science Officer, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Rebecca Hansen, MFA (Webinar Host)Director of Communications, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Amelia Johnson (Podcast Host)Communications Specialist, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Additional Resources Place Matters: The Environment We Create Shapes the Foundations of Healthy Development RxKids The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City Transcript Amelia Johnson: Welcome to The Brain Architects, a podcast from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. I’m Amelia Johnson, the Center’s Communications Specialist. Our Center believes that advances in the science of child development provide a powerful source of new ideas that can improve outcomes for children and their caregivers. By sharing the latest science from the field, we hope to help you make that science actionable and apply it in your work in ways that can increase your impact.  In October, we kicked off our three-part Place Matters webinar series with our first installment: “A New Lens on Poverty: Working Towards Fairness of Place in the United States.” During the webinar, Dr. Lindsey Burghardt, our Chief Science Officer, moderated a discussion between Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, whose research uncovered the water crisis in Flint, and H. Luke Shaefer, co-author of the new book The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America. The resulting explores how the qualities of the places where people live are shaped by historic and current policies, which have created deep disadvantage across many communities with important implications for the health and development of the children who live there. We’re happy to share these insights with you all on today’s episode.  Now, without further ado, here’s Rebecca Hansen, the Center’s Director of Communications, who will set the stage with a brief overview of the webinar series.  Rebecca Hansen: Alright, hello, everyone. My name is Rebecca Hansen, and I'm the Director of Communications here at the Center on the Developing Child. And I'm very excited to welcome you all to today's webinar, A New Lens on Poverty: Working Toward Fairness of Place in the United States. This webinar is the first in an ongoing series designed to examine the many ways that a child's broader environment, including the built and natural environments, as well as the systemic factors that shape those environments, all play a role in shaping early childhood development beginning before birth. In this series, we will explore various environment tool influences from both scientific and community-based perspectives, including strategies to work toward fairness of place and improve existing conditions to allow all children to thrive.

Contents Podcast Panelists Additional Resources Transcript In June, we hosted a webinar about our latest Working Paper, Place Matters: The Environment We Create Shapes the Foundations of Healthy Development, which examines how a wide range of conditions in the places where children live, grow, play, and learn can shape how children develop. The paper examines the many ways in which the built and natural environment surrounding a child can affect their development, emphasizes how the latest science can help deepen our understanding, and points towards promising opportunities to re-design environments so that all children can grow up in homes and neighborhoods free of hazards and rich with opportunity. Corey Zimmerman, our Chief Program Officer, moderated a discussion around these themes between Dr. Lindsey Burghardt (Chief Science Officer) and Dr. Dominique Lightsey-Joseph (Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy) which has been adapted for this episode of the Brain Architects podcast.     Panelists Tassy Warren, EdM (Podcast Host)Deputy Director and Chief Strategy Officer, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Corey Zimmerman, EdM (Moderator)Chief Program Officer, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Lindsey C. Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAPChief Science Officer, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Dominique Lightsey-Joseph, EdD, EdMDirector of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) Strategy, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Additional Resources Place Matters: The Environment We Create Shapes the Foundations of Healthy Development Place Matters: An Action Guide for Policy Place Matters: What Surrounds Us Shapes Us Child Opportunity Index (COI) Healthy School Environments - US Environmental Protection Agency Transcript Tassy Warren: Welcome to The Brain Architects, a podcast from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. I’m Tassy Warren, the Center’s Deputy Director and Chief Strategy Officer. Our Center believes that advances in the science of child development provide a powerful source of new ideas that can improve outcomes for children and their caregivers. By sharing the latest science from the field, we hope to help you make that science actionable and apply it in your work in ways that can increase your impact. In June, we hosted a webinar about our latest Working Paper, Place Matters: The Environment We Create Shapes the Foundations of Healthy Development, which examines how a wide range of conditions in the places where children live, grow, play, and learn can shape how childre During the webinar, Corey Zimmerman, our Chief Program Officer, moderated a discussion around these themes between Dr. Lindsey Burghardt (Chief Science Officer) and Dr. Dominique Lightsey-Joseph (Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy) which we're happy to share with you all on today’s episode. To access the full Working Paper and related publications, please visit our website at developingchild.harvard.edu. Now, without further ado, here’s Corey Zimmerman.   Corey Zimmerman: Hi, everybody. Welcome. I'm Corey Zimmerman. I'm the Chief Program Officer here at the Center on the Developing Child, and today we're going to be discussing a paper, the name of it is Place Matters: The Environment We Create Shapes the Foundation of Healthy Development. This paper was written by our National Scientific Council on Developing Child and was released earlier this year in March. We see this webinar as an opportunity to begin to understand a broader frame for thinking about what influences early childhood development, the role that inequity plays in influencing the environment children are in, and third, some early thoughts on new actors or sectors that might be called upon given this broader frame,

