JULY 2017

Dr. Becky Bailey spoke at a Congressional Baby Caucus briefing in Washington, D.C. on July 13, 2017, delivering a clear message: Providing comprehensive social-emotional learning (SEL) skills and strategies for educators is essential to our children’s present and future success.

Dr. Bailey briefed Congress on the affects of violence and trauma on young children, providing an overview of effective ways teachers can help these children. Core concepts from Conscious Discipline featured prominently and were well received.

“Social Emotional Learning is mental health for young children. It is essential for teachers to have access to effective SEL training and useable skills in order to help heal the underlying challenges that are behind the behaviors they see from children day after day,” Dr. Bailey informed Caucus members.

U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Denny Rehberg (R-MT) launched the Congressional Baby Caucus in 2009 to shed light on the challenges faced during the critical ages of 0-3, and to ensure that public policy aligns with current brain, behavioral and developmental research.

Trauma and social-emotional learning are among the many concerns the Caucus is exploring. Additional topics include nutrition and basic needs, improving outcomes for drug-exposed babies, preschool expulsion and federal programs like Head Start.

“Recent scientific studies on young children and their families have demonstrated that there is a disconnect between what we know is good for America’s children and families versus what we as a country do about it,” said Congresswoman DeLauro. “For this reason, Congressman Rehberg and I founded the Congressional Baby Caucus, which will champion efforts to identify and promote policies that take advantage of these scientific studies in a thoughtful manner to ensure the affect of policies on infants and toddlers is not an after-thought. Our goal is to focus on the opportunities for Congress to use science to dramatically improve the public policy opportunities for children in this country.”

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