Over the last several months, with its $126,000 grant from First 5 Contra Costa, GRIP has steadily been enhancing its children’s program to meet the developmental needs of very young homeless children and families.

“The First 5 grant has enabled us to build on our existing children’s program and add critical early intervention services,” said GRIP’s Program Director, Kia Croom. “Homeless children often experience high levels of traumatic stress, which can hinder their development. Now, our program is able to address these concerns, connect families to needed services, and hopefully get children’s development back on track.”

The program has hired new child development specialists to provide developmental screening to all children under age five when they enter the shelter, and if possible, an additional time before the family leaves. Based on screening results, staff develop a plan with parents to support each child and coordinate referrals to services such as medical care, Head Start, the West County First 5 Center for parenting classes, or counseling and mental health services.

In addition, many of the children receive child care at the shelter during the day while parents look for work or permanent housing. First 5 Contra Costa funds have also been used to make-over the child care room with new paint, age-appropriate books and toys, and small furniture for children. A dorm room now has cribs and a changing table to make the space safer and more comfortable for families with infants. New playground equipment to be installed later this month will wrap up the final improvement to the site.

The timing couldn’t be better. According to Croom, there has been a spike in the number of families experiencing homelessness due to job loss and home foreclosures. Already the shelter has served 46 families with young children since July.

Today is National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day, an annual campaign to raise awareness about the importance of children’s mental health to their overall health and development. The theme of this year’s campaign is how children can demonstrate resilience and overcome the effects of trauma.

A growing body of research has proven that intense adverse experiences such as witnessing domestic violence, severe maternal depression, or physical abuse or neglect can cause traumatic stress in children. This stress – often referred to as “toxic stress” – can interfere with how children learn and affect how a child’s brain develops.  This is particularly alarming given that nearly half of all substantiated child abuse and neglect cases in Contra Costa County involve children up to age five.

Studies have shown that if untreated, toxic stress in children can lead to later problems in school and with future relationships and employment. It can even affect health as an adult, increasing risks for problems such as depression, drug abuse, and heart disease.

But the negative effects of toxic stress can be lessened or even prevented with the support of caring adults. A healthy parent-child relationship can serve as a buffer against issues like domestic violence. And intensive services provided to young children who have experienced trauma can improve developmental outcomes. That’s where early childhood mental health, or infant mental health, comes in.

Infant mental health is about promoting young children’s healthy social and emotional development. A lot of this work is accomplished by improving the relationship a child has with his or her parent or caregiver since the quality of this relationship influences how well a child develops.

Signs Your Child Might Need Mental Health Services

Children express emotional or behavioral problems in many different ways so it’s not always easy to know if your child may need mental health services. We Care Services for Children, an infant mental health provider in Concord, says to seek help for your child if you are concerned by any of the following:

• Changes in appetite or sleep or other behaviors
• Social withdrawal
• Fearfulness, sadness or tearfulness
• Frequent rule breaking or behavior problems at preschool or home
• Aggression towards others
• Threats to harm self
• Rejecting or avoiding being touched or held
• Inability to comfort or calm self
• Not turning to familiar adults for comfort

Find Local Programs: 

First 5 Contra Costa funds several programs that provide early intervention and mental health support to reduce or prevent the effects of traumatic stress and help children reach their full potential:

• Mental health therapeutic services for children and families with complex problems, including children experiencing parental substance abuse.
• The Positive Parenting Program (“Triple P”), a widely used program shown to prevent child abuse and improve parenting skills. Classes take place at First 5 Centers and throughout the county.
• Mental health consultation services for children exhibiting social-emotional or behavioral problems in child care settings.
• Support for homeless children residing in emergency family shelters.
• Developmental screenings provided to children at First 5 Centers and most First 5-funded programs to identify developmental concerns early.

 Other Resources:

• American Academy of Pediatrics “Tips to Promote Social-Emotional Health Among Young Children“

Data for this graphic come from James Heckman, a Nobel Laureate in Economics and Professor of Economics at the Universtiy of Chicago. Graphic can be found at www.forourbabies.com

Today hundreds of early care and education advocates will descend on the state capitol for the 15th annual Stand for Children Day. Their voices are needed again this year as California faces another round of budget deficits, and low-income children face another round of devastating cuts to vital health and child care programs.

