Carey Sipp 8/30/225:49 PM

For the last eight months the Medicaid plan provider has engaged community resiliency-building experts and organizers to help children, families, and caseworkers in the state’s foster care program to boost resilience and better manage stress. The innovative project is called the Healthy Blue Initiative.

“We all know kids in foster care have higher rates of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) than most children.

They are often in foster care due to loss of a parent from death, illness — including addiction — divorce, or incarceration,” says Amy Read, community trainer for Coastal Horizons, a large mental healthcare provider in Eastern Carolina.

“Many foster children have experienced emotional and physical neglect, abuse, and/or sexual abuse. Most children in foster care have seen a lot of disruption, having been removed from their families and, if not placed with relatives, placed with a family or families they do not know,” she adds.

“There is intense loss of relationships, familiar surroundings, and often a school setting in which they at least had some routines,” says Read. With former social-emotional learning coach Kelly Purcell, she helps lead the initiative by working with six communities whose leadership includes a resilience initiative based on the science of positive and adverse childhood experiences — PACEs science.

Naimah Dye, Medicaid strategy growth and engagement director for Healthy Blue, says the organization is eager to see the outcomes of offering this support to the more than 2,000 children in these six counties. She is also glad to see that caseworkers and parents will be provided tools to build their own resilience to avoid being overwhelmed.

“The reason we looked to PACEs Connection for help in doing this is because they had the relationships with the different sectors in the communities—education, healthcare, child and family services, communities of faith, recreation, law enforcement, the arts, mental health—to bring a coordinated effort to the mission,” says Dye.

“PACEs Connection communities who are affiliates of the organization’s Cooperative of Communities have measurement tools that will help us see how the project is working,” she continues. “We won’t know overnight, and we know that; but over the course of the year we will be using PACEs Connection’s tools and their analysis to measure the communities’ progress. This ability to measure how many organizations are involved, the depth of their involvement, and ultimately how different sectors of the population are doing—in this case foster children—will help us get an idea of how effective the work is,” she says.

The Community Resiliency Tracker shows how many organizations have “signed on” to the work, what sectors they’re in, and, in another graph, how far along they are on the path to becoming trauma-informed.

The Community Resiliency Tracker map also hows where organizations are, their names, how far along they are on the path to becoming trauma informed, and what sector the organization is in. This is a quick,  transparent gap analysis of where to work next!

What would have the greatest impact?
When the project’s leaders met with Department of Social Services employees, educators, and some foster parents before the work started, they were enthusiastic. “We wanted to start by asking what was needed and what, in the opinion of people working with foster children and within the system, would have the greatest impact on reducing stress and improving the health and well being of everyone from the social workers to the parents to the children themselves,” says Read.

One of the foster parents on the fact-finding calls was Kristy Blackwell, a family youth partner with Coastal Horizons. The mother of four teenage boys, three of whom are foster children, Blackwell talked about the importance of to giving caregivers and children resiliency skills. One of her older foster children also shared thoughts about what was needed by the children.

The team listened to input from all corners and decided sharing resiliency skills with caregivers, and then families and children, made sense, so caregivers could use the skills to help care for themselves, and share the skills in their work with the families.

The North Carolina communities involved are Resilient Bladen County, Resilient Brunswick County, the New Hanover Resiliency Task Force, Resilient Guilford County, the Pender County Resiliency Task Force and Robeson Overcoming Adversity through Resilience (R.O.A.R.) for Robeson County.

“Resilient Guilford joined with the eastern counties in the project that involves ‘a lot of ‘dovetailing’—building on existing opportunities for connection—and community building to strengthen relationships among children, families and caregivers. In all six counties the work centers on providing proven tools for lowering stress, building resilience, and in bringing some positive childhood experiences to the children and their families,” says Read.

Tying the six communities together and supporting their growth is Purcell, a former instructional coach with an emphasis on social emotional learning for the New Hanover County School System. A nationally-recognized trainer in the Community Resilience Model (CRM), Purcell has coordinated with the communities and caregivers to deliver CRM trainings. She is also working toward creating culturally appropriate,  community-led positive childhood experiences to buffer the impact of ACEs.

Purcell has attended most of the resiliency task force meetings in all six counties for the last eight months and says, “At the same time we are helping to strengthen children, families, and caregivers, we’ve been strengthening the overall community, so everyone from teachers and physicians to Sunday school leaders and coaches has heard about the project and can support it by using the same information about PACEs science and resilience tools.

