ALTERNATIVE ASSIGNMENT WORKING GLOBALLY BRAZIL, MEXICO & CANADA



Finally, I heard from contact she went to my YouTube and commented on some of the children's videos and songs I have subscribed to, but nothing else. I replied back asking her about issues and trends in her country but she has not answered. However, if she answers after I do the alternative assignment. I will add it to this post.



Obstinate breaks in education and well-being related with socioeconomic drawbacks force huge problems on people, societies, and cultures worldwide. Latest reports estimate that 200 million children fail to reach their full developmental potential by age 5. Drawing on our experience in North America, the Center on the Developing Child works globally to build a broader movement to achieve break through outcomes for children around the world.

I browsed this website a very long time enjoyed all the different information and videos to add to my knowledge and my Blog as an Advocate.  I browsed many topic but these are the ones that stuck with me about these three countries that partner together.  Brazil The Executive Leadership Program, Canada Albert Family Wellness Brain Builders, and Mexico, communicating the science, Early Childhood Mental Health, 8 Things to Remember about Early Childhood Development, and Deep Diving.
"The following propositions guide the Center’s international work:

Organized approaches to support child development can increase the effects of investments in child endurance, health, education, and monetary growth. 

We need to defend children from major adversity, in addition to providing them with enhanced knowledge opportunities.

The early childhood years are serious construction pieces for lifelong health, not just school readiness.

Together with partner organizations on the ground, the Center promotes innovation in Brazil, Canada, and Mexico, as well as across a broader international platform.




Brazil



ncpi-logoThe collaborative Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância (NCPI) includes the Center on the Developing Child, Fundação Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal (FMCSV), the Medical School of the University of Sao Paulo, Insper, Sabara Children’s Hospital, and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard. This partnership has been highly successful in creating a science-driven early childhood movement in Brazil, most notably through training Brazilian policy makers on how to apply developmental science to inform programs and policies and, recently, through launching an innovation cluster.

Executive Leadership Program


   Launched in 2011 by five partner organizations in Brazil and at Harvard, Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância (NCPI) is a collaborative initiative designed to advance early childhood investment in a rapidly growing Latin American nation facing significant socioeconomic inequalities. One of the most important features of the partnership is an Executive Leadership Program (ELP) designed to build the capacity of leaders in government and civil society to apply the science of early childhood development to some of their country’s most complex social problems.


 VIDEO MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BRAZIL

Brazilian Policymakers Chart a New Course with the Science of Child Development

https://youtu.be/LbUwiMILdRY- Interesting Watch Video

CANADA 
AlbertaFamilyWellness.org offers resources and knowledge-sharing tools for researchers, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public, including presentations and learning modules on early brain development, toxic stress, the early foundations of lifelong health, addiction, and implications of the science for policy and clinical practice.
How Brains Are Built    

http://brightcove.vo.llnwd.net/e1/uds/pd/957733635001/957733635001_2735159101001_189717440.mp4
Brain-Builders

This animated video produced by AFWI presents the core story of brain development in an accessible and visually engaging format using metaphors developed by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and Frameworks Institute and tested with audiences both in the United States and in Alberta.

The Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (AFWI) shares our strong belief in the power of translating the science of child development to inform public policy. AFWI was created to counter the separation between science, policy, and practice work, which hinders the real-world application of scientific knowledge. Drawing upon the Center’s scientific resources, the initiative fulfills two key mandates:

  1. supporting research in early brain and biological development, mental health, and addiction, and
  2. translating that research for policy makers, healthcare communities, and the general public.
Through activities in applied research, knowledge translation, professional training, and evaluation, AFWI is continually seeking to bridge the gap between “what we know” in science and “what we do” in policy and practice.
 

http://www.albertafamilywellness.org/resources/video/good-bad-damaging-chronic-stress-allostatic-loadAlbertaFamilyWellness.org offers resources and knowledge-sharing tools for researchers, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public, including presentations and learning modules on early brain development, toxic stress, the early foundations of lifelong health, addiction, and implications of the science for policy and clinical practice


Exposure to toxic stress (such as chronic abuse or neglect) early in life physically alters the brain's stress system as well as reward and motivation circuits. Lifelong outcomes include heightened stress perception and increased vulnerability to disease.
 AFWI Learning Modules
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and Frameworks Institute and tested with audiences both in the United States and in Alberta.