We’ll know more this month when the Governor’s May Revise is released.  As the budget stands now, 62,000 low-income children would lose their child care and thousands more would be affected by reduced CalWORKs grants and time limits.

With personal and corporate income taxes falling $2 to $3.5 billion below the Governor’s original projections, I think it’s safe to say that the May Revise will once again be a budget that does not stand for children.

And that’s a shame since investing in early childhood is the long-term solution to California’s budget problems.

In the U.S., more than 1.2 million students drop out of school every year, and nearly half of all low-income students do not graduate from high school. Poor education outcomes lead to inequality, an inadequate workforce, and increased social spending.

But quality early childhood education offers one of the highest returns on any public investment – at least $7 to $14 for every dollar spent.  It results in better outcomes in education, health, and economic productivity.  It saves government spending on K-12 education, special education, public assistance, and the criminal justice system.

If we want individuals to produce more and need less government support (i.e. contribute to growth, not deficits) then we must invest in early childhood. The research is there, but unfortunately California has a deficit strategy; not a growth strategy for building our future workforce.

Early last month, the Governor urged legislators to “man-up” on state budget cuts (you know, cut more programs for very poor women and children). How about really showing some courage and standing for children – not just today, but every day.

A new Web site launched yesterday to help California’s child care providers implement AB 2084 (Brownley), legislation which prohibits most sugar-sweetened beverages from being served in licensed child care programs.  AB 2084 went into effect in January. It requires licensed child care providers to:

• Make clean and safe drinking water available at all times
• Offer only unsweetened one percent or non-fat milk to children age two and older
• Limit juice to only one serving a day of 100 percent juice
• Prohibit beverages with added sweeteners or artificial flavors

The law provides exemptions for children with medical needs, on infant formula, or whose parents provide their own beverages.

The new Web site, www.healthybeveragesinchildcare.org, includes information about AB 2084, why drinking low-fat milk and water is an effective way to prevent childhood obesity, and ideas and resources to effectively implement the legislation. 

In recent years, California lawmakers have taken great steps to improve the nutrition environment in schools by establishing standards for the beverages and food items sold in our schools, including the elimination of most sugar sweetened beverages.  AB 2084 provides similar nutrition standards which will benefit the more than 2 million children enrolled in licensed child care in California.

According to First 5 LA’s policy brief Sugary Drinks: A Big Problem for Little Kids, “Children are consuming nearly twice as many calories from sugary drinks today than they did 30 years ago. Sugary drinks now represent the biggest source of added sugar in children’s diets. A national random sample found that 44 percent of toddlers 1½ to 2 years old consume a sugary drink on any given day. Alarmingly, that proportion grows to 70 percent of 2- to 5-year-olds consuming a sugary drink on a typical day.”

The California Department of Social Services, the agency charged with overseeing licensed child care programs in the state, will determine AB 2084 compliance during regularly scheduled inspections.

Find more information and resources:

• www.healthybeveragesinchildcare.org
• Fact sheet from Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity
• The Contra Costa Child Care Council’s Self-Assessment Questionnaire and a Best Practices Manual  for child nutrition and physical activity

JoAnn went to her pediatrician, who said there was no clear diagnosis for Zander. He wasn’t autistic. He didn’t have ADHD. According to JoAnn, “He was not clearly anything, but he was clearly having problems.”

Zander’s preschool suggested using the Child Care Solutions program, which provides mental health specialists to observe children struggling in licensed child care settings. The specialist immediately recognized Zander’s symptoms as Sensory Processing Disorder. She then connected Zander and JoAnn with the Contra Costa Child Care Council’s Inclusion Project, which provides one-on-one support to help children with special needs thrive in licensed child care.

Zander’s case is not unique. According to research by the SPD Foundation, 1 in every 20 children experiences problems with sensory processing.

Examples of sensory processing problems include the child who does not like his diaper changed and says “it hurts,” the child who bumps into things and other children unintentionally, or the child who hits and kicks his peers when they barely touch him. Sensory issues may cause behavior problems and/or delayed motor and social emotional development. Some children exhibit an appetite for sensation that is in perpetual overdrive and are often misdiagnosed and inappropriately medicated for ADHD.