Contents Podcast Panelists Additional Resources Transcript In April, we hosted a webinar about the recently released IDEAS Impact Framework Toolkit—a free online resource designed to help innovators in the field of early childhood build improved programs and products that are positioned to achieve greater impact in their communities. During the webinar, we provided an overview of the site and had the opportunity to hear from two organizations in the field about how they leveraged the toolkit and its resources to shape their work: Valley Settlement and Raising a Reader. This episode of the Brain Architects podcast features highlights from the webinar. If you’re interested in hearing a full walk through of the toolkit by the Director of our Pediatric Innovation Initiative, Dr. Melanie Berry, please head over to our YouTube channel to view the full webinar recording. Panelists Aeshna Badruzzaman, PhD (Moderator)Senior Project Manager for Instructional Design, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Melanie Berry, PsyDDirector of the Pediatric Innovation Initiative, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Sally Boughton, MNMDirector of Development & Communications at Valley Settlement Andres Garcia Lopez, EdM, MBASenior Project Manager, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Karla ReyesProgram Manager of El Busesito Mobile Preschool Program at Valley Settlement Michelle Sioson HymanSenior Vice President, Programs and Partnerships at Raising a Reader Corey Zimmerman, EdM (Podcast Host)Chief Program Officer, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Additional Resources IDEAS Framework Toolkit Valley Settlement Raising a Reader Transcript Corey Zimmerman: Welcome to the Brain Architects, a podcast from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. I'm Corey Zimmerman, the Center's Chief Program Officer. Our Center believes that advances in the science of child development provide a powerful source of new ideas that can improve outcomes for children and their caregivers. By sharing the latest science from the field, we hope to help you make that science actionable, and apply it in your work in ways that can increase your impact. With that goal in mind, the Center recently released the IDEAS Impact Framework Toolkit—a free online resource designed to help innovators in the field of early childhood build improved programs and products that are positioned to achieve greater impact in their communities. The Toolkit is self-guided, self-paced, and provides a structured and flexible approach that facilitates program development, evaluation, and fast-cycle iteration, including resources to help teams develop and investigate a clear and precise Theory of Change. In April, we hosted a webinar about the toolkit, where we provided an overview of the site and had the opportunity to hear from teams at several organizations in the field about how they leveraged the toolkit and its resources to shape their work. We’re excited to share those discussions with you here on this episode of the Brain Architects podcast. If you’re interested in hearing a full walk through of the toolkit, by the Director of our Pediatric Innovation Initiative, Dr. Melanie Berry, please head over to our YouTube channel to view the full webinar recording. You’ll also hear from Dr. Melanie Berry during the Q&A portion. The full IDEAS toolkit we’ll be talking about today can be found at ideas.developingchild.harvard.edu. And now, without further ado, here’s Dr. Aeshna Badruzzaman, the Center’s Senior Project Manager for Instructional Design and the moderator for our panel discussion. Aeshna Badruzzaman: Hello, everyone. Welcome. My name is Dr. Aeshna Badruzzaman. I am a Senior Project Manager for Instructional Design at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University or HCDC,

Contents Podcast Panelists Additional Resources Transcript These days, resilience is needed more than ever, and one simple, underrecognized way of supporting healthy and resilient child development is as old as humanity itself: play. Far from frivolous, play contributes to sturdy brain architecture, the foundations of lifelong health, and the building blocks of resilience, yet its importance is often overlooked. In this podcast, Dr. Jack Shonkoff explains the role of play in supporting resilience and five experts share their ideas and personal stories about applying the science of play in homes, communities, and crisis environments around the world. Panelists Andres Bustamante, Assistant Professor, University of California Irvine School of Education Laura Huerta Migus, Deputy Director, Office of Museum Services at Institute for Museum and Library Services Lynneth Solis, Researcher and lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education Erum Mariam, Executive Director, BRAC Institute of Educational Development, BRAC University Michael Yogman, Pediatrician, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Hospital Additional Resources Resources from the Center on the Developing Child Video: Play in Early Childhood: The Role of Play in Any Setting Video: How-to: 5 Steps for Brain-Building Serve and Return Handout: 5 Steps for Brain-Building Serve and Return Video: Building Babies’ Brains Through Play: Mini Parenting Master Class (from UNICEF) Report: Three Principles to Improve Outcomes for Children and Families InBrief: The Science of Resilience Resources from Our Guests Panel Learning to Cope through Play UCI STEM Learning Lab Playful Learning Landscapes Understanding the Social Wellbeing