Child Care Professionals Research Articles

Benefits for Child Care Workers: How the State Could Help through a Medicaid Waiver

Child care is expensive, and many parents struggle to afford care; furthermore, even though child care costs are high, child care providers in the United States (US) are not making a living wage. Child care professionals (ages 0-5 in child care homes or centers) earn less income than Kindergarten teachers, pre-K teachers, non-farm animal caretakers, and the US estimate of all workers’ annual median salary (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020a, 2020b). Workers in comparable professions are also usually offered benefits for their labor, which child care professionals are not (Kwon, 2019; National Survey of Early Care and Education Project Team, 2020; Otten et al., 2019; Whitebook, McLean, Austin, & Edwards, 2018). This often necessitates use of public assistance. Because many child care workers are not provided access to health insurance or other health-related benefits through their employers, they must seek access to health care in other ways. Additionally, turnover rates among child care workers are high, and wages and benefits are a large part of the reason why child care professionals leave their jobs (McDougald Scott, 2021a). This policy analysis (a) reviewed the current struggle (as of May 2021) that child care workers in the United States (in general) and South Carolina (in particular) experience compared with employees in other fields; and (b) explore options (particularly a Medicaid waiver option) that might improve the situation. South Carolina (SC) is one of the 13 states that have not expanded Medicaid; most of the 13 states are in Southern United States (US) region, which makes an extrapolation of SC research reasonable. Lessons learned from SC childcare data should reflect closely what may be found in other non-expansion states, but research from the literature review will not be SC-specific. Relevant peer-reviewed, government documents, state and national data, and grey literature were reviewed and analyzed. There have been ongoing efforts (although insufficient even in more successful efforts) with mixed results to improve the pay for child care workers for decades. Progress for earning a living wage will require a systems overhaul for early education, but child care providers cannot wait for workforce environmental improvements. Action must be taken now to augment the shortage of healthcare access for child care providers. In SC, Medicaid helps some child care workers receive access to health care, but expansion through Medicaid waiver 1115 would include many more child care workers who do not currently have access.

Wandering behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities.

Approximately one in four children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) 'elope' or wander away from supervision each year; however, many caregivers do not receive adequate information on how to address wandering behavior. The purpose of this review is to summarize the available research on elopement frequency, wandering patterns, and interventions to provide pediatricians and other childcare professionals with appropriate strategies to address wandering behavior. Despite the high prevalence of wandering by children with ASD or other developmental disabilities, there is relatively limited research in this area. Recent research has identified common patterns and factors associated with risk of elopement and elopement frequency. Pediatricians should counsel families on the common issues and intervention strategies related to elopement. By increasing awareness of wandering in children with ASD, caregivers can feel better prepared to make informed decisions regarding their child's wellbeing and safety.

Barriers and Facilitators Associated With Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Among Child Care Professionals: A Systematic Review.

Hundreds of children die every year due to child abuse and/or neglect (CAN). Despite CAN reporting laws, approximately one fifth of child care professionals fail to report CAN. The current systematic review examines 37 studies on factors associated with CAN reporting and synthesizes their findings to provide in-depth insights on CAN reporting strategies. A systematic search on peer-reviewed original studies published from 2010 to 2020 was conducted with various databases. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Protocols guidelines were used to screen 266 studies retrieved from the initial search; of those, 37 were retained for review. Barriers to and facilitators of CAN reporting were categorized by the following common characteristics: system and structure (e.g., reporting system infrastructure), resources and support (e.g., funding, time), sociocultural context (e.g., CAN as a family matter), reporter traits (e.g., gender), and psychological attributes (e.g., knowledge, beliefs, mistrust). Intervention strategies tailored to the needs of professionals that can maximize their CAN reporting behaviors must be developed. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 59(6), 14-22.].

