Mental and Social Health Commons^™

The Use Of Culturally Sustaining Practices In Play To Foster Resilience, Genevieve Lowry

Graduate School of Education

Children present in the hospital with an array of previous experiences. Play specialists must learn to help children use experiences as opportunities for growth and coping and be prepared when significant life events emerge as part of a child's play. Ecological models provide a framework for understanding children's lived experiences affecting development and offering insight into children and families responses to stress. Foundational theories of play provide knowledge of children's development, interests, and understanding of themselves and the world. This chapter examines two culturally sustaining models that build on play theories viewing children and families through a strengths-based lens that …

Play's Continuum Of Needs: Building Blocks For Deepening Play Opportunities In Medical Environments, Deborah Brewster Vilas

Graduate School of Education

Optimal healing for children in hospitals occurs when their developmental needs are considered as part of their overall treatment plan. One of the most pressing developmental needs for all children is the need to play, and this remains so even when they are confined to a hospital bed or face developmental delays or disabilities. This chapter examines the most basic components of implementing play programs in hospitals, such as the intentional creation of space for play, determining the best times for children to play, and exploring what types of play are therapeutic and possible in a hospital environment. The author …

The Role Of Child Life Specialists In Community Settings: Chapter 6: Prison, Genevieve Lowry

Graduate School of Education

This chapter focuses on the role of the child life specialist working with families affected by incarceration. Children and families are at increased risk due to trauma exacerbated by arrests, incarceration, and re-entry. This chapter will focus on the ways a child life specialist working in jails, prisons, detention centers, and in communities with schools, non-profits, and faith-based organizations can provide developmentally appropriate explanations, preparation, play, expressive arts, and coping, facilitating opportunities that foster relationships and understanding while promoting resilience.

“Nadie Nos Han Preguntado…” (Nobody Has Asked Us...), Mark Nagasawa

Straus Center for Young Children & Families

This is the latest in a series of reports from the Listening to Teachers Study, which seeks understanding of how New York City's early childhood educators are faring during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to use data gathered through surveys (May 2020, n=3355; June 2021, n=663) and in-depth interviews (spring 2022) to prompt reflection and discussion about what a more equitable post-pandemic ECE system could look like.

This report focuses on describing the June 2021 sample and preliminary findings:

1. As in 2020, emotional/mental health support was the most frequently requested need, but professional …

Who Will Care For The Early Care And Education Workforce? Covid-19 And The Need To Support Early Childhood Educators’ Emotional Well-Being, Mark Nagasawa, Kate Tarrant

Straus Center for Young Children & Families

This brief report describes issues and opportunities related to early childhood educators' emotional well-being that emerged from a survey exploring how the COVID-19 was affecting early educators across New York City and New York State (n=3355). Among our key findings were: (1) that mental health support was the most frequently identified need (n=910); (2) professional mental health was the least reported approach to coping (n=216); and (3) how those teaching and caring remotely were approximately one-and-a- half times more likely to rate their emotional well-being as lower than those whose sites were closed (CI 95% 1.157, 1.896). We argue, given …