“Emphasizing PACEs science education creates a shared mental model among the families, caregivers and community members, adding another level of support and resilience. Helping them learn about PACEs science reinforces why they want to do the work. The PACEs science presentation shows that the best way to have an impact is to keep going back to the science, the fact that adverse experiences affect health outcomes; positive experiences can be buffers, we can all play a role in supporting children and families” she says.

The PACEs Connection Community Resiliency Tracker helps initiatives and member organizations gauge progress on the path to becoming “trauma informed”, which includes having staff members learn about PACEs science.

Creating Resilient Communities

Purcell has also made sure to share the free PACES Connection “Creating Resilient Communities” training information with initiative members at the meetings, in hopes of more and more community members learning the importance of following the PACEs Connection model of educating, aggregating (tracking), engaging, activating, and then celebrating the work to help the communities continue to grow.

“It’s great to see the collaborative effort of the communities, how members continue to connect and invite others to be part of the local effort. To create the healthy, compassionate communities that will be more supportive of foster families, we need to keep the work going, and growing, so people are hearing these messages at home, at work, in their faith communities, at their doctor’s office. That’s how we build sustainability” said Purcell.

The Healthy Blue Initiative website as a “real-time  report”

Purcell and Read have also used one of the most important tools available to the PACEs Connection communities—the free sites on PACEs Connection. They created and maintain a site for the Healthy Blue Initiative Foster Care Initiative, NC, which they’ve used to track, in near real-time, the presentations, projects, and progress of the entire initiative. Added to this, community managers from the communities have taken advantage of their memberships in the PACEs Connection Cooperative of Communities to attend the monthly meetings of Coop affiliates, as well as training sessions that are free to Coop members.

Read is quick to compliment Purcell on her strategy and the way she’s done the work.

“Kelly is the perfect person to be working with children and leaders for this project,” says Read. “This includes the guardian ad litem volunteers she’s trained, North Carolina Department of Social Services leaders, and the children in a school where there are many children involved in the foster care system. She knows how important it is to help the community at large understand the impact of toxic childhood stress, and the healing potential of positive childhood experiences. She is a motivator, communicator and a connector, with the infectious enthusiasm to match her education, experience, training, and skills.”

Part of Purcell’s responsibility has been to work with the different sectors in each community to find opportunities to connect with children and families in foster care. Once connecting points are identified, Purcell provides trainings and organizes events, such a three-county virtual viewing of the documentary “Resilience: The Biology of Stress & The Science of Hope”’ followed by a panel discussion.

“Some of the trainings have been in person,” notes Purcell. “Others, depending on the state of the pandemic and availability, have been and will continue to be online. We continue to look at bringing caseworkers, parents, and children together when and where appropriate to include positive childhood experiences. We’re exploring offerings that will involve arts and an outdoor activity.”

Presentations data goes into an easily-updated presentations tracker.

“Building resiliency skills is a godsend”

Blackwell, the foster mother of teenager boys who also works with youth in foster care, had learned resiliency skills before the Healthy Blue Initiative started, and that was one of the reasons, during the planning phase of the program, she was so vocal about centering the work around sharing the skills.

“Building resiliency skills has been a godsend. Building resiliency skills in myself as a parent was especially helpful when we had a house fire in April (2021). It was such a blessing for us to know to notice who was there to support us, to remember things wouldn’t be bad forever, and that we could take the time to breathe,” she says.

“If more parents and caregivers had these skills, we would probably have more kids stay in their homes. That would reduce stress. The kids may need less medical attention because we’ve reduced the stress. My 15-year-old says it well. He talks about being in a foster home that wasn’t the greatest, and that maybe if they had all had some resiliency skills, it would have been a better fit,” she adds.

For more information about this program, contact Amy Read at aread@coastalhorizons.org; Kelly Purcell at resilientsenc@gmail.com

For more information about PACEs Connection, the Cooperative of Communities, and potential strategic alliances such as the Healthy Blue Initiative with PACEs Connection, contact Carey Sipp, PACEs Connection director of strategic partnerships, at csipp@pacesconnection.com

Attachments

Hide

Images (12)

Carey Smith Sipp

carey.pacescommunites@gmail.com

Tags: Pender County, Kelly Purcell, Guilford County, Bladen County, New Hanover County, Community Resiliency Model, Health Blue, Robeson County, Carey Sipp, Brunswick County, Naimah Dye, Amy Read

Views: 572

Add Comment

 Carey Sipp 5/23/231:31 PM

Deb McNelis, M.Ed, is an international speaker and author of materials supporting healthy infant and child brain development and the parent-child bond. She leads “The First Sixty Days” movement.