Impacts of the Nation's Libraries and Museums Play in Humanitarian Settings 5 Takeaways from Supporting Refugee Parents to Help Children Learn and Thrive During Covid-19 BRAC Humanitarian Play Lab: when playing becomes healing BRAC: ECD and Play “I try to take their pain away through play”: A healing experiment in Rohingya refugee camps (Quartz: membership required) Prescription for Play The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children Preventing Childhood Toxic Stress: Partnering with Families and Communities to Promote Relational Health Transcript Sally Pfitzer, host: Welcome to the Brain Architects, a podcast from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. I’m your host, Sally Pfitzer. Our Center believes that advances in science can provide a powerful source of new ideas that can improve outcomes for children and families. We want to help you apply the science of early childhood development to your everyday interactions with children and take what you’re hearing from our experts and panels and apply it to your everyday work. So in today’s episode, we’re going to get serious about the topic of play. For children, play is a fundamental building block of child development, but its role in supporting resilience is often overlooked. And after the past few years, we surely need resilience now more than ever! For me, as a former preschool teacher, I’m especially excited about this episode and speaking with today’s experts, because I’ve seen first-hand how important play is for young children’s development. But what can science tell us about it? And what can be done to support more play in everyday life, even in crisis contexts? In this podcast, we’ll dive into the science of play and resilience, and then we’ll explore how people are using that knowledge to support child development around the world. To explain the science, we’ll start with Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Professor of Child Health and Development and the Director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. So Jack, what do we mean by resilience and what do we know about how people develop it?...

The devastating toll of the pandemic has underscored the critical importance of connecting what science is telling us to the lived experiences of people and communities. In March of 2020, we recorded episodes exploring the impact the coronavirus pandemic could have on child development. Now, a year later, we wanted to continue these conversations and discuss what we've learned, what needs to change, and where we go from here. Contents Podcast Speakers Additional Resources Transcript In the final episode in this special series, host Sally Pfitzer speaks with Dr. Nancy Rotter, a pediatric psychologist and the Director of Psychology in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ambulatory Care Division at Massachusetts General Hospital. They discuss how the pandemic changed conversations around mental health, why we need to integrate mental health into the context of overall health, and what caregivers can do to help children prepare for the lessening of restrictions and the return to school. Subscribe below via your podcast platform of choice to receive all new episodes as soon as they’re released. Speakers Sally Pfitzer, Podcast Host Dr. Nancy Rotter, Pediatric Psychologist and Director of Psychology, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ambulatory Care Division at Massachusetts General Hospital; Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School Additional Resources Resources from the Center on the Developing Child The Brain Architects Podcast: COVID-19 Special Edition: Mental Health in a Locked-Down World Q&A: The Coronavirus Pandemic: Mental Health One Year Later Re-Envisioning, Not Just Rebuilding: Looking Ahead to a Post-COVID-19 World Working Paper 15: Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body: Early Childhood Development and Lifelong Health Are Deeply Intertwined InBrief: Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body A Guide to COVID-19 and Early Childhood Development Resources Resources recommended by Dr. Nancy Rotter Interim Guidance on Supporting the Emotional and Behavioral Health Needs of Children, Adolescents and Families During the COVID-19 Pandemic Mothers—and fathers—report mental, physical health declines Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Update Depression and anxiety in pregnancy during COVID-19: A rapid review and meta-analysis COVID-19's Disproportionate Effects on Children of Color Will Challenge the Next Generation A Guide to Mental Health Resources for COVID-19 How to Talk to Your Children About the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Preparing Children for When Their Parents Return to Work National Alliance on Mental Health: Mental Health By the Numbers Transcript Sally: Welcome to The Brain Architects, a podcast from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. I'm your host Sally Pfitzer. In March of 2020, we recorded episodes exploring the impact the coronavirus pandemic could have on child development. You may remember we discussed the importance of self-care for caregivers, and the importance of physical distancing, not social distancing.  And now a year later, we wanted to continue those conversations and discuss what we've learned, what needs to change, and where we go from here. Joining us on today's podcast, we have Dr. Nancy Rotter. She's a pediatric psychologist and the Director of Psychology in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ambulatory Care Division, at Mass General Hospital. Thanks so much for being with us today, Nancy. Dr. Rotter: Thanks for having me, Sally. Sally: So, the pandemic has made conversations about mental health more common and perhaps even less stigmatized. How do we make sure that this perspective and these conversations continue even as vaccines become available and restrictions are lessened? Dr. Rotter: You know, I agree that there has been some shifting over time in terms of awareness and acknowledgement about mental health and specifically...

