Trauma-Informed Care Necessary for Refugees
In this blog, Susan Hibbard executive director of BUILD, addresses the war in Ukraine and its impact on children and their families.
As recent news stories and photos attest, the lives of Ukrainian children and families are being upended. As many take refuge in makeshift shelters and others flee their country, some on foot, three million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have already been displaced – uprooted from all that was familiar to them, witnesses of violence, if not victims of it themselves.
We know from the research on childhood trauma that the youngest Ukrainians are experiencing a level of suffering and trauma so extreme that it may lead to changes in their long-term response to stress and vulnerability to psychiatric disorders later in life. The effects of this degree of trauma are so far-reaching that BUILD devoted a webinar series on the need for trauma-informed services for children and families who are forced to leave their country due to abysmal, often dangerous conditions.
In addition to eliciting our compassion for Ukrainian children and their families, the war is reminding us of the importance of mitigating the effects of trauma on the young children of immigrants and refugees in the US. For early care and education programs and services to be as successful as possible at addressing mental health challenges faced by children and their families, their capacity to serve the children of refugees and other immigrants must be strengthened.
We hope you will join us in an upcoming webinar series on refugee and other immigrant trauma, with presentations by the Migration Policy Institute, Civitas Strategies, and others. A date has not been chosen yet, so please stay in touch for further information.
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About BUILD
Report February 1, 2023
The BUILD Initiative is a national effort that advances state work on behalf of young children (prenatal through five), their families, and communities. BUILD staff partner with early childhood state leaders focused on early learning, health and nutrition, mental health, child welfare, and family support and engagement to create the policies, infrastructure, and cross-sector connections necessary for quality and equity. BUILD provides consultation, planning, and tailored implementation assistance, learning opportunities, resources, and cross-state peer exchanges. These efforts help state leaders improve and expand access to quality and promote equitable outcomes for our youngest children.
Family Voice Matters: The Importance of Effective Parent Coalitions
Blog January 31, 2023
BUILD recently interviewed five parent leaders about their experience in parent coalitions. In addition to reminding us of the need to address implicit bias on behalf of all families and children, they provided their thoughts on ways to ensure the coalitions fulfill their purpose and best meet the needs of families, and whether there’s room for improvement in the way they function. Here’s what they told us.
Incorporating Montessori Programs in State Quality Improvement Systems Webinar Resources
Archived Meeting Resources January 31, 2023
States are making significant advancements in their quality improvement systems (QIS) as they look for solutions to widen the aperture and fully embrace a mixed-delivery system that will best serve children, families, and the early care and education workforce. To achieve this, QIS policies need to become more flexible and create different pathways to quality, including a variety of established, high-quality delivery models. In this session participants heard how Montessori programs are working with state leaders from Illinois, Michigan, and Washington to be part of the QIS.