Mexico

U-ERRE logoThe Center is beginning to develop an innovation cluster anchored in Monterrey at the Universidad Regiomontana, a pioneering institution at the forefront of an extensive urban revitalization effort. A strong interest in adding a human development focus to their work led the Monterrey team to connect with the Center and learn more about our strategy for enhancing child outcomes through adult capacity building.
The addition of Mexico to the Center’s existing relationships and experiences in Brazil will create a strong Latin American pillar for our innovation agenda, allowing us to begin to think about how lessons from these two projects can be applied locally, regionally, and globally.

Frontiers of Innovation

Frontiers of Innovation (FOI) is the Center’s R&D Platform, designed to accelerate the development and adoption of science-based innovations that achieve breakthrough impact at scale. Launched in 2011, FOI employs a structured but flexible model that facilitates idea generation, development, implementation, testing, evaluation, and rapid-cycle iteration. This process is grounded in science and supported within a growing community of change agents who are committed to shared learning, cumulative knowledge, and transformative child outcomes at the population level.

Communicating the Science




Science has an important role to play in helping policymakers and practitioners respond to complex issues affecting children. Yet the science does not always speak for itself. Indeed, misunderstanding scientific research has contributed as much confusion as clarity to important public debates. With this in mind, we employ a knowledge translation process that helps present key findings about the science of early childhood in clear, accurate, and uniform ways, equipping change agents to drive science-based innovation.

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/deep-dives/mental-health/

Significant mental health problems can and do occur in young children. Children can show clear characteristics of anxiety disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and neurodevelopmental disabilities, such as autism, at a very early age. That said, young children respond to and process emotional experiences and traumatic events in ways that are very different from adults and older children. Consequently, diagnosis in early childhood can be much more difficult than it is in adults.
The interaction of genes and experience affects childhood mental health. Genes are not destiny. Our genes contain instructions that tell our bodies how to work, but the chemical “signature” of our environment can authorize or prevent those instructions from being carried out. The interaction between genetic predispositions and sustained, stress-inducing experiences early in life can lay an unstable foundation for mental health that endures well into the adult years.
Toxic stress can damage brain architecture and increase the likelihood that significant mental health problems will emerge either quickly or years later. Because of its enduring effects on brain development and other organ systems, toxic stress can impair school readiness, academic achievement, and both physical and mental health throughout the lifespan. Circumstances associated with family stress, such as persistent poverty, may elevate the risk of serious mental health problems. Young children who experience recurrent abuse or chronic neglect, domestic violence, or parental mental health or substance abuse problems are particularly vulnerable.
It’s never too late, but earlier is better. Some individuals demonstrate remarkable capacities to overcome the severe challenges of early, persistent maltreatment, trauma, and emotional harm, yet there are limits to the ability of young children to recover psychologically from adversity.

“Most potential mental health problems will not become mental health problems if we respond to them early.”

 

Even when children have been removed from traumatizing circumstances and placed in exceptionally nurturing homes, developmental improvements are often accompanied by continuing problems in self-regulation, emotional adaptability, relating to others, and self-understanding. When children overcome these burdens, they have typically been the beneficiaries of exceptional efforts on the part of supportive adults. These findings underscore the importance of prevention and timely intervention in circumstances that put young children at serious psychological risk.


It is essential to treat young children’s mental health problems within the context of their families, homes, and communities. The emotional well-being of young children is directly tied to the functioning of their caregivers and the families in which they live. When these relationships are abusive, threatening, chronically neglectful, or otherwise psychologically harmful, they are a potent risk factor for the development of early mental health problems. In contrast, when relationships are reliably responsive and supportive, they can actually buffer young children from the adverse effects of other stressors. Therefore, reducing the stressors affecting children requires addressing the stresses on their families.






Deep Dives

“Deep dives” provide in-depth scientific content that is accurate, credible, understandable to nonscientists, and useful for public decision makers. Within each “deep dive” section, you’ll find different types of materials based on research by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, including full-length reports, working papers, briefs, and multimedia.