A Study on Check of Child's Condition during Nap of Childcare Professionals based on Eye Fixation Behavior

A Study on Check of Child's Condition during Nap of Childcare Professionals based on Eye Fixation Behavior

Screen time and developmental and behavioral outcomes for preschool children.

One pressing question in the field of pediatrics is whether a dose-response relation is observed between hours of screen time and child outcomes. This study examined the association between hours of screen time (≤1 vs 2 vs ≥3 h/day) and children's developmental and behavioral outcomes. This study included data from 1994 mothers and children in Calgary, Canada, drawn from the All Our Families cohort. At 36 months, children's screen time (h/day), behavior problems, developmental milestones, and vocabulary acquisition were assessed via maternal report. Socio-demographic factors and baseline levels of performance at 24 months were included as covariates. Compared to ≤1 h/day (47%; n = 935), children using screens 2 h (36%; n = 725) or ≥3 h/day (17%; n = 333) had an increased likelihood of reported behavioral problems (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.30-1.90), delayed achievement of developmental milestones (AOR 1.41-1.68), and poorer vocabulary acquisition (AOR 1.94). At 36 months, an association was observed between screen time and children's developmental, language, and behavioral outcomes, suggesting that duration of screen time is associated with poor child development outcomes. Findings provide support for screen time guidelines and emphasize the need for childcare professionals to discuss screen time guidelines with families. International guidelines recommend that preschoolers spend nomore than 1 h/day viewing screens. Research is needed to determine if there is a relation between screen time levels and child developmental and behavioral outcomes. Compared to ≤1 h/day, children viewing screens 2 or ≥3 h/day had an increased likelihood of behavioral problems, delayed achievement of developmental milestones, and poorer vocabulary acquisition. Findings highlight the association between duration of screen time and factors of child development.

Influence of Breastfeeding in the Adaptation of and Absenteeism of Infants in Early Childhood Centers: A Preliminary Study.

Schooling of children between 0 and 3 years old involves a process of adaptation and increases their exposure to infectious diseases, which leads to school absenteeism. Breastfeeding facilitates the development of secure attachment and protects the infant against infections. This study aimed to determine whether breastfeeding facilitates the adaptation of infants between 0 and 3 years old to early childhood center and decreases school absenteeism. A cross-sectional study was carried out by collecting data through a questionnaire, which was filled out by the parents and the childcare professionals. 160 infants participated. 40% of the infants who received infant formula from birth showed dependency behaviors (inconsolable crying or do not leave the caregiver for a long time) at the time of pick-up from the center, compared with 10%, 2.7%, and 2.6% of children breastfed between 0 and 6 months, and more than 6 and 12 months, respectively (p = 0.001). The interquartile range of absenteeism days per episode was 2–3 days for infants fed infant formula versus 1–2 days for those who were breastfed for more than 12 months (p = 0.041). Breastfeeding seems to be associated with fewer dependency behaviors at the time of collection and with fewer days of absence.

INTERTEXTUALITY IN ACTION: THE ROLE OF EXPERT ADVICE IN EVERYDAY PARENTING

This article explores the relationship between discourse and action by examining the role of expert advice in everyday parenting practices. Drawing upon the notions of dialogicality (Bakhtin, 1981), intertextuality (Kristeva, 1986), and repetition (Tannen, 2007) and incorporating insights from Mediated Discourse Analysis (e. g., Scollon, 1998; Scollon and Scollon, 2007; Norris and Jones, 2005), this work analyzes instances in which the actions of parents in three American families can be traced back to various public texts on parenting. Such relationship between text and action is identified as intertextuality in action (Author, 2005, 2020), or when public texts serve as resources for the verbal and non-verbal everyday actions of parents. It is further suggested that by adopting a positive, childcentered approach to parenting from literature and trained childcare professionals, parents themselves are socialized into the contemporary Discourse (Gee, 1999, 2015) of parenting. The analysis of the “repetition” of the words of experts in family (inter)actions also illuminates the dialogic relationship between the public and private spheres.

