U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency

Children in the United States face greater challenges today than at any other time in recent memory. Working together, we can give every child a better chance for a brighter future.

who we are For nearly 80 years, Save the Children has helped children in the United States and around the world survive and thrive by improving their health, education and economic opportunities. In times of acute crisis, we mobilize rapid lifesaving assistance to help them recover from the effects of conflict and natural disasters. Recognized for our commitment to accountability, innovation and collaboration, our work takes us into the heart of communities, where we help build local capacity through public-private partnerships for scalable, sustainable outcomes for children.

what we do From the foothills of Kentucky to the breadbasket of California, Save the Children’s U.S. Programs is making a difference in the lives of vulnerable, underserved and often forgotten children. Through proven early childhood development, education and health programs, we give children the skills and resources they need to succeed in school and in life. Working closely with schools, parents and local leaders, Save the Children supports safe and nurturing communities that address the needs of all children and families. Since 2005, our responses to disasters like Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, California wildfires and southeastern tornadoes have benefited more than 300,000 children and caregivers. We continue to work with national, state and local policy makers to ensure that the needs of children are taken into account in disaster planning and response.

What is the U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency? In 2012, Save the Children created the U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency as an online forum to equip professionals, volunteers and families with the skills and resources they need to best serve children in their communities. Designed to address the challenges facing underserved areas, the Center is a hub for sharing best practices and expertise, facilitating training and technical assistance, and identifying innovative solutions that create lasting change for children. Building upon years of on-the-ground program success, the Center’s features fortify practice in the critical areas of early childhood development, education, health and emergency preparedness and response, as well as family and community engagement.

Why We’re better together. No one organization, public agency, community or family alone can answer the needs of children enduring the effects of poverty or disaster. Too often, individuals, faith communities, nonprofits and community-based organizations are resigned to tackle these challenges in isolation. The Center serves a critical and unique purpose, creating a virtual village. It provides the pathway for all who care about and for children to learn from each other, share ideas and work together to create opportunity and foster achievable dreams.

How Through its multifaceted approach emphasizing innovative and collective impact, the Center is giving more children a better chance for a brighter future.

“Ultimately, America’s ability to make a truly meaningful change for children can’t be left to the state or private organizations alone. It’s a shared responsibility that requires collaboration and purposeful investment.”

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— Mark Shriver, Senior Vice President, Save the Children’s U.S. Programs

creating lasting change for children Save the Children created the U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency to ensure that the most underserved children in America are:

• Ready to succeed by the time they start school; • Able to enjoy academic and personal success in school;

• Healthy and active in learning and life; and • Safe and protected when disaster strikes. Using technology and tapping the knowledge of some of the nation’s most respected leaders in the field, the Center offers a range of opportunities to improve policy and practice efforts that expand capacity through each of these critical areas:

• Best practices; • Family resources; • Grant opportunities; • Symposia; • Technical assistance; • Timely news; and • Webinars.

What does it mean to grow up poor in the United States? •

Four-year-olds from families affected by poverty are often 18 months behind other 4-year-olds developmentally.

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In 60 percent of low-income households, there are no books at all in the home.

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In rural communities, 52 percent of children living in poverty are overweight or obese.

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more than the sum of its parts The Training Hub

The Speakers Series

The Training Hub is the heart of the Center, offering courses in areas critical to children’s development that help educators, child care workers and volunteers take their practice and career to the next level. Tools, resources and lively discussions in the Training Hub enhance participants’ engagement and comprehension.

Through online video presentations, the Speakers Series provides ready access to nationally and internationally recognized experts who offer timely information and insight into compelling issues affecting children and families today. Some of the highlights: The Science of Early Childhood Development: Implications for Early Childhood Practice Brenda Jones Harden, PhD Associate Professor, University of Maryland The Food Insecurity Paradox – Obesity and Hunger Amy Yaroch, PhD Executive Director, Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition Adjunct Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center We Could Teach Every Child to Read Richard Allington, PhD Professor, University of Tennessee Child-Focused Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery Lori Peek, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Sociology Co-Director, Center or Disaster and Risk Analysis, Colorado State University School, Family and Community Engagement Joyce Epstein, PhD Research Professor, Johns Hopkins University Director, Center on School, Family and Community Partnerships

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Resource Library This searchable online database offers key resources such as national standards, policy and funding references, instructional materials, research and reports, and more in the areas of children’s health and development. The library can be searched by sorting items by resource type, program area and audience, as well as through the site’s search function.

Grant Opportunities Find grants for schools and community-based organizations through this searchable database. Available awards support a variety of programs ranging from family and community engagement to rural education and health. Grant opportunities are open to schools and community-based organizations in all or most states.

Family Zone Filled with resources for parents and other primary caregivers, the Family Zone provides valuable tips, tools and learning opportunities that help cultivate crucial child development skills and practices. This section also offers school staff innovative ideas and “how-to” guides to increase family engagement and boost community morale.

why you should register The resources available to all visitors merely scratch the surface of what the Center has to offer. Register on the Center’s homepage to gain access to in-depth content, Center updates, interactive courses and discussions on the Training Hub. Registration is free, so sign up today!

