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Top Takeaways is a series of recaps from important conversations, town halls, webinars and virtual events about early learning.

On Friday, Feb. 25, this year鈥檚 took place virtually. Co-organized by the (ICS), , and the , the event centered on the theme of strengthening families.

Here are our takeaways:

1. COVID is giving us the chance to imagine things differently. In her remarks, Dr. Carol Cohen Weitzman, Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine, cited a series of alarming statistics (warning us ahead of time that she would bring us down before giving us reasons to be hopeful):

• 1 in 6 children have a developmental disability ()
• More than 10 million children were living in poverty before the pandemic, more than 70% of them children of color ()
• More than 200,000 U.S. children have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID (Harvard University鈥檚 Charles Nelson, , referring to the wave of 鈥淐OVID Orphans鈥�)

Weitzman called for a massive response to the current and growing mental health crisis.聽Funds are needed to reduce waitlists for screening and services.

2. Resilience is a collective, not individual, power. 鈥�Trauma can promote resilience,鈥� said Weitzman, hailing and work being done at the at the University of Minnesota, but she clarified that human flourishing doesn鈥檛 matter as much on the individual level as it does for populations. Assets such as interconnectedness and interdependency are what lead to individual bravery鈥攏ot the other way around. 鈥淓vidence for resilience at the structural level,鈥� she said, 鈥渓asts into future generations.鈥�

3. The great outdoors beckons. In a discussion titled 鈥淧rogram Innovations for the 鈥楴ew Normal鈥�.鈥� Tanya Camunas, Executive Director, in Greenvile, South Carolina, described her organization鈥檚 philosophy of delivering behavioral health services, in a child care setting, free of charge to Medicaid-eligible families. Play and family therapy are integral aspects of their approach, and while they shifted to telehealth support during the pandemic, the limitations of this mode of delivery were unmistakable.

A Child鈥檚 Haven sits on four acres of land, however, which is allowing Camunas and team to extend the facility into the outdoors with its Therapeutic Outdoor Environment (known as TOEs); construction will finish soon.

4. Telehealth may remain in the toolkit. Sonya Ebeling of the said that in many cases, temporary pandemic-driven adjustments are becoming permanent, explaining that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has indicated it will continue to approve reimbursement for telehealth services.

Ben Goodman of Family Connects described how his organization modified its universal postpartum home visiting program during the pandemic. The current model includes

• A check-in call with a nurse at one week
• A virtual in-home visit at three weeks postpartum
• Periodic, structured supportive calls鈥斺�渁 lighter touch鈥濃�攍asting 20-30 minutes

Preliminary evidence shows that this modified version of Family Connects鈥� historic model 鈥渞educes feelings of isolation and concerns about routine medical care,鈥� Goodman said, but decisions about a hybrid model going forward await evaluation of quality and impact.

5. The workforce crisis has solutions. ICS鈥檚 Megan Carolan presented highlights from her December 2021 white paper that focuses on

• Compensation, which encompasses more than wages. Benefits and family-friendly policies can make the difference between success and failure in these demanding roles.
• Burnout, which can be 鈥渃ontagious鈥�; Carolan said employers need to shift to a preventive approach rather than reacting to crises as they arise. Regarding the often-invoked power of self-care, she argued that what matters is a culture where self-care is valued and respected.
• Safety, which is a multifaceted issue, applying to professionals as well as the children in their care. The pandemic endangered child care educators; as the Heising-Simons Action Fund鈥檚 Rebecca E. Gomez , 鈥淲hile serving as essential workers during the pandemic, they risk their lives and those of their family members.鈥� Carolan鈥檚 paper delves into safety issues and proposed solutions for child welfare professionals.
• Retention. It鈥檚 harder to replace educators who leave than it is to retain the existing workforce, but financial hardship have led to a wave of departures, which leads to further hardships. Professional training and peer support are among the most promising solutions in Carolan鈥檚 paper, the conclusion of which states: 鈥淐hildren and families do not magically experience improved outcomes just by simple investments in health, education and welfare; these impacts are only achieved if they are served by a dedicated and talented workforce well-suited to meet their needs.鈥�

鈥淭here has never been a more important time to be in the business of caring for children,鈥� Weitzman declared. Carolan and the other speakers emphasized both the business and the caring aspects of this clarion call.

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 91涩漫. Learn more here.