The devastating toll of the pandemic has underscored the critical importance of connecting what science is telling us to the lived experiences of people and communities. In March of 2020, we recorded episodes exploring the impact the coronavirus pandemic could have on child development. Now, a year later, we wanted to continue these conversations and discuss what we've learned, what needs to change, and where we go from here. Contents Podcast Speakers Additional Resources Transcript In the third episode in this 4-part special series, host Sally Pfitzer speaks with Dr. Renée Boynton-Jarrett, the founding Director of Vital Village Networks at Boston Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine. They discuss the cost of failing to address structural inequities with sustainable and comprehensive policy changes, the vital role community leaders played during the pandemic, and why health care systems need to demonstrate trustworthiness. The next and final episode of this special podcast series will focus on the pandemic's impact on the mental health system. Subscribe below via your podcast platform of choice to receive all new episodes as soon as they’re released. Speakers Sally Pfitzer, Podcast Host Dr. Renée Boynton-Jarrett, Founding Director of Vital Village Networks at Boston Medical Center and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine Additional Resources Vital Village Networks The Brain Architects Podcast: COVID-19 Special Edition: Creating Communities of Opportunity Thinking About Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Impacts Through a Science-Informed, Early Childhood Lens Early Childhood Adversity, Toxic Stress, and the Impacts of Racism on the Foundations of Health Brief: Moving Upstream: Confronting Racism to Open Up Children's Potential Infographic: How Racism Can Affect Child Development Re-Envisioning, Not Just Rebuilding: Looking Ahead to a Post-COVID-19 World Working Paper 15: Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body: Early Childhood Development and Lifelong Health Are Deeply Intertwined InBrief: Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body A Guide to COVID-19 and Early Childhood Development Transcript Sally: Welcome to The Brain Architects, a podcast from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. I'm your host Sally Pfitzer. In March of 2020, we recorded episodes exploring the impact the coronavirus pandemic could have on child development. You may remember we discussed the importance of self-care for caregivers, and the importance of physical distancing, not social distancing.  And now a year later, we wanted to continue those conversations and discuss what we've learned, what needs to change, and where we go from here. On today's podcast, we have Dr. Renée Boynton-Jarrett, who is the founding Director of Vital Village Networks at Boston Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine. So good to have you with us, Renée. Dr. Boynton-Jarrett: Delighted to be here. Thank you, Sally. Sally: Renée, in March of 2020, we spoke with Dr. David Williams, who explained that many of the disparities that we saw in the early stages of the pandemic were predictable and the result of longstanding social policies and systemic racism. From your perspective, as an expert in the field, in the past year, what have we learned about these disparities? Dr. Boynton-Jarrett: I think what Dr. Williams shared is absolutely correct. What we saw happen with the COVID-19 pandemic is it took advantage of the existing inequities and just widened those. So actually, our existing structural racism created a broader opportunity for the pandemic to disparately impact the lives, the well-being, and the health of communities of color and communities that are disproportionately impacted by structur...