Does group intervention make a difference for the speech sound development of Dutch pre-school children with Developmental Language Disorder?

Purpose In the Netherlands, children (2;0–5;0) with (presumed) severe DLD attend special treatment groups. In these groups, speech sound disorders (SSDs) are usually treated in individual therapy. The aim of this study is to examine the efficacy of an added phonological group intervention. Method Parallel to individual therapy, these children received a group intervention from trained childcare professionals. A within-subject multiple-baseline design was chosen to compare children’s development before and after the intervention. Children tested at all six time points were included in the intervention study (n = 31, age range: 28–46 months). Result Of the children attending the selected groups, 77% have an SSD. The participating children demonstrate with a severe SSD based on their caregivers’ report of their intelligibility at baseline. Their phonological production skills increased from a mean Percentage Consonants Correct (PCC) of 42–57% after the intervention compared to no significant increase during the measurements before the intervention. Conclusion We conclude that childcare professionals without a specific background in speech-language pathology can effectively be trained to deliver a phonological group intervention to children with (presumed) severe DLD and SSD. Moreover, these children make a clinically relevant increase in their phonological production skills due to the phonological group intervention.

The Church of England Advisory Council of Empire Settlement and Post-War Child Migration to Australia

Between 1947 and 1965, 408 British children were sent to Australia under the auspices of the Church of England Advisory Council of Empire Settlement and its successor bodies. Situating this work in wider policy contexts, this article examines how the council involved itself in this work with support from some senior clergy and laity despite being poorly resourced to do so. Noting the council's failure to maintain standards expected of this work by the Home Office and child-care professionals, the article considers factors underlying this which both reflected wider tensions over child migration in the post-war period as well as those specific to the council.

Signs of Safety: The View From Early Help

ABSTRACT Signs of Safety is a strengths-based approach to work with children and families where there are concerns about abuse or neglect. Signs of Safety is widely used in the UK and internationally, and there is a growing range of empirical research exploring its use within statutory children’s social work. However, there is little research exploring how, and to what effect, Signs of Safety is being used by other childcare professionals. This paper reports on an independent evaluation of the use of Signs of Safety by an early help agency in the South West of England. At time of evaluation, the agency was commissioned by the local authority to support children and families with multiple and complex needs who did not meet the threshold for statutory children’s social care involvement. The study was multiple methods with two strands. To better understand the work that the agency did, data were collected from case files, to develop a profile of families engaging with the agency. Interviews were undertaken with five practitioners about their experiences of using Signs of Safety. Saliency analysis was used to explore the qualitative data. Overall practitioners felt that Signs of Safety was accessible, supported clear communication with children and families and aided critical reflection. However, existing tensions—relating to statutory threshold decisions and multi-agency relationships—were reflected and magnified via the Signs of Safety tools. The implications of these findings are discussed, providing original insights about an issue highly relevant to national and international audiences.

Collaborating alone? Teachers’ and pedagogues’ unequal cross-professional collaboration and what it means for their professional learning in Danish schools

Cross-professional collaboration in schools is a prerequisite for professional teaching practice and thus for professional development in many post-industrialized societies, yet little is known about how teachers with different professional backgrounds make meaning of and internalize cross-professional collaboration and how inequities in legitimacy and power in cross-professional collaboration affect professional learning. This article examines cross-professional collaboration and the professional learning it initiates between teachers and pedagogues (Danish term for childcare professionals) in Danish schools. Drawing on situated learning theory, critical psychology and Pierre Bourdieu, it explores teachers’ and pedagogues’ professional learning in conflictual cross-professional collaborations. The findings of the study document that cross-professional collaborations are spaces for negotiating and drawing professional boundaries and for producing hierarchies of different forms of professional capital, thereby re/producing dominant understandings of what constitutes teaching professionalism for teachers and pedagogues. The article concludes that cross-professional collaboratory practices may position and draw boundaries between the different professional groups, thus limiting productive learning.

