Helping Babies From the Bench to the Backyard
Systematic Support for Children Birth to Three WEBINAR SERIES
The EDN Co-Leads are pleased to offer a series of five webinars and community discussions that offer information and assistance on how to support young children and families who have experienced traumatic events, including the collective experience of COVID-19.
Recorded Sessions & Descriptions
Session #1: Tackling Trauma: Understanding and Identifying Early Childhood Trauma in Our Changing World
Originally presented Wednesday, March 2, 2022
- Even very young children can experience trauma. Their limited capacity to use language often makes the identification of trauma and recognizing its impact on the child difficult. Throughout the last couple of years, the collective experience ofCOVID-19 has introduced challenges to providing the essential ingredients for children to develop on a healthy trajectory, often exacerbating or creating other traumatic experiences or resulting in a lack of resources to help identify and heal from trauma. This 1½ hour webinar provides a basic overview of early childhood trauma, including definitions, impacts, and symptoms of trauma in young children. It also includes some strategies that are effective in supporting young children and their families or caregivers who have experienced trauma.
Session #2: Boosting Resilience: Identifying and Supporting Protective and Resiliency Factors
Originally presented Tuesday, March 22, 2022, 12:00-1:30pm CT
- All children can benefit from consistent support and nurturing. Early childhood provides both one of the most vulnerable and one of the most malleable periods of development. This session focuses on the concepts of resilience and protective factors for young children. It will include how to identify formal supports and services that can be augmented and sustained by informal supports. The session also discusses some trends nationwide in supporting the development of young children affected by trauma, substance use, and other risk factors, as well as trends in local needs.
Session #3: Tips for Tots From the Bench: Juvenile Court and Early Intervention
Originally presented Thursday, April 14, 2022, 12:00-1:30pm CT
- Not all children involved in early intervention services are also involved in the child welfare system, but there is crossover. Knowing the court process, parties to court proceedings, and opportunities for early intervention professionals to be involved helps with continuity of care for young children and their families. This session provides information about the law relating to early intervention, different court proceedings and court professionals, and why working with this system is important to the well-being of young children and their families.
Session #4: Persevering in a Pandemic: Coping With Burnout and Secondary Trauma While Caring for Young Children
Originally presented Tuesday, April 19, 12:00-1:30 CT
- Early childhood workforces have long struggled with the stress of serving, educating, and caring for young children, while assisting their families to promote healthy development. COVID-19 has intensified the needs of this workforce, including a desire to help children who have lost ground developmentally due to the pandemic. This session discusses the impact of COVID-19 on early childhood professionals and on the children they serve, as well as provide information on local and national models of support that can be implemented to assist professionals.
Session #5: Being a Team Player: Working Collaboratively to Meet the Needs of Young Children
Originally presented Monday, May 2, 12:00-1:30 CT
- From the bench to the backyard, communities have many ways of attempting to support their youngest members. Creating or supporting existing structures that help young children in early intervention helps everyone in the community. This session will talk about collaborations, partnerships, or teams that may already exist and function as mechanisms to coordinate services and supports for young children. It will present ideas for service flexibility through teamwork that have improved outcomes for young children. Bring your creativity to this session as we hope to stimulate ideas you can begin from your position that can bring about real system integration to assist young children.