Sensory Processing Disorder occurs when a child’s nervous system has difficulty making use of sensory information. It is the job of the nervous system to take in the information around us through our senses and organize that information so we can attach meaning to it and act on it. The lack of control over sensations like touch, smell, sound, taste, balance, and body positioning, can make it very difficult for a child to manage his own behavior, especially when he or she is expected to sit in circle time or participate in structured activities with peers.

“Far too many children with sensory symptoms are misdiagnosed or not properly treated,” said Ange Burnett, the Contra Costa Child Care Council’s Inclusion Project Coordinator. “As a result, these children often have problems making friends, and are labeled unfairly as disruptive, aggressive, clumsy, or uncooperative by teachers or peers. Many are kicked out of child care.”

Children diagnosed with SPD need occupational therapy treatment, but most insurance companies do not pay for it because SPD is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), a manual of currently recognized mental health disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association. SPD has made the final list for new disorders being considered for recognition in the revised DSM-5 due out in 2013, which advocates say will help prevent misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment, and may improve the likelihood insurance companies will cover the cost of treatment.

For now, First 5 Contra Costa-funded programs like the Inclusion Project can provide much needed help.  For example, some of the solutions the Inclusion Project provided at Zander’s preschool included:

• Getting Zander a “chew bracelet” – his providers now direct him to use it when he puts other items in his mouth.
• Having him use a weighted blanket and slightly heavy back pack that provide pressure to help keep him calm (a similar effect as swaddling a baby).
• Using a wobble cushion filled with air at circle time so he can be constantly moving and wiggling without being disruptive to the other children.

Sensory Processing Disorder Red Flags:

• Rubs off kisses or casual touches and pushes others away to avoid closeness
• Bothered by certain types of clothing and particularly sensitive to sock seams, shoes and tags in shirts
• Touches people and objects constantly
• Seems unaware of touch unless it is intense
• Uncomfortable on stairs, clinging to walls or banisters
• Enjoys being upside down, hanging over the bedside or swinging while lying on tummy
• Bumps into objects and furniture, apparently on purpose
• Has problems with touch or with balance and movement as well
• Has a poor sense of body awareness
• Stiff, uncoordinated, and clumsy, falling and tripping frequently
• Leans, bumps, or crashes against objects and people, and invades others’ body space
• Pulls and twists clothing, stretches his tee shirt down, or chews sleeves or collars
• Sensitive to sounds

Talk with your child’s pediatrician or health care provider if you have any concerns about your child’s development.

Learn more: 

• Child Care Solutions: (925) 685-0207 ext. 108
• Contra Costa Child Care Council Inclusion Program: (925) 676-5442, ext. 3113, or specialneeds@cocokids.org
• Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation

The CDC report found that:

• ASDs are almost five times more common in boys than girls, with 1 in 54 boys identified.
• The number of children identified with ASDs ranged from 1 in 210 children in Alabama to 1 in 47 children in Utah.
• The largest increases were among Hispanic and black children.
• While more children are being diagnosed by age 3, 40 percent of the children weren’t diagnosed until after age 4.

So why the increase?

There’s no clear answer on that one yet, although researchers say some of the reasons include greater awareness, better detection, and improved access to services. Researchers, however, continue to study risk factors and causes, including possible environmental factors.

Despite this uncertainty, a few things are clear: more children need ASD services and support, and children do better long-term if they are diagnosed early and receive early intervention services.

Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder:

ASDs are “spectrum disorders” and affect each person in different ways. People with ASDs share some similar symptoms, such as problems with social interaction. But there are differences in when the symptoms start, how severe they are, and the exact nature of the symptoms.