The Child Feeding Guide: A digital health intervention for reducing controlling child feeding practices and maternal anxiety over time

AbstractFussy eating and food refusal are common in young children. These behaviours can contribute to anxiety or concern in parents and caregivers, who have called for credible support to help them navigate the challenges of feeding young children. Given recent increases in technology, and use of the Internet as a trusted source of parenting support, the Child Feeding Guide digital health intervention was created to provide evidence‐based support to parents and caregivers to help them to feed children and establish healthy eating habits from the early years. An evaluation was conducted with 25 mothers (with a child aged 6 months to 4 years) who used the Child Feeding Guide website/app over 4 weeks. Mothers provided information about their feeding practices and anxiety levels at baseline, and again 4 weeks later, and answered questions regarding the acceptability and use of the digital support resource. Significant decreases were seen in maternal anxiety and in maternal use of pressure to eat and restriction of food from children for weight reasons. Mothers reported that the Child Feeding Guide was easy to use, that they valued its credibility and reassurances, and that its content helped them to better understand their child’s eating behaviour. These promising findings suggest that naturalistic use of a digital health intervention could contribute to reductions in mothers’ use of controlling feeding practices and levels of anxiety. Such findings are important for supporting the development of healthy eating habits in young children and are likely to be relevant to health and childcare professionals.

Determining Early Childhood Professionals’ Perspectives on Provider-Caregiver Nutrition Communication Strategies

Abstract Objectives Explore early childcare providers’ perceptions on the barriers and facilitators to effective provider-caregiver communication practices to address child nutrition. Methods A mixed-methods design was utilized to interview childcare professionals working with children 0–3 years of age in Florida. Semi-structured interviews containing questions based on key Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) constructs were conducted along with a short demographic questionnaire. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were coded by two researchers using a thematic analysis approach and major themes were summarized. Results Participants (n = 10) were female, early childcare providers with an average of seven years of experience and serving families with infants and toddlers ages 0 to 3 years old. While childcare professionals emphasized having the intention to convey nutrition-related information to the caregivers, major themes revealed barriers including time, parental provision of unhealthy foods, parent receptiveness and overall nutrition knowledge, and culture and language. Overall, participants described the nutrition communication practices at their center to be effective and suggested daily communication via mobile app as one of their best practices. Although, interactions with caregivers were often brief and revolved around sensitive and timely dietary information. All participants mentioned being open to receiving both nutrition education and communication strategies training to improve their current practices with caregivers. Conclusions While childcare professionals have the intention to convey nutrition-related information to the caregivers, they are often constrained by a variety of barriers. Further research will also be conducted to examine caregivers’ perceptions on this topic. Funding Sources None.

Why do they depend on the private sector of childcare in South Korea?: Perspectives of the selected working mothers

Low birth rate constitutes one of the social problems currently faced by South Korea. In order to solve this issue, the government has tried to reduce the burden of child rearing and enhance child support. Despite governmental childcare support policy being tightened, the burden of childcare remains an issue, especially for working mothers; in fact, some rely on private services due to the lack of high quality and reliable public childcare services. There are few studies related to the use of private services by working mothers in South Korea. In this sense, this study focuses on the experience of working mothers with private childcare professionals—so called emo in South Korea. Through an in-depth interview with six participants, this study reveals the real voice of working mothers hiring emoes to care for and support their children, filling the gap between childcare policy and their demands and providing suggestions to alleviate this discrepancy.

