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Good afternoon! Welcome to First 5 LA's Week In Review covering the top news and views in early childhood development for the week.

California Governor Gavin Newsom along with several prominent elected officials visited the Los Angeles-based Hope Street Margolis Family Center this morning to promote the unprecedented state-level investments in early childhood development. Journalist Zaidee Stavely says the investment could prove to be a bellwether for the rest of the country.

More is being shared about “forgotten baby syndrome,” after a father recently left his 1 year-old twins in a hot car while he went to work and they died. According to scientists, a parent's "habitual memory" can trick them into thinking they've taken the kids out when they haven't.

This and more in today's Week In Review.

Early Care and Education

Male Educators: Only 3% of the early care and education (ECE) workforce is male, which is a statistic some male preschool teachers are trying to change, reports KPCC’s Priska Neely. Social stigma and stereotypes are a leading cause of the gender disparity, as well as low-wages. “Sooner or later, we’re gonna get people accustomed to it and it’s going to be a social norm,” said ECE professor Billy Trung in an interview with Neely. Trung supports a Facebook group dedicated to male ECE workers and produces a yearly conference where advocates, including females, can come together to support the movement. “Directors just need to stay strong and articulate that there isn’t any risk in hiring male teachers in ECE,” a female ECE professor and advocate tells Neely. By shifting perceptions at the leadership level, the movement hopes to bring more men to the ECE workforce, thereby creating more male role models for young children.

What the Leaders Think: First 5 LA Executive Director Kim Belshè was quoted in the most recent installment of The Sacramento Bee’s “Influencer Series” answering the question, What can we do to prepare our children for school earlier? “We owe our kids the respect to tend to their needs before they reach crisis proportions,” said Belshè. “Why do we wait for families to fall into crisis... Shouldn’t we prioritize strengthening and prevention over crisis and remediation?” Other influencers included State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond, who pointed out that California has a kindergarten-readiness gap due to lack of access to preschool. California School Boards Association President Vernon Billy echoed Darling-Hammond's sentiments and added that “we must also concentrate on improving program quality.” Other influencers called for a greater focus on bilingual education programs, while still others pointed to the importance of having an economically stable home, which means increased funding for programs that support communities, health care, housing and food security.

Health

Forgotten Baby Syndrome: Losing a young child by forgetting them in a hot car is an unimaginable scenario for many parents, however “forgotten baby syndrome” –– or when 'habitual memory' overrides 'prospective memory,' creating a 'false memory' such as dropping off a child at daycare –– can happen to anyone, reports USA Today. Well-intentioned, loving parents like Juan Rodriguez, a social worker from New York who left his 1-year-old twins in a car during a shift, can fall victim to this lapse in memory which makes prosecuting the case of accidental forgotten child deaths all the more difficult and varied, reports The New York Times. Each year, an average of 38 children die from being left in a hot car with 54% of deaths between 1998 and 2018 being a case of “forgotten child syndrome,” according to NoHeatStoke.org and as reported by The New York Times. Last year’s record high of 53 deaths is motivating lawmakers, advocates and car manufacturers to take a systemic approach to combat the issue. Efforts include car technology that alerts parents when someone is left in the backseat, and the House and Senate are considering separate bills that would mandate these types of systems in all new cars, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Families and Communities

Shield or Share: As mass shootings become a national crisis, parents are struggling with how to talk to their kids about the recent attacks, wondering how much news they should shield from them. Dr. David Schonfeld, director of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, spoke to NPR about how to talk to kids about the recent mass shootings. According to Schonfeld, depending on the child’s age, having an open and honest conversation with your kids is important, stating that “the last thing you want is for your children to find out about this from someone else and for them to think that either you will not or don't feel able to tell them important things.” Schonfeld, who meets with the victims, families and community leaders of mass shootings, also says that we must fight the normalization of these occurrences, which includes how we talk about them: “There's nothing normal about this. And as soon as we call it normal or say that, you know, this is our new reality, it means somehow we don't have to do anything about it.”

Politics and Current Events

Census 2020: Despite the Trump Administration abandoning it’s crusade to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, Latino kids are still at risk of being undercounted, reports The Los Angeles Times. Forty percent of the children under 5 who were undercounted in the 2010 Census were Latinx, and demographers project that that statistic will increase in the upcoming Census due to the Trump Administration’s efforts crack down on undocumented immigrants. Getting an accurate count of children is critical for states to receive federal funding for programs that many families rely on, which makes states with a high population of Latinos like California and Texas at risk of being underfunded. Early childhood programs like Head Start, where 37% of preschool students are Latinx, could be especially hard-hit. California has set aside $150 million to publicize the correct information about the Census to reduce fears and encourage immigrants to respond to the survey. Texas has set aside none.

From Our Friends

Newsom Visit: California Governor Gavin Newsom, State Surgeon General Nadine Burke Harris, Senator Holly Mitchell, and Assemblymember Miguel Santiago visited the Los Angeles-based Hope Street Margolis Family Center this morning to promote the unprecedented state-level investments in early childhood development. “Investing in our youngest Californians is the best investment we can make, and I made a commitment to support the youngest Californians and their parents so that they can get a quality education, good health care, and other things they need to have successful lives,” said Governor Newsom in a press release about the event. As the presidential election heats up, California’s early childhood investment could serve as a bellwether for the rest of the country, reported EdSource journalist Zaidee Stavely in an article published today.
Kids Impact: Long time early childhood leaders Laurie Lipper and Wendy Lazarus believe that kids and families should be front and center at the next Democratic debates. "You wouldn’t know that voters care about babies, children, and their families from the questions media representatives asked during the recent Democratic presidential candidates’ debates," they shared in a recent blog post. Check out the post, "It’s time to hear what the Democratic presidential candidates have planned for our nation’s 74 million children,"  and share on social media using #KidsImpact2020.

What's Next...

August 3- August 29 -- Chocolate Milk: The Documentary Screening and Town Hall August 2019 hosted by by BreastfeedLA and iDREAM for Racial Health Equity, multiple locations. Free, click here to register.  

August 26 --
400 Years: Reflections on Lessons Learned & Imagining Our Futures, 8:00 a.m. – 6 p.m., The California Endowment 1000 N. Alameda St. Los Angeles, CA 90012. $75, click here to register.

September 18 --
Learners Today, Leaders Tomorrow 2019 Summit, 8:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m., Long Beach Marriott, 4700 Airport Plaza Drive Long Beach, CA 90815. Registration $100, click here to register.

ICYMI: In Case You Missed It, More Great Reads

Why early childhood education is a women’s rights Issue
CalMatters

Toddlers Don’t Have to Go to School
Wall Street Journal

The makeup and spices were meant to be good for their daughter — not dangerous
The Washington Post

Exercise During Pregnancy May Have Lasting Benefits for Babies
The New York Times

The Hidden Failings of Family Medical Leave
WNYC, The Takeaway
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