eNotes
February 23, 2018In this Issue:
- Spotlight on Early Childhood Collaboration & Early Intervention Source: Children's Bureau
- Child Maltreatment 2016 - 27th Annual Report Source: Children's Bureau
- Helping Children after a School Shooting (Blog) Source: Child Trends
- OPRE Releases Head Start Reports from FACES 2014 Study Source: Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation (OPRE)
- The Brain-Changing Power of Conversation (Blog) Source: Harvard Graduate School of Education
1. Spotlight on Early Childhood Collaboration & Early Intervention
The Children's Bureau Express (CBX) covers news, issues, and trends related to child maltreatment, child welfare, and adoption for interested professionals and policymakers. The February 2018 issue of CBX provides a series of articles (listed below) that focus on early childhood collaboration and early intervention.
- Early Intervention Collaboration
- A Children's Hospital and an Early Childhood Education Center Collaborate to Provide Health-Care Services for Children
- Sharing Screening Results With Early Care, Education Programs
- Parents' and Preschool Workers' Perceptions of Bullying in Early Childhood
2. Child Maltreatment 2016 - 27th Annual Report
The Children's Bureau recently published Child Maltreatment 2016 (February 2018) presenting national data about child abuse and neglect known to child protective services agencies in the U.S. during federal fiscal year (FFY) 2016. Some key findings in the report are listed below:
- The estimated number of victims increased by 3% since 2012.
- Three-quarters (74.8%) of victims were neglected, 18.2% were physically abused, and 8.5% were sexually abused.
- Children in their first year of life had the highest rate of victimization at 24.8 per 1,000 children of the same age in the national population.
Note: The Child Welfare Information Gateway provides this resource for how to report suspected child maltreatment: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/responding/reporting/how/
3. Helping Children after a School Shooting (Blog)
In response to the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Child Trends has compiled this useful blog resource (February 2018) to help educators and caregivers with age appropriate strategies for supporting the emotional needs of infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-aged children in the wake of a school shooting.
4. OPRE Releases Head Start Reports from FACES 2014 Study
OPRE recently released the following series of Head Start reports (December 2017) based on data from the 2014 cohort of the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES 2014). FACES 2014 is a descriptive study of nationally representative data gathered from Head Start programs, classrooms, children, and families related to program performance, including areas of improvement, quality, and child and family outcomes.
- A National Portrait of Head Start Children and Families: FACES 2014
- A Portrait of Head Start Classrooms and Programs in Spring 2015
- A Spotlight on Dual Language Learners in Head Start: FACES 2014
- Building Family Partnerships: Family Engagement Findings from the Head Start FACES Study
- Child and Family Outcomes During the Head Start Year: FACES 2014-2015 Data Tables
- Descriptive Data on Head Start Children and Families from FACES 2014
5. The Brain-Changing Power of Conversation (Blog)
According to the February 2018 issue of Usable Knowledge, a blog series from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, recent studies have found that "Conversational interplay between caregiver and child is enough to transform the biology of kids' brains. The quality of these exchanges is more important than the quantity of words children hear." Conversation is a social interaction that is essential to literacy skills and cognitive development for all children and should begin at birth.