Uninformed, Afraid and Confused: What Children Need to Know at the Beginning of Their Foster Care Process

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the information that children need to be given when they are moving to a fostering placement. Generally, children are not consulted or informed prior to the foster decisions being made, nor when they arrive at the placement. Therefore, they do not usually know their foster care situation and the changes it implies for their lives. The literature available shows that informing children is the first step in enabling them to participate in their own fostering process. Participation empowers them and endorses successful intervention. In order to understand which information is crucial for children's wellbeing and adaption to this initial fostering experience, a qualitative research study was carried out. The study was developed in Spain and it used focus groups and interviews as instruments to gather information. The sample was composed of 30 fostered children, 42 parents, and 63 child care professionals. The results show the importance of sharing five essential aspects with children: (a) the real reasons for family separation; (b) the intervention which took place before removing them from their home; (c) their rights as fostered children; (d) the characteristics of the foster placement; (e) the visitation schedule. It helps children to cope with their new situation by empowering them and making them more adaptive to face all of the changes which are coming. Finally, some good practice tips for professional were also stated in order to improve the information sharing experience.

Examining Professionals’ Critical Thinking about Children Who Pose a Serious Threat to Others

Abstract Concerns have been raised about the quality of child-care professionals’ critical thinking and analytical skills. This study examines the critical thinking demonstrated by professionals when discussing risk in relation to vulnerable children. Data were collected from thirty consultation meetings, each of which focused on assessing the risks of a child who presented a serious threat of harm to others. Discourse analysis is used to examine the way in which critical thinking about risk is discussed at the consultation meetings. The findings suggest that critical thinking is demonstrated by professionals in ways that differentiate between potential harm and actual harm, and in relation to harm children pose to themselves and to other people. Also, the willingness of professionals to ask relevant questions and challenge each other is an important way of prompting individuals to demonstrate critical thinking. However, professionals tend to demonstrate a relatively narrow conceptualisation of critical thinking. This narrow conceptualisation cannot be reduced solely to the abilities or traits of an individual or professional group and it is argued that the bureaucratic and procedural demands of organisations in relation to vulnerable children may be an important factor in limiting the way professionals demonstrate critical thinking.

Promoting Optimal Development: Identifying Infants and Young Children With Developmental Disorders Through Developmental Surveillance and Screening.

Early identification and intervention for developmental disorders are critical to the well-being of children and are the responsibility of pediatric professionals as an integral function of the medical home. This report models a universal system of developmental surveillance and screening for the early identification of conditions that affect children's early and long-term development and achievement, followed by ongoing care. These conditions include autism, deafness/hard-of-hearing, intellectual and motor disabilities, behavioral conditions, and those seen in other medical conditions. Developmental surveillance is supported at every health supervision visit, as is as the administration of standardized screening tests at the 9-, 18-, and 30-month visits. Developmental concerns elicited on surveillance at any visit should be followed by standardized developmental screening testing or direct referral to intervention and specialty medical care. Special attention to surveillance is recommended at the 4- to 5-year well-child visit, prior to entry into elementary education, with screening completed if there are any concerns. Developmental surveillance includes bidirectional communication with early childhood professionals in child care, preschools, Head Start, and other programs, including home visitation and parenting, particularly around developmental screening. The identification of problems should lead to developmental and medical evaluations, diagnosis, counseling, and treatment, in addition to early developmental intervention. Children with diagnosed developmental disorders are identified as having special health care needs, with initiation of chronic condition management in the pediatric medical home.

O corpo a corpo na relação educativa entre babá e criança: uma revisão da literatura

Resumo O presente estudo exploratório sobre o caráter educativo do trabalho doméstico de cuidado de crianças focaliza especificamente o processo de construção dos corpos-identidades que se faz presente na interação entre a mulher babá e a criança sob seus cuidados. Para tanto, reúne e coloca em diálogo estudos produzidos nos campos da Educação, Psicologia, Sociologia e História. Tal mapeamento visa contribuir para a desnaturalização da imagem estereotipada do cuidado infantil enquanto tarefa feminina e para a valorização desse trabalho formativo realizado em espaço doméstico. O panorama desenhado abre uma série de questões a serem perscrutadas no sentido de elucidar o que está em jogo no corpo a corpo desse encontro.