According to the CDC, some children with ASD show hints of future problems within the first few months of life while symptoms in others might not show up until 24 months or later. Some children with an ASD seem to develop normally until around 18 to 24 months of age and then they stop gaining new skills, or they lose the skills they once had. Some symptoms in children include:

• Not responding to their name by 12 months
• Not pointing at objects to show interest (point at an airplane flying over) by 14 months
• Not playing “pretend” games (pretend to “feed” a doll) by 18 months
• Avoiding eye contact and want to be alone
• Having trouble understanding other people’s feelings or talking about their own feelings
• Having delayed speech and language skills
• Repeating words or phrases over and over
• Giving unrelated answers to questions
• Getting upset by minor changes
• Having obsessive interests
• Flapping their hands, rocking their body, or spinning in circles
• Having unusual reactions to the way things sound, smell, taste, look, or feel

If parents do have a concern about their child’s development, it’s best to seek help as soon as possible from their pediatrician or their child’s health care provider. The Regional Center of the East Bay and local school districts also provide assessments for ASD.

Learn more:

• Download a fact sheet about Autism Spectrum Disorders
• What is developmental screening?
• If you do have concerns about your child’s development, click here for what to do and where to call in Contra Costa County
• Prevalence of Autism, a new American Academy of Pediatrics article

The good news is that State leaders have taken action in recent weeks to prevent a number of Governor Brown’s proposed cuts to children’s programs.

The California State Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance, chaired by Concord’s Assemblymember Susan Bonilla, voted to reject the governor’s budget proposals to eliminate transitional kindergarten and to realign child care to the county welfare departments. These are positive first steps in addressing a number of the Governor’s proposals that would be devastating for low-income children and families.

But the Governor has also called for $517 million in cuts to child care, which would be achieved by changing eligibility guidelines and provider reimbursement rates for subsidized care as well as eliminating child care for 62,000 low–income children.

In a joint hearing on March 14, members of Assembly budget subcommittees on Education Finance and Health & Human Services opted not to take action on these proposed reductions to child care programs. These cuts were instead deferred until May, when a clearer picture of the state finances would be available. 

How would these cuts affect Contra Costa families?

These cuts, if enacted, would harm thousands of low-income families and their child care providers.  In a new video, produced by First 5 Contra Costa in collaboration with the Contra Costa County Local Planning Council for Childcare and Development and Parent Voices, local parents and child care professionals share their stories about how devastating these cuts would be for children and our community.    

View it here…then make your voices heard!

You can also find more information about the local impact of child care cuts at www.cocokids.org.

Added sugar, a caloric sweetener that doesn’t exist naturally in foods, comes with many different names: white sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, honey, dextrose, glucose, and molasses. Most ‘processed’ food (including many boxed, frozen, and pre-prepared foods), have added sugar. Some unexpected foods high in sugar are chicken nuggets, dried fruit snacks, granola bars, and ketchup.

For most children, about 322 daily calories come directly from added sugar (except teen boys whose daily intake averages around 440 calories). Preschool-aged children 2 to 5 ate the least amount of calories from added sugars, but added sugar still made up over 13% of their daily diet.

While it may come as no surprise that children are eating too much sugar, a few findings in the report were pretty surprising:

• Overall, more added sugars came from foods compared to beverages. 59% of calories from added sugar came from food and 41% from beverages. Previous research has shown that sodas are the single leading food source of added sugars among children, adolescents, and adults.
• Most added sugars are consumed at home, not at school or in child care.
• Household income seemed to have no effect on the amount of added sugars that children consumed.

How can you reduce added sugar in your family’s diet?

To start, replace unhealthy processed snack foods with fresh healthy ones. Kids eat what is available to them so keep sugary snacks and junk food out of the house. If you surround children with healthy options, they’ll eat nutritious food.

Make food look good: Children eat with their eyes first. If the food looks good, your kids will want to try it. Be creative, like topping off a bowl of cereal with a smiley face using bananas for eyes and blueberries for a mouth.

Get your children involved: If children are involved in the food shopping and preparation, they are more likely to eat a healthy meal.

Make fruits and vegetables a part of every meal: Children should consume five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day, with a single serving equaling the size of a child’s fist. Incorporating more fresh fruits and vegetables into your child’s diet can be as simple as adding lettuce and tomatoes to a sandwich or offering grapes or other fresh fruit with every meal.

Watch what your kids drink: Sugary beverages, like soda and juice drinks (even 100% juice), can increase the risk of tooth decay. Instead, serve water or low-fat milk (for children over age 2).