The devastating toll of the pandemic has underscored the critical importance of connecting what science is telling us to the lived experiences of people and communities. In March of 2020, we recorded episodes exploring the impact the coronavirus pandemic could have on child development. Now, a year later, we wanted to continue these conversations and discuss what we've learned, what needs to change, and where we go from here. Contents Podcast Speakers Additional Resources Transcript In the second episode in this 4-part special series, host Sally Pfitzer speaks with Dr. Rahil Briggs, National Director of ZERO TO THREE’s HealthySteps program. They discuss the potential impact of the pandemic on infant and toddler development, how an overstressed pediatric health care system responded, and the importance of overcoming equity challenges and public fears to resume well-child visits. Upcoming episodes of this series will feature expert speakers reflecting on the longstanding social policies and systemic racism that resulted in the pandemic disparately impacting communities of color, and the pandemic's impact on the mental health system. The experts will discuss how we can take what we learned over the past year and make meaningful changes that will improve outcomes for children and families. Listen to the first episode of this series, where Center Director, Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D. discusses what COVID-19 revealed about the needs of caregivers with young children or during pregnancy. Subscribe below via your podcast platform of choice to receive all new episodes as soon as they’re released. Speakers Sally Pfitzer, Podcast Host Dr. Rahil Briggs,  National Director of ZERO TO THREE’s HealthySteps Program Additional Resources Resources from the Center on the Developing Child Re-Envisioning, Not Just Rebuilding: Looking Ahead to a Post-COVID-19 World The Brain Architects: COVID-19 Special Edition: Self-Care Isn't Selfish Working Paper 15: Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body: Early Childhood Development and Lifelong Health Are Deeply Intertwined InBrief: Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body A Guide to COVID-19 and Early Childhood Development Resources recommended by Dr. Rahil Briggs Psychology Today: What Parents of Babies and Toddlers Need Right Now American Academy of Pediatrics: A superhero moment HealthySteps: Caring for Yourself and Young Children During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Crisis ZERO to THREE: Tips for Families: Coronavirus Rapid Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Development (RAPID) - Early Childhood USA Today: Opening 'so many doors for families': COVID-19 underscores the importance of wraparound care for new moms and children Early Childhood Depression May Impact Brain Development in Later Years Brazelton Touchpoints Center ZERO TO THREE: Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood and official DC:0-5 Training for advanced infant and early childhood mental health professionals Transcript Sally: Welcome to The Brain Architects, a podcast from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. I'm your host Sally Pfitzer. In March of 2020, we recorded episodes exploring the impact the coronavirus pandemic could have on child development. You may remember we discussed the importance of self-care for caregivers, and the importance of physical distancing, not social distancing.  And now a year later, we wanted to continue those conversations and discuss what we've learned, what needs to change, and where we go from here. Joining us on today's podcast is Dr. Rahil Briggs, National Director of ZERO TO THREE's HealthySteps program. Rahil, thanks so much for being here with us today and just for timing, I'm going to jump right into our first question. What can we tell parents and caregivers about the potential effects the pande...

The devastating toll of the pandemic has underscored the critical importance of connecting what science is telling us to the lived experiences of people and communities. In March of 2020, we recorded episodes exploring the impact the coronavirus pandemic could have on child development. Now, a year later, we wanted to continue these conversations and discuss what we've learned, what needs to change, and where we go from here. Contents Podcast Speakers Additional Resources Transcript The first guest in this 4-part special series is Center Director Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D. He and host Sally Pfitzer discuss what COVID-19 revealed about the needs of caregivers with young children or during pregnancy, what we learned about the importance of science over the course of the pandemic, and how we can make changes going forward. Upcoming episodes of this series will feature expert speakers reflecting on the pandemic's impact on pediatric and mental health systems, and the longstanding social policies and systemic racism that resulted in the pandemic disparately impacting communities of color. The experts will discuss how we can take what we learned over the past year and make meaningful changes that will improve outcomes for children and families. Subscribe below via your podcast platform of choice to receive all new episodes as soon as they’re released. Speakers Sally Pfitzer, Podcast Host Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Center Director Additional Resources Resources from the Center on the Developing Child Re-Envisioning, Not Just Rebuilding: Looking Ahead to a Post-COVID-19 World The Brain Architects: COVID-19 Special Edition: A Different World Working Paper 15: Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body: Early Childhood Development and Lifelong Health Are Deeply Intertwined InBrief: Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body Health and Learning Are Deeply Interconnected in the Body: An Action Guide for Policymakers What Is Inflammation? And Why Does it Matter for Child Development? How Racism Can Affect Child Development Moving Upstream: Confronting Racism to Open Up Children's Potential A Guide to COVID-19 and Early Childhood Development Transcript Sally: Welcome to The Brain Architects, a podcast from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. I'm your host Sally Pfitzer. In March of 2020, we recorded episodes exploring the impact the coronavirus pandemic could have on child development. You may remember we discussed the importance of self-care for caregivers, and the importance of physical distancing, not social distancing.  