Continued Connections:
- Did you meet someone but can’t remember their name? Someone working with doulas? Someone who shared your favorite song? A parent leader or speaker? We can help! Contact Rena or Ira to help find THAT person!
- Need some musical inspiration? Listen to our November Playlist on Spotify.
Thursday, November 2nd Sessions
Lunch ECFC/ERH combined Plenary: The Evolved Nest, returning to nature's way of raising children
- Keynote speaker: Darcia Narvaez, University of Notre Dame
- Video: Breaking the Cycle: Reclaiming our Humanity (6 min video, returning to a culture of cooperate companionship)
- Recording (with slides, 1hr 27 min)
- Slide deck
Related Reading on why early relationships matter:
- Nurture Connection, Why ERH Matters
- Center for the Study of Social Policy Perspectives on Early Relational Health Series, a suite of four 15-25 min videos during which experts share their perspectives on the importance of foundational early relationships. Presenters include parents, pediatricians, researchers, providers, and other experts.
- Why Relationships Really Matter in Our Earliest Years, September 2023. Summarizes a new report and framework, Early Relational Health: A Review of Research, Principles, and Perspectives, co-authored by Dr. Junlei Li, senior lecturer in early childhood education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, supported by The Burke Foundation.
Reflections from Parent Leaders
Parent Leaders from Nurture Connection’s Family Network Collaborative kicked off the Summit with reflections on the importance of culture, language and place for their communities, and why it matters for early relationships.
- Claudia Aristy, Reach Out and Read, Latinx Spanish-Speaking Immigrant Families, New York
- Shayla Collins, Children with Special Healthcare Needs, Washington
- Nicole Loveless, Indigenous Community, New Mexico
- Tish MacInnis, Strengthening Families, Southern Families, Alabama
- Steven Thibert, Fatherhood Council, Fatherhood Experience, Washington
- Mia Halthon, Home Visiting, Black, Brown, African American, Michigan (by video)
Facilitated by: Brenda Blasingame, Founder and Principal, Vav Amani Consulting
Related Resources:
- FNC Parent Leader - Map & Family Demographics Represented
- Centering Parent Voice and Leadership to Support ERH, May 2023. Collective Impact Forum podcast featuring the Family Network Collaborative Parent Leaders.
- The Risks and Rewards of Sharing Your Power With Community, January 2023, by Mia Halthon, FNC Parent Leader and Ira Hillman, Einhorn Collaborative, The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
- A Conversation with the Family Network Collaborative, January 2023, Contributors: Bryn Fortune, FNC Coordinator and Steven Thibert, FNC Parent Leader
Infant Mental Health & Early Relational Health
In this session, we considered how infant mental health and early relational health frames co-exist and share common strategies, and how progress in the infant mental health policy arena helps set the stage for ERH policies we seek.
Discussants:
- Brenda Blasingame, Founder and Principal, Vav Amani Consulting
- Lindsay Usry, Director, Infant and Mental Early Childhood Mental Health Strategy, ZERO TO THREE
- Phyllis Glink, Executive Director, Irving Harris Foundation
Related Resources:
Friday, November 3, 2023
National and Federal Policy Opportunities & Alignment for ERH
Facilitator: Monica Beltran, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Video Welcome Comments from Dr. Michael Warren, Associate Administrator, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, HRSA (7min)
Panelists:
- Dina Joy Lieser, MD, FAAP, Senior Advisor for Early Childhood Systems Strategy, Division of Home Visiting and Early Childhood Systems, Maternal and Child Health Bureau [Slides - MCHB, Moving Upstream Together]
- Miranda Lynch-Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, US DHHS
[Early Childhood Systems Collective Impact Project]
[Federal Recommendations to Improve Alignment, Coordination and Equity Across Early Childhood Programs] - Natacha Blain, JD, PhD (she/her), Senior Board Director, Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Committee on Law and Justice, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [Slides - ERH Consensus Study] [ERH Consensus Study Concept Paper]
State and Local ERH Policy Examples: Lifting up bright spots and ways to advance ERH in states
- Kay Johnson, Nurture Connection, Overview of State Leadership and Policy Action to Advance Early Relational Health, October 2023, Center for the Study of Social Policy
State Examples Panel:
- Facilitated by: Andrea Palmer, Pritzker Children’s Initiative, IL
- Christy Serrano, Episcopal Health Foundation, TX
- Robin Hill-Dunbar, The Ford Family Foundation, OR
- Atiya Weiss, The Burke Foundation, NJ
Small group discussion around how funders can help advance state policy and programs, and specific opportunities related to:
- Community Workforce (incl. doulas and community health workers)
- Economic Security
- Health Care (incl. pediatrics)
- Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health