Make healthy snacks: Toddlers and young children eat frequent small meals throughout the day. Give your child nourishing snacks that will give them a burst of energy, like these snack ideas:

• Peanut butter and banana on whole-wheat bread
• Red, orange, yellow and green pepper strips
• Fruit salad made with pineapple chunks, bananas, grapes and berries
• Celery or apples with peanut butter
• Hummus and baby carrots
• Turkey with lettuce and tomato in a pita pocket
• Low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese with fresh fruit
• Cubes of low-fat cheese

Find more information:

•  First 5 California Nutrition Tips
• Mayo Clinic Tips for Reducing Sugar

Prudent fiscal planning means that First 5 can sustain vital programs like this one which provides shelter services to homeless families.

The spectacular decline in California tobacco consumption – a 52% drop since 1984 – is one of the top public health successes of the last fifty years. As a result, there is a similar decline in lung cancer, saving millions of dollars each year in the health care system.

Yesterday’s Contra Costa Times editorial, Decline in Smoking Reduces Revenue to Pay off Tobacco Bonds, was absolutely correct in pointing out the long-term drawbacks of tobacco tax revenues.

When First 5 was created by the 1998 Proposition 10 tobacco tax initiative to fund health and education programs for young children, we understood that the revenue would decrease over time. That’s why most First 5 commissions put aside funds early on to sustain effective programs as revenues declined. We planned ahead.

In 2001, First 5 Contra Costa’s share of Prop 10 revenue was a little over $12 million. Last year, it dropped to $8.9 million. The California Department of Finance estimates that revenues will continue to decline by an average of 2% each year through 2020.

Two Governors and numerous legislators from both parties have targeted First 5 reserves as one-time funds to fill the perennial gap in the state budget. Fortunately for local families, these efforts have so far been unsuccessful.

First 5 began drawing from our reserves over the last few years once our spending for programs began to exceed our annual revenue. This year alone we anticipate supplementing our Prop 10 revenues with an additional $3.5 million from reserves. These funds will sustain vital early education, parent support, family homeless shelters, and other services that benefit children in the most important developmental period of their lives.

Our prudent fiscal planning has proven to be responsible budgeting at its best.

This first thing to note is that it’s not a lot of money. California originally requested $100 million, but received $52.6 million. The Bay Area’s portion of this will be $8.8 million over a four-year period, and Contra Costa will receive about $1.5 million. Despite the reduced funding, the grant is still expected to benefit 65% of children under five in California, or about 1.8 million children.

The grant will primarily fund local Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) designed to evaluate individual early learning programs on common standards such as the learning environment, teacher effectiveness, and parent engagement.

These activities will be conducted in alignment with the California Early Learning Quality Improvement System Advisory Committee’s plan to develop and utilize rating systems to improve the quality of early education.

Just over 70% of the grant will go to 16 regional consortia, each led by an established program already developing a quality rating system. First 5 Contra Costa is the lead agency for Contra Costa County’s effort.  All 16 consortia will focus quality improvement efforts on:

• Child development and readiness for school
• Teachers and teaching
• Program and environment quality

The remainder of the funding will be used by the state for one-time investments in state capacity, such as training for home visitors of the California Home Visiting Program on the program for Infant/Toddler Care, purchase and distribution of Ages and Stages developmental screening tools, enhancement of the Community Care Licensing Division Web site to include education and training materials for parents and providers, and evaluation support for the grant.

Locally, First 5 Contra Costa and our partners the Contra Costa Child Care Council, County Office of Education, and Community Service Bureau have been implementing a child care rating program through Preschool Makes a Difference (PMD) for the last three years.

PMD recognizes and supports high-quality early learning settings and provides scholarships for low-income children to attend preschool. Scholarships can only be used at a recognized high-quality program.

With RTT-ELC funds, we anticipate expanding the quality improvement component of PMD by providing more site quality assessments, training and technical assistance, and professional development opportunities. Our next steps are to meet with local stakeholders, develop an action plan, and to explore the benefits of working on a regional approach with other Bay Area counties implementing RTT-ELC grants.

We will keep you updated as we learn more!