The Science of Adult Capabilities

Adults need certain capabilities to succeed in life and support the development of the next generation. When these skills haven’t developed as they should, or are compromised by the stresses of poverty, our communities pay the price.


Early Childhood Mental Health

As early experiences shape the architecture of the developing brain, they also lay the foundations of sound mental health

Neglect

Ensuring that young children have safe, secure environments in which to grow and learn creates a strong foundation for both their futures and a thriving, prosperous society. Science shows that early exposure to maltreatment can disrupt healthy development and have lifelong consequences.



http://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/deep-dives/

Ensuring that young children have safe, secure environments in which to grow and learn creates a strong foundation for both their futures and a thriving, prosperous society. Science shows that early exposure to maltreatment or neglect can disrupt healthy development and have lifelong consequences. When adult responses to children are unreliable, inappropriate, or simply absent, developing brain circuits can be disrupted, affecting how children learn, solve problems, and relate to others.

The absence of responsive relationships poses a serious threat to a child’s development and well-being. Sensing threat activates biological stress response systems, and excessive activation of those systems can have a toxic effect on developing brain circuitry. When the lack of responsiveness persists, the adverse effects of toxic stress can compound the lost opportunities for development associated with limited or ineffective interaction. This complex impact of neglect on the developing brain underscores why it is so harmful in the earliest years of life. It also demonstrates why effective early interventions are likely to pay significant dividends in better long-term outcomes in educational achievement, lifelong health, and successful parenting of the next generation.



For more information, read Persistent Fear and Anxiety Can Affect Young Children’s Learning and Development. Illustration by Betsy Hayes.
For more information, read Persistent Fear and Anxiety Can Affect Young Children’s Learning and Development. Illustration by Betsy Hayes.
Chronic neglect is associated with a wider range of damage than active abuse, but it receives less attention in policy and practice.
In the U.S., neglect accounts for 78% of all child maltreatment cases, far more than physical abuse (17%), sexual abuse (9%), and psychological abuse (8%) combined.
Science tells us that young children who experience significantly limited caregiver responsiveness may sustain a range of adverse physical and mental health consequences that actually produce more widespread developmental impairments than overt physical abuse. These can include cognitive delays, stunting of physical growth, impairments in executive function and self-regulation skills, and disruptions of the body’s stress response. With more than a half million documented cases in the U.S. in 2010 alone, neglect accounts for 78% of all child maltreatment cases nationwide, far more than physical abuse (17%), sexual abuse (9%), and psychological abuse (8%) combined. Despite these compelling findings, child neglect receives far less public attention than either physical abuse or sexual exploitation and a lower proportion of mental health services.
Studies on children in a variety of settings show that severe deprivation or neglect:
  • Disrupts the ways in which children’s brains develop and process information, increasing the risk for attentional, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral disorders.
  • Alters the development of biological stress-response systems, leading to greater risk for anxiety, depression, cardiovascular problems, and other chronic health impairments later in life.
  • Correlates with significant risk for emotional and interpersonal difficulties, including high levels of negativity, poor impulse control, and personality disorders, as well as low levels of enthusiasm, confidence, and assertiveness.
  • Is associated with significant risk for learning difficulties and poor school achievement, including deficits in executive function and attention regulation, low IQ scores, poor reading skills, and low rates of high school graduation.
The negative consequences of deprivation and neglect can be reversed or reduced through appropriate and timely interventions, but merely removing a young child from an insufficiently responsive environment does not guarantee positive outcomes. Children who experience severe deprivation typically need therapeutic intervention and highly supportive care to mitigate the adverse effects and facilitate recovery.


8 Things to Remember about Child Development

Building on a well-established knowledge base more than half a century in the making, recent
advances in the science of early childhood development and its underlying biology provide a
deeper understanding that can inform and improve existing policy and practice, as well as
help generate new ways of thinking about solutions. In this important list, featured in
the From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts report, the Center on the Developing Child
sets the record straight about some aspects of early child development.
1) Even infants and young children are affected adversely when significant stresses threaten their family and caregiving environments.
Adverse fetal and early childhood experiences can lead to physical and chemical
disruptions in the brain that can last a lifetime. The biological changes associated with
these experiences can affect multiple organ systems and increase the risk not only for
impairments in future learning capacity and behavior, but also for poor physical and
mental health outcomes.