Twitter first made Deb McNelis aware of PACEs Connection. When she saw it pop up on her LinkedIn feed, she followed the links and was thrilled to find a community of “almost” like-minded people.

“We absolutely share the passion for preventing and healing childhood trauma; for building community,” said McNelis. But she says her work brings a sharper focus to the PACEs science movement, and a movement she herself is hoping to grow via PACEs Connection.

“I’ve been producing materials and speaking internationally for years about the importance of creating nurturing relationships with babies to establish that all-important   ‘secure attachment.’ But when Bruce Perry and fellow researchers produced the 2018 study on the importance of the timing of developmental adversity – and laid it out that the first two months are likely the most consequential two months in brain development for any child – I felt an even stronger passion for ensuring this essential and significant knowledge is understood by all adults.”

Click here  to see a brief clip of Dr. Bruce Perry with his co-author of “What Happened To You – Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing”, Oprah Winfrey.

“Essentially, Dr. Perry said the study shows that a child who has a horrible first two months – neglect or abuse, exposure to domestic violence, toxic stress – and a great next 12 years, is likely to have a worse life outcome than the child who has a nurturing, peaceful first two months and a horrible next 12 years! That should speak volumes to all of us, but especially expectant parents, employers who don’t offer paid parental leave, policymakers who don’t understand the need and the ultimate benefit of supporting families  – especially in the tender early years,” said McNelis.

She now works in earnest to promote “The First 60 Days” movement, educating parents, people working in parenting, home visiting, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatricians, educators, policymakers and everyone else she can think of, to make that first 60 days of life a sacred time of connection and secure attachment for mothers, parents, caregivers, and those precious newborns.

PACEs Connection CEO Ingrid Cockhren, herself the mother of a five-year-old and twins who are 18 months old, says she wishes more people would follow McNelis’s work, as she is beginning to do, and take McNelis’s lead in making monthly donations to PACEs Connection.

“We so appreciate Deb and the dozens of other people like Deb who are making small, steady, monthly donations. While we’re adding monthly donors, it would be good to see more of our almost 59,000 members – and literally millions of visitors – support our work to prevent and heal trauma,” said Cockhren.

Cockhren is asking members to sign on now to make a monthly donation to help fund the organization’s work to prevent and heal trauma, which includes supporting this anti-racist, equity-driven website, as well as our work with communities, and the newsletters, podcasts, conferences, Resource Center, and other free tools and guides offered by PACEs Connection.

“If just ten percent of our members made an automatic monthly donation of $10, you could help us cover a substantial portion of our costs,” said Cockhren.

Please consider following in the footsteps of early brain development specialist and the creator of the Neuro-Nurturing(R) materials from Brain Insights – proud PACEs Connection monthly donor Deb McNellis.

1. Name – Deborah McNelis, M.Ed

2. Occupation – I am an Early Brain Development Specialist who is the Founder of Brain Insights, LLC. In this role I am an international speaker, an author of numerous materials, the creator of Neuro-Nurturing® and the initiator of The First 60 Days Movement.

3. What is your connection to PACEs Connection/PACEs science? – The emphasis of my work and purpose of Brain Insights is entirely focused on prevention. This especially is the reason behind writing The First 60 DaysBooklet and initiating The First 60 Days Movement. Creating an awareness and understanding of the essential need for consistent nurturing responsiveness in the earliest days, weeks, and months makes an incredibly positive difference.

(Magazine shown above is free to download here.)

We in this movement need to make this common knowledge, so we can better support parents and caregivers. An awareness of early brain development — with the realization of the impact of relationship trauma, stress, and neglect and an understanding of the need for meeting physical needs, providing nurturing, security and play — ultimately benefits everyone of us. It is “preventive justice”, as it truly puts infants, babies, and children on a path to achieving their highest potential, by wiring their brains for connection, love, and healthy relationships, as opposed to distrust, disconnection, and the greater potential to seek out relationships and situations that reinforce  unworthiness, poor self-perception,  neglect, or danger.

4. Do you work in the field? – Yes, all of my work is based on child development and brain science with a focus primarily on the earliest months and years since that is the time the brain is most malleable, providing us with the most positive opportunity for well-being in life.

5. How did you find out about PACEs Connection? – Through LinkedIn and Twitter.

6. Were you surprised to find this resource? – I am not sure that surprised is the word, but I was definitely delighted.

7. What part of PACEs Connection do you like best? – It is not easy to choose a part that I would label as best. There is such a wealth of information and resources provided in various ways. It is all great. But if I would single out one aspect, I would say the Weekly RoundUp.