La pleine conscience comme premier temps thérapeutique des troubles anxieux chez l’enfant

ObjectivesRequests for advice, advice and treatment in child-child psychiatry are experiencing an exponential explosion, as seen by clinicians and those involved in childhood; it is also relayed to the competent health authorities. The child's excessive or pathological anguish is a common subject of child psychiatric consultation, whether initiated by members of the family or by child care professionals. Symptomatology is varied, multi-faceted and comorbidity frequent. However, it is not always easy to distinguish the existential anguish that every child apprehends during his development from that which takes on a deleterious accent, harmful to his development. The article proposes to address anxiety disorders in children by recalling some clinical definitions and manifestations before opening the question of the place of mindfulness in the therapeutic axe. MethodsWe propose to repeat the main elements of several concepts such as anxiety, anxiety and stress. In general, anxiety can be understood as a painful sensation of deep discomfort, determined by the diffuse impression of a relatively vague but imminent danger, before which one remains unarmed and powerless. It is usually accompanied by neuro-vegetative changes. Anxiety will be understood differently depending on the theoretical reference. Anxiety is manifested by distress, a sense of threat or fear. It also corresponds to an emotional state characterized by a feeling of worry, insecurity, marked by the apprehension of an indeterminate danger before which one feels powerless. Thought holds a prominent place. There is also the notion of stress which reflects all the responses to pressures and constraints arising from the environment. The body mobilizes psychophysiologically to escape danger. The anxiety disorder manifests itself in very different ways depending on the children, their age, their personality and the type of disturbance. Let us emphasize at the outset how anxiety is potentially masked by hyperactivity, agitation or other behavioural disorders. Anxiety disorders are often associated with learning difficulties. ResultsThe recommended management of anxiety disorders in the first instance is psychotherapy. It may even constitute the only treatment or be associated for example with the psychopharmacological approach, depending on the severity of the disorder, this without neglecting probable interventions in the contextual reality of the child concerned. In fact, let us recall how much the young subject is dependent on his environment and how much interference with it can seriously affect his psychic state. If the symptoms are intense, disabling and/or psychotherapy is not sufficient to contain them, a psychopharmacological treatment may be considered, combined with other therapeutic axes. The axis of the medication should also be used in the presence of a harmful comorbidity. Given the neuro-vegetative effects of anxiety disorders, before resorting to psychopharmacological treatment, we recommend that we favour the relaxation techniques often appreciated by the child. Let's continue thinking about treatments by focusing on a specific approach. ConclusionsThe intervention programs using so-called mindfulness meditation aim to encourage the individual to welcome his thoughts, emotions and sensations. In a general way, mindfulness allows us to devote all of our attention to the present moment without passing judgment in order to be in the most contact with our lived experiences. Beyond a fashion effect, mindfulness provides a promising perspective for acting on the signs of anxiety, stress in children and adults, regardless of the presence of mental health disruption in the subject. This being the case, the effectiveness of this practice in anxiety disorders by improving the symptoms of the child is now recognized. This technique has a positive influence on several other variables such as creativity, cognitive flexibility, concentration in learning. On the other hand, mindfulness visibly increases social abilities. There is a correlation between regular participation in meditation exercises and improvement of the child's well-being and a decrease in anxiety symptoms.

Interculturality or Government of Childhood? Challenges of Indigenous Child Care in Colombia

A global phenomenon is the reorganization of care for very young children. Institutions are replacing the context of family and community. Increasingly in Colombia young children spend hours each day in institutions directed by public policy and administrative guidelines. We explore, first, how research on this phenomenon adopts a reductionist perspective, a focus on “quality” and “outcomes” measured in ways that assume a Western axiology. Second, we consider how the institutionalization of childhood amounts to a “government” that imposes Western individualism. Third, we illustrate the tension created for childcare professionals and for Indigenous communities as their rights to make decisions about the best ways to care for children are threatened.