2) Development is a highly interactive process, and life outcomes are not determined
solely by genes.
The environment in which one develops before and soon after birth provides powerful
experiences that chemically modify certain genes in ways that then define how much
and when they are expressed. Thus, while genetic factors exert potent influences on
human development, environmental factors have the ability to alter family inheritance.
For example, children are born with the capacity to learn to control impulses, focus
attention, and retain information in memory, but their experiences as early as the first
year of life lay a foundation for how well these and other executive function skills
develop.

3) While attachments to their parents are primary, young children can also benefit significantly from relationships with other responsive caregivers both within and outside the family.
Close relationships with other nurturing and reliably available adults do not interfere
with the strength of a young child’s primary relationship with his or her parents. In fact,
multiple caregivers can promote young children’s social and emotional development.
That said, frequent disruptions in care and high staff turnover and poor-quality
interactions in early childhood program settings can undermine children’s ability to
establish secure expectations about whether and how their needs will be met.
developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/8-things-remember-child-development/

4) A great deal of brain architecture is shaped during the first three years after birth, but the window of opportunity for its development does not close on a child’s third birthday.
Far from it! Basic aspects of brain function, such as the ability to see and hear
effectively, do depend critically on very early experiences as do some aspects of
emotional development. And, while the regions of the brain dedicated to higher-order
functions—which involve most social, emotional, and cognitive capacities, including
multiple aspects of executive functioning—are also affected powerfully by early
influences, they continue to develop well into adolescence and early adulthood. So,
although the basic principle that “earlier is better than later” generally applies, the
window of opportunity for most domains of development remains open far beyond age
3, and we remain capable of learning ways to “work around” earlier impacts well into
the adult years.

5) Severe neglect appears to be at least as great a threat to health and development
as physical abuse—possibly even greater.
When compared with children who have been victimized by overt physical
maltreatment, young children who experienced prolonged periods of neglect exhibit
more serious cognitive impairments, attention problems, language deficits, academic
difficulties, withdrawn behavior, and problems with peer interaction as they get
older. This suggests that sustained disruption of serve and return interactions in early
relationships may be more damaging to the developing architecture of the brain than
physical trauma, yet it often receives less attention.
developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/8-things-remember-child-development/
Each state defines the types of child abuse and neglect in its own statute and policy, guided by
federal standards, and establishes the level of evidence needed to substantiate a report of
maltreatment. The data above, from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System
(NCANDS), reflects the total number of victims (defined as a child for whom the state determined
at least one report of maltreatment was found to be substantiated or indicated) as reported by
all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, between Oct. 1, 2009, and Sept. 30, 2010.
“Other” includes abandonment, threats of harm, and drug addiction. Click image for full-size,
shareable version.

6) Young children who have been exposed to adversity or violence do not invariably develop stress-related disorders or grow up to be violent adults.
Although children who have these experiences clearly are at greater risk for adverse
impacts on brain development and later problems with aggression, they are not doomed
to poor outcomes. Indeed, they can be helped substantially if reliable and nurturing
relationships with supportive caregivers are established as soon as possible and
appropriate treatments are provided as needed.

7) Simply removing a child from a dangerous environment will not automatically reverse the negative impacts of that experience.
There is no doubt that children in harm’s way should be removed from dangerous
situations immediately. Similarly, children experiencing severe neglect should be
provided with responsive caregiving as soon as possible. That said, children who have
been traumatized need to be in environments that restore their sense of safety, control,
and predictability, and they typically require therapeutic, supportive care to facilitate
their recovery.


.8) Resilience requires relationships, not rugged individualism.

The capacity to adapt and thrive despite adversity develops through the interaction of supportive relationships, biological systems, and gene expression. Despite the widespread yet erroneous belief that people need only draw upon some heroic strength of character, science now tells us that it is the reliable presence of at least one supportive relationship and multiple opportunities for developing effective coping skills that are the essential building blocks for strengthening the capacity to do well in the face of significant adversity. 

New Resources

References: 










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