And now a year later, we wanted to continue those conversations and discuss what we've learned, what needs to change, and where we go from here. Joining us today is Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Director of the Center on the Developing Child. Jack, we really appreciate you being here, and I know we have a lot to cover, so let's jump right in. Could you tell us what COVID-19 has revealed about the needs of young children, families and people who are pregnant? Dr. Shonkoff: So immediately, we saw the difference between people who had access to resources that helped them get through and those who before the pandemic were always at the edge and that this put families over the edge in terms of meeting basic needs—food, clothing, housing.  But then, there's the other universal experience of the critical importance of supportive relationships—the critical importance of extended family, neighbors, friends—and the extent to which every parent, regardless of your circumstances, cannot parent a child alone. And the social isolation that so many people felt, from the poorest to the wealthiest. And so, I think if there's anything good to take out of this past year, it's a recognition of the universal needs that all families have to provide a healthy environment for their children,

How do we use the science of early childhood development to implement practical strategies and overcome longstanding barriers in the early childhood field? How can we ensure that families' voices are heard when we create policies or programs? Contents Podcast Panelists Additional Resources Transcript To kick off this episode, Center Director Dr. Jack Shonkoff describes what the science means for policymakers, system leaders, care providers, and caregivers. This is followed by a discussion among a distinguished panel of experts, including Cindy Mann (Manatt Health), Dr. Aaliyah Samuel (Northwest Evaluation Association), and Jane Witowski (Help Me Grow). The panelists discuss how we can break down the silos in the early childhood field, policies affecting prenatal-three, and how policies can change to address the stressors inflicted by poverty, community violence, and racism. Panelists Cindy Mann Dr. Aaliyah Samuel Jane Witowski Additional Resources Resources from the Center on the Developing Child The Brain Architects: Connecting Health & Learning Part I: The Science Working Paper 15: Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body: Early Childhood Development and Lifelong Health Are Deeply Intertwined InBrief: Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body Health and Learning Are Deeply Interconnected in the Body: An Action Guide for Policymakers What Is Inflammation? And Why Does it Matter for Child Development? How Racism Can Affect Child Development Resources from the Panelists Testing America's Freedom Podcast Help Me Grow National Center Transcript Sally: Welcome to the Brain Architects, a podcast from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. I'm your host, Sally Pfitzer. Our Center believes that advances in science can provide a powerful source of new ideas that can improve outcomes for children and families. We want to help you apply the science of early childhood development to your everyday interactions with children and take what you're hearing from our experts and panels and apply it to your everyday work.  Today, we'll discuss how the science we shared in our previous episode, on the early years and lifelong health, can change the way we think about early childhood policy and practice, and what this shift means for policymakers, practitioners, and caregivers. So, I'd like to welcome back Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Professor of Child Health and Development and the Director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. Hi, Jack. Welcome back.  Jack: Hey, Sally.  Sally:  So we talked in the last episode about how the brain is connected to the rest of the body, and especially how the early years really matter when it comes to lifelong health. What does this science mean for policymakers, system leaders, or even caregivers?  Jack: That's a really important question, Sally. From the beginning of the early childhood field, it's always been focused on early learning and improving children's readiness to succeed in school. In the policy world, it's in education policy, comes out of the education budget. For people who work in early childhood programs, and for parents, it's about programs that encourage and provide rich learning opportunities for children to develop early literacy competencies.  But the mindset shift here is that it's not just about early learning in school—it's about the foundations of physical and mental health. It's not just about improving outcomes for greater economic productivity—better educational achievement. It's also about decreasing the likelihood that you'll develop heart disease or hypertension, or diabetes, or a wide range of the most common chronic illnesses in society. It's not just a matter of return on investment—asking “So, how much more economically productive will the population be? How much will we save in incarceration?