Starting Early

👋 Welcome back to Starting Early — here’s to a healthy 2023. Every other week, we spotlight new reports, useful news, engaging interviews with people doing important work, and interesting takes on maternal health and early childhood development issues.

The US child care system is messy, hard to navigate, and expensive. It’s also in crisis — facing a shrinking workforce, with many facilities on the brink of shutting down.

In the absence of adequate federal action, such innovative state-based solutions as New Mexico’s Early Childhood Education and Care Fund, Vermont’s Let Grow Kids, and New Jersey’s paid family leave are creating systems that support families’ needs.

👋 Welcome to Starting Early. Every other week, we spotlight new reports, useful news, engaging interviews with people doing important work, and interesting takes on maternal health and early childhood development issues.

Our final issue of 2022 honors 5 Burke Foundation Community Champions who exemplify the value of centering community to support the health and wellbeing of children and families. These are inspiring leaders who understand the importance of upstream investments in children’s earliest years and the healthy development of families and communities. ⭐

They are:

• Jesse Kohler, executive director of the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice
• Jaye Wilson, founding president and CEO of Melinated Moms
• Ceil Zalkind, president and CEO of Advocates for Children of New Jersey
• Twylla Dillion, executive director of HealthConnect One
• New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy

These Community Champions have challenged the status quo and achieved major changes on behalf of under resourced communities in New Jersey and across the US.

👋 Welcome to Starting Early. Every other week, we spotlight new reports, useful news, engaging interviews with people doing important work, and interesting takes on maternal health and early childhood development issues.

Everyone experiences stress in their life, but frequent, extended exposure to stress or trauma can be harmful — especially for children. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) — traumatic events that occur before age 18 — are associated with poor health and other lifelong problems ranging from heart disease and depression to unemployment. Though we can’t always prevent ACEs, there is a proven way to reduce the damage they cause and it doesn’t require a prescription: healthy, positive relationships.

👋 Welcome to Starting Early. Every other week, we spotlight new reports, useful news, engaging interviews with people doing important work, and interesting takes on maternal health and early childhood development issues.

The birth of a baby is an exciting time for families. It can also be stressful — as parents navigate health concerns, complex health systems, and advice from family, friends, and perinatal care providers. Community doulas can help calm things down through the tailored care they provide every step of the way.

But, like families welcoming a new addition, doulas need support too.

Working with community doulas over the past 4 years, we see their astonishing impact in the face of unsustainable wages, inadequate reimbursement, and tension from clinical providers.

👋 Welcome to Starting Early. Every other week, we spotlight new reports, useful news, engaging interviews with people doing important work, and interesting takes on maternal health and early childhood development issues. This issue wraps up our 3-part series on population health, where we looked at rural health and Latine maternal mental health — and today, will examine mental health among LGBTQ+ youth. We met interesting people, heard distressing stories about lack of care, dug into the data, and heard inspiring solutions. Youth mental health reached crisis levels during the pandemic, increasing stress, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide. The pandemic exposed the weaknesses of the US youth mental health system — especially for LGBTQ+ youth.

👋 Welcome to Starting Early. Every other week, we spotlight new reports, useful news, engaging interviews with people doing important work, and interesting takes on maternal health and early childhood development issues.

This week’s issue, the second in our 3-part series on population health, looks at maternal mental health among the Latine community.

• Latine is a widely used gender neutral term used to refer to people of Latin American descent.
• In 2003, the Latine/Hispanic population became the largest minority in the US. As the nation’s fastest-growing ethnic demographic, it grew by about 10 million people between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 

👋 Welcome to Starting Early. Every other week, we spotlight new reports, useful news, engaging interviews with people doing important work, and interesting takes on maternal health and early childhood development issues.

This week’s issue launches a 3-part series on population health, beginning with rural health. Where we live, what we look like, the languages we speak, and other aspects of our identity have an impact on health and wellbeing. Identities can promote connections and bonds with others. Or they can be used as tools of division – feeding into a mentality of us versus them. Understanding and connecting with others – especially those whose identities we don’t share – can be life-changing.

👋 Welcome to Starting Early. Every other week, we spotlight new reports, useful news, engaging interviews with people doing important work, and interesting takes on maternal health and early childhood development issues.

Addressing climate change has never been more urgent. This summer, communities across the world experienced record-breaking heat waves, flooding, droughts, and other extreme conditions. In response, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law that included $369 billion to fight climate change. Still, much more needs to be done — especially to support those most severely threatened.

Guest Editor Joe Waters agrees. At Capita, a nonpartisan think tank Joe co-founded and runs to support a future where all children and families flourish, he led the launch of the Early Years Climate Action Task Force.

👋 Welcome back to Starting Early. You received this issue of the Burke Foundation’s newsletter because of your interest in helping all children get the strong start they need to reach their full potential in life.

• We work “upstream”— like you — on maternal and infant health and early childhood development — tackling root causes to prevent issues from becoming problems; stopping problems before they become crises.
• Every other week, we spotlight new reports, useful news, engaging interviews with people doing important work, and interesting takes on maternal health and early childhood development issues.
• Our post-summer breakrelaunch of  Starting Early features an enlightening interview with midwife Jennie Joseph – one of TIME magazine’s 2022 Women of the Year.

👋 Welcome to Starting Early. Every other week, we spotlight new reports, useful news, engaging interviews with people doing important work, and interesting takes on maternal health and early childhood development issues.

In April, the Burke Foundation announced our new strategy – Building Strong Partnerships for Community and Care in the First 1,000 Days. It pairs primary prevention in the earliest years and wraparound services for caregivers with young children. Our First 1,000 Days partners devote their work to supporting healthier families, homes, and neighborhoods in New Jersey and beyond through four initiatives:

• Supporting families through universal home visits by a nurse
• Providing culturally-congruent care by community doulas
• Creating helpful peer relationships and a greater sense of community
• Adding childhood development specialists to pediatric care

Each of these efforts reflects an innovative approach to early childhood development.