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areas of expertise The tools and resources available through the U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency are derived from Save the Children’s primary program areas that serve children in need throughout the United States.

Early Childhood Development

By age 3, a child’s brain is already 80 percent developed; by age 5, it’s 90 percent developed. Early Steps to School Success The best way to improve the chances for lifelong success of children who live in poverty is to reach them early. Early Steps to School Success is a cost-effective, replicable program that begins with expectant parents and carries children into their early school years. Through Early Steps, Save the Children is building strong foundations for parenting and school readiness and serving as a powerful catalyst in helping children achieve a lifetime of learning.

6 | Areas of Exper tise

While program implementation is tailored to meet the needs of each community and family, all sites are equipped to meet the following program goals:

• Children will enter school with

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Don’t miss the Early Learning Guidelines and practical materials located in the Resource Library to ensure that even the youngest members of the community are off to a successful start in life.

the skills necessary for success. For ages 0–3, coordinators conduct regular home visits during which they provide parents with age-appropriate activities for their children, help them monitor their children’s developmental progress, and share and model interactive strategies that promote early literacy and language learning. Children develop social skills through organized storybook hours and play groups at local schools and community centers.

• Parents will have the knowledge and skills to support their children’s

education. Coordinators advise parents on topics such as establishing healthy sleeping routines, interpreting and responding to babies’ efforts to communicate, and helping toddlers develop self-control and problem-solving skills. Early Steps fosters a love of reading in children ages 0–5 with a book exchange program, supplying families with a rotation of children’s books that encourage reading frequency, comprehension and parent-child interaction.

early success At age 3, children participating in Early Steps to School Success, on average, score well within the mean range on a national vocabulary test. This achievement is especially significant because our participants have an average of 5 risk factors, such as poverty or teenage parents.

• Home-school connections will be strong. To support a positive parent-

school relationship for children prior to entering school, parent education groups meet at local schools to discuss early development topics. Coordinators create “transition-to-school” opportunities for children and families to connect with teachers and administrators before the first day of preschool or kindergarten.

• Early childhood knowledge and skills in communities will be significantly increased. To support a sustainable education model, the program emphasizes training and technical assistance among paraprofessionals and practitioners in the community.

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Elementary Education

Children living in poverty who can’t read on grade level by 3rd grade are 13 times less likely to graduate on time than their peers. Literacy Education is one of the most direct and viable pathways out of poverty, yet many of the 16 million children living in poverty lack the literacy skills they need to succeed. These children struggle in school in large part because they don’t have the familiarity with books and language that are the building blocks for literacy. Working in partnership with local schools, Save the Children’s Literacy program provides children in kindergarten through sixth grade with the tools they need to increase reading skills and the guidance they need to foster a lifelong love of literacy.

making literacy leaps Children, on average, gain the equivalent of 5 additional months of school from our Literacy program. What’s more, twice the number of children participating in the program read at grade level by the end of the year.

8 | Areas of Exper tise

Each program component is designed to accelerate achievement for struggling readers:

• Developing Reader Literacy Block. Students in grades 1-6 take part in an

hour-long block of reading activities, including guided independent reading practice, fluency-building support, and listening to books read aloud. Struggling readers are paired with books that are appropriate for their individual reading level and their reading progress is supported and closely monitored.

• Additional support for children reading below grade level. Staff members work with select groups of struggling readers during the school day to provide tutorials in phonics, sight-word growth, center feature comprehension and vocabulary Check out the Family Zone to enhancement, and increased find suggested reading lists, opportunities for guided featuring some of our favorite independent reading and titles for school-aged children. fluency development.

• Emergent reader. Activities are available for children

in kindergarten and first grade who are struggling to learn beginning reading skills. These address phonemic awareness, letter recognition, sound-symbol correspondence and beginning sight-word knowledge which, provide an extra boost to their literacy growth.

Giving Kids a SummerBoost During the summer months, children can suffer a staggering 2 months of learning loss, a set-back that puts them behind their peers at the start of each school year from which they may never catch up. Save the Children’s SummerBoost Camp combats this academic backslide by providing children with a full day of integrated activities that build skills, knowledge and behaviors to promote school success and healthy development. It includes Literacy programming along with mathematics instruction, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) enrichment, and nutrition and physical activity education activities.

Health

For the first time in two centuries, children have a shorter life expectancy than their parents’ generation because of the prevalence and severity of obesity and associated diseases and complications. Healthy Choices Over the past 35 years, the childhood obesity rate in America has nearly quadrupled. This trend is even more pronounced in poor rural communities, where an astounding 52 percent of children are overweight or obese. Implemented in the school environment, Save the Children’s Healthy Choices program provides children with 30 minutes or more of daily, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity that teaches lifelong movement skills and combines fun and fitness. Through exposure to fruits, vegetables and grains, children are encouraged to make better food choices. Healthy Choices is based on the Coordinated center feature Approach to How are obesity, hunger and Child Health poverty related? Visit the (CATCH) Speaker Series to watch an curriculum of in-depth presentation about physical activity the food insecurity paradox by games and Dr. Amy Yaroch. nutrition education lessons.

