Recent changes in immigration policy are presenting new and intense challenges to infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their families, and the teachers and programs that work with them. Families and programs are experiencing increased trauma due to the immigration climate. With funding from the Irving Harris Foundation, the BUILD Initiative has organized a series of webinars and blogs in partnership with the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) for providers, state policy leaders, and...

The concepts of “toxic stress” and “adverse childhood experiences” (ACEs) have captured professional and public attention in recent years. While this has helped to bring more resources and interest to early childhood issues, it has also resulted in some harmful language and imagery that depicts children, families, or entire communities as “broken” or beyond healing and resilience. In our concern about adversity, are we selling short the capacity of individuals and communities to heal and...

More than 100 people gathered at a session entitled “Passing the Torch: Increasing Access to Support the Whole Child" at the 2018 National ACEs Conference held in San Francisco Oct. 16-17, 2018. We heard from four panelists that do varied work around trauma in prenatal, infant care and early childhood. Julie Kurtz, the Co-Director of Trauma-Informed Practices for Early Childhood Education at the Center for Family & Child Studies at WestEd, started off by giving a tour of the neurobiology...

The Healing Trauma Summit is a free, online series of speakers presenting a wide range of trauma-related topics. It starts today and continues every day until next Wednesday, June 13. A recording of each presentation is available on the website 24 hours after it ends. * Keep in mind the times listed on the website are in EST *