Innovative Early Childhood Summit Sessions

Participants will view the film “Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope” to gain an understanding of the impact that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have on biopsychosocial functioning. Participants will also learn how to foster protective factors, such as resilience, to mitigate the negative, long-term consequences associated with the experience of toxic stress in childhood.
Workshop participants will be introduced to Vroom, a nationwide initiative designed to empower caregivers to play a proactive role in early brain development. Practical examples illustrate opportunities to share cutting-edge scientific research about early brain development throughout a community and how to integrate Vroom resources into existing programs and services to surround families with positive messaging and promote everyday actions that advance optimal child development.
This session will provide an overview of some of the most commonly used definitions and share visualizations that show the implications for which children are and are not classified as rural per these definitions. The audience will also be invited to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the definitions, drawing on their own reflections on the visualized data.
Early Childhood Home Visitors trained as Community Health Workers (CHW) have shown to affect positive health change and improve school readiness outcomes among the most vulnerable populations. The University of San Francisco School of Nursing and Health Professions in partnership with Save the Children, has created a 60-hour CHW training program for early childhood coordinators/home visitors that will provide value-added education to promote relational health.
This session will introduce you to research from the past 20 years as well as the U.S. Department of Education’s Dual Capacity–Building Framework for Effective Family-School Partnerships, which explores the family engagement efforts that contribute to student learning.

You can learn more about the 2023 Rural Summit here.