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Emergency Preparedness and Response

Ninety percent of U.S. children live in an area at risk for natural disasters and manmade disasters could strike anywhere at any time. Since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, Save the Children has emerged as a national leader ensuring children’s well-being during domestic emergencies, deploying its response teams to assist hundreds of thousands of children. Through preparedness, response, recovery and advocacy work, Save the Children works with policy makers, emergency professionals and organizations to make children’s needs an integral part of emergency response plans at the national, state and local level.

Save the Children’s domestic emergency work focuses on:

• Creating national- and state-level policy change. We

advocate for better protection of children before, during and after emergencies.

• Helping child care programs develop emergency

preparedness and business continuity plans. Save the Children supplies child care providers with training and step-by-step guidance that will keep children in their programs safe.

• Preparing at-risk communities to be Resilient and

Ready. This initiative empowers communities and local leadership to build plans that safeguard children during and after disasters.

• Supporting the immediate response and recovery of

children in times of disasters. Save the Children’s rapid deployment emergency response team stands ready to deploy should disaster strike.

• Providing Child-Friendly Spaces. Implemented in shelters and assistance centers, these designated areas give children the chance to play, socialize and begin to recover during emergencies.

• Building resilience through the Journey of Hope Series. During the long-term recovery after a disaster, this program addresses emotional needs of children and caregivers and increases their coping skills.

10 | Areas of Exper tise

In collaboration with national partners such as FEMA and Child Care Aware of America, Save the Children has developed key guidance documents for protecting children in policy and practice, including the following publications available on the Center:

• The National Commission on Children and Disasters 2010 Report to the President and Congress

• Protecting Children in Child Care During Emergencies: Recommended State and National Regulatory and Accreditation Standards for Family Child Care Homes and Child Care Centers and Supporting Rationale

• Child Safety Guidance for Emergency Evacuation Shelters and Local Assistance Centers

And for the past five years, Save the Children has published its National Report Card on Protecting Children During Disasters, assessing basic disaster preparedness and safety standards for children in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

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Is your child care provider prepared to protect children during disasters? Visit the Training Hub to access Save the Children’s Child Care Emergency Preparedness Training. This comprehensive course is designed to help child care providers develop and implement practical emergency plans that cater to the specific needs of their program.

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where policy meets practice Save the Children advocates for initiatives and legislation at state and national levels that promote children’s well-being and resiliency, including the necessity of quality early childhood development programs, funding for underserved schools and communities, and child-focused emergency preparedness. As part of the national effort to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic, Save the Children and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation created the Campaign for Healthy Kids, which aims to accelerate state and local policy change to increase children’s access to affordable healthy food and opportunities for physical activity. Together with our disaster efforts, Save the Children’s advocacy work combines locally driven approaches that involve and inspire communities with policies that protect children in emergency situations. Since 2009, Save the Children has helped 22 states improve policies that help ensure the safety and security of children and their families. 12 | Save the Children

reaching rural areas Often hindered by geographic isolation and high poverty rates, children in rural America face immense challenges to academic and life success. In these areas, infrastructure deficits, including limited access to technology tools, quality educational resources and healthy foods limit children’s ability to thrive. In addition to our core early childhood, education and health programming, Save the Children invests in rural communities through the provision of new, age-appropriate books, educational software and technology, and upgrades to school and child care facilities. Our programs also provide these areas with employment opportunities that offer workers training and technical assistance to enhance their professional skills. Through sustainable community partnerships, Save the Children seeks to give children living in rural areas the skills they need to succeed and break the cycle of poverty.

The Center’s mission The U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency endeavors to equip professionals, volunteers and families with the skills and resources needed to give all children a better chance for a brighter future.

Photo Credits. Cover: Susan Warner. Inside Cover (left to right): Sarah Thompson; Sarah Thompson; Susan Warner; Rick D’Elia. P1: Gary Dowd. P2: Susan Warner. P4: Susan Warner. P6: Susan Warner. P7: Erin Kopaigorodsky. P8: Susan Warner. P9: Susan Warner. P10: Bruce Stidham. P11: Bruce Stidham. P12: Rick D’Elia. Back Cover: Susan Warner.

U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency www.savethechildren.org/USCenter Email: [email protected] Twitter: @stcUSCenter

Save the Children 2000 L Street NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20036

“Living in poverty in the United States, one of the richest nations in the world, can mean having little or no food on the table, no safe place to sleep at night, no electricity or running water. Poverty can also mean not having books to read and falling 18 months behind one’s peers by age 4, never catching up. It means being trapped in the cycle of poverty for life and it has to stop. “Together, we can make a real difference and give kids living in poverty in the U.S. a shot at a better life. That’s a shot all kids deserve and one we need to make sure our own kids have too.” — Carolyn Miles, President and CEO Save the Children