8. How do you use PACEs Connection? – I use it as a source of gaining awareness of what is being done in various locations and in various ways toward creating positive outcomes and increasing needed awareness. It is encouraging to see numerous efforts taking place.

9. Do you read the Weekly RoundUp? – Yes. It is helpful.

10. Do you share stories from the Weekly RoundUp? – Yes, I have.

11. Do you belong to a resiliency initiative? – I currently do not but would like to explore getting involved in this way.

12. What prompted you to support PACEs Connection with your gift? – I fully support providing financial help in hopes of reducing the number of children and families experiencing ACEs.

13. What keeps you giving as a monthly donor? – I want to continue to support the efforts of people who are leading the way toward significantly reducing the number of children whose brains are being developed in the midst of toxic stress. The science is there to show that it isn’t healthy for children to be in constant toxic stress. There are buffering effects as the result of positive childhood experiences – PCEs. It is essential that we get this message to everyone that has a direct or indirect influence on the development of children. Every child needs at least one nurturing relationship!

14. What would you tell others, to encourage them to support PACEs Connection on a monthly basis? – Something I say frequently is, EVERYONE needs to understand the impact experiences have on the developing brain, because when ALL children have the positive experiences they require from the start, we ALL benefit.

15. What is your greatest hope for what happens with PACEs science? That we end child abuse? Create equity? Eliminate racism? Do away with poverty?  Create a trauma-informed and healing-centered planet?  –  Every aspect listed here needs to happen. My greatest hope is that through sharing the understanding of early brain development and the importance of nurturing our babies and children, and each other, that the shared value of commonality and community can grow. We can create a  ripple effect of support and acceptance, instead of judgment and labels. It really does make a difference. There is great power in even just one caring adult positively interacting with a child. We can help people become that caring adult. We can help activate people to share the word about the importance of making the first 60 days of life a time of sacred connection and secure attachment that lays the foundation for physical and mental health, learning, positive behavior and self-perception, and the increased likelihood of overall well-being across the lifespan.

McNelis encourages fellow members of PACEs Connection to join her in making a monthly tax-deductible donation to PACEs Connection here.

One-time donations are encouraged as well!

If you’d prefer to mail your gift rather than give it online, here’s how…

Make check payable to:
TSNE (Third Sector New England, our fiscal sponsor) and write PACEs Connection Donation on the memo line.

Mail check to:
PACEs Connection, c/o TSNE, 89 South Street, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02111

Making a wire transfer or need Tax ID information?

Please contact Carey Sipp, Director of Strategic Partnerships, at csipp@pacesconnection.com

If you would like to be featured as a monthly donor, please send an email to Carey Sipp, director of strategic partnerships, with “Donor Spotlight” in the subject line to answer the 15 questions and let your fellow community members know more about you, how you use PACEs Connection, why you support the work.

Attachments

 Carey Sipp 9/29/239:49 PM

According to estimates, up to 70,000 daycare facilities could close, causing three million child care slots to vanish. Credit: Camilla Forte/ The Hechinger Report

by Lisa M. Hamilton September 28, 2023 (Opinion) The Hechinger Report

(Lisa M. Hamilton is the president and chief executive officer of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.)

Millions of working parents will face a child care emergency after pandemic-era federal funding ends Sept. 30, just two days from now.

Whether you are one of the affected parents or not, you will feel the impact on our nation’s workforce and economy.

According to estimates, up to 70,000 daycare facilities could close, causing three million child care slots to vanish. This is a loss of educational opportunity for children, but also a devastating loss of support for millions of working parents who may have to leave their jobs.

All of us will surely feel the resulting blow to our economy if a projected $9 billion-plus in earnings is lost.

Related: What American can learn from Canada’s new $10 a day childcare

Sadly, this is just the latest failure in a child care system that has been broken for decades.

As The Casey Foundation recently highlighted in our 2023 KIDS COUNT^® Data Book, shortcomings of the child care system already cost the country $122 billion a year in lost wages, tax revenue and productivity.

We cannot allow these cascading consequences to continue.

Every other country with an economy comparable to ours has created a sustainable system that better meets the needs of families, employers and child care workers.

It’s time for policymakers to explore immediate solutions. We know they exist: Every other country with an economy comparable to ours has created a sustainable system that better meets the needs of families, employers and child care workers.

Moreover, we already have evidence in our own economy of what can work. For example, home-based providers are more likely to operate during non-traditional hours, when shift workers, single parents and student parents need them. One thing we can do right away is to increase access to affordable startup and expansion capital for new and existing home-based centers.

