Event Overview

Speakers

Agenda

Co-Sponsors & Planning Committee

2007 Summit

1. What is the Baby Futures Summit?
2. Why is it important to bring public focus to zero-to-three development?
3. How do good practices in the earliest childhood developmental phases affect children after they turn three?
4. How will the Baby Futures Summit influence parents and communities to make good decisions about their children's development?

1. What is the Baby Futures Summit?
   The Baby Futures Summit convened a select group of philanthropic and business leaders and a distinguished panel of experts to explore how the science of child development and value of early investment align to lay the groundwork for healthier children and families in our community.
   
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2. Why is it important to bring public focus to zero-to-three development?
   Though a child's brain takes years to develop completely, never again will it develop with the speed and capacity of the years from prenatal to three. Neuroscientists understand that babies' brains are vastly more complex and open to outside influence than was previously known. However, many people who are critically important in the lives of young children don't know the science, or how to apply it to help babies and toddlers develop. Giving all children a great start in life means beginning with a healthy pregnancy and continuing with services and supports in the first three years and beyond. While there is a current focus on universal preschool, without also looking to the earliest years of life, we are missing the opportunity to make meaningful change during children's most important developmental years.
   
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3. How do good practices in the earliest childhood developmental phases affect children after they turn three?
   Our earliest experiences create either a sturdy foundation for a successful future, or a fragile foundation that will need shoring up through specialized interventions. These years also establish the foundation for how we respond and relate to one another, how we communicate, our thinking skills, and our self-control and self-confidence.

   A child's early development can be seriously compromised by environmental circumstances, such as extreme poverty or witnessing domestic violence; biological influences, such as prematurity; or experiential factors, such as parents who are unavailable for nurturing because they are clinically depressed, addicted to drugs or abusing alcohol or simply unprepared for parenthood.

   The skills that a child needs to succeed in school begin in the first three years of life: language and literacy skills, thinking skills, self-control, and self-confidence. The consequences of overlooking these aspects of development in our programs and interventions are very serious. A recent national survey conducted by the Yale Child Study Center revealed that children are being expelled from preschool at a rate three times higher than children in kindergarten through high school. The reason? Lack of behavioral supports available to teachers and families. These behavioral issues—biting, fighting, aggression—have roots in the first years of life, and in preschool they require intervention by mental health specialists. How many of these behaviors could have been ameliorated or reduced by earlier intervention?
   
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4. How will the Baby Futures Summit influence parents and communities to make good decisions about their children's development?
   The philanthropic and business leaders who attended the Summit have the resources and networks to support policies and projects targeted to help pregnant women prepare for parenthood and to help babies and toddlers get off to a great start.
   
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