A robust, reliable care system requires investment. Average public spending on child care among the comparatively wealthy Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations is $16,000 a year per child.

The United States invests a mere $500 per child. How can we invest so little in our future workforce? In the leaders of tomorrow?

Related: A wave of childcare closures is coming as funding dries up

Families are working hard to meet their needs but costs continue to rise, putting quality care beyond their reach. Child care costs in the U.S. averaged $10,600 a year in 2021, according to an analysis by the advocacy organization Child Care Aware. That’s 10 percent of a couple’s average income — or 35 percent of a single parent’s income.

In at least 34 states, care for the youngest children is more expensive than in-state college tuition.

What support does exist for families is difficult to get and insufficient. As a result, only one out of every six U.S. children eligible for public subsidies receives them.

Women, single parents, parents in poverty, families of color and immigrant families carry the heaviest burden of this crisis: An analysis of 2017 data indicated center-based care for two children absorbed 26 percent of a white working mother’s median household income. For Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Black working mothers, those figures were 42 percent, 51 percent and 56 percent, respectively.

These figures demonstrate how the cost of care can make it almost impossible for a household to meet other basic needs like housing, food and transportation — which all continue to escalate in cost.

In spite of this, providers themselves, almost all women and disproportionately women of color, are barely staying afloat, operating on one percent margins.

No wonder so many are expected to close their doors starting next month.

In August, more than 1,500 state lawmakers from across the country gathered in Indianapolis for the annual National Conference of State Legislatures summit.

We heard Republicans and Democrats agree that something must be done to address the child care crisis.

They know the fallout will keep us from moving forward, from filling jobs and from ensuring that children are safe and thriving while their parents are working or completing their own education.

It’s time to channel that consensus into urgent action and real solutions.  

This is a time for creativity and thinking big among both the private and public sector. The Casey Foundation urges lawmakers to invest in the child care sector, starting with these steps:

• Congress should reauthorize and strengthen the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act. The main reason we didn’t lose 75,000 child care centers and 3 million slots during the pandemic was the $40 billion allocated to strengthen the child care sector in the American Rescue Plan Act. We now have evidence that these investments work.
• Public and private leaders should work together specifically to improve infrastructure for home-based child care providers. Start by increasing access to affordable startup and expansion capital.
• Governors and legislators should encourage the higher education and business communities to take steps such as co-locating child care at work and learning sites to reduce transportation challenges.

The underpinnings of our families and our economy are too important for our elected officials to continue to ignore what is happening. The pandemic sharpened our understanding of the issues. There are good models to follow.

Now is the moment for generational action to ensure children, parents and guardians, providers and employers are never again standing at the edge of a cliff, looking for a bridge to safety, and wondering whose kids will make it to the other side and whose will be left behind.

Lisa M. Hamilton is president and CEO of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

This story about the child care funding cliff was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.

Attachments

Hide

Images (1)

 Carey Sipp 10/3/234:59 PM

Christina Bethell, Ph.D, MBA, MPH, founder of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI), principal author of the groundbreaking study on positive childhood experiences, and creator of the free Well Visit Planner, among other innovations.

Two internationally-respected leaders and innovators in complementary aspects of early relational health and childhood and maternal health equity recently launched a partnership they believe will benefit everyone from newborn babies and the mothers, fathers, grandparents, adoptive, kinship, foster parents and other primary caregivers who care for them, to pediatricians providing recommended well child visits, and communities focused on trauma prevention and resiliency building.

Christina Bethell, PhD, MBA, MPH, and founder of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CHAMI) and the EnACT! (Engagement in Action Framework) is cross-promoting her free Well Visit Planner, a web-based application to help families and physicians be better prepared for recommended well child visits, with Deborah McNelis, M. Ed, author and founder of “The First 60 Days” booklet and movement.

Bethell is also the principal author of a study on positive childhood experiences (PCEs) and their impact on preventing adult mental illness that led to the name change of ACEs Connection to PACEs Connection — for positive and adverse childhood experiences — in March of 2021.

McNelis is the founder of Brain Insights and creator of the Neuro-Nurturing® series of ringed booklets sharing age-appropriate activities paired with brain development insights for caregivers to use in everyday life with babies and children. These activities increase the likelihood of secure attachment and a foundation of early relational and physical health.

McNelis is also the author of a groundbreaking booklet, “The First 60 Days” (link is to a 12-page sample). The booklet and a movement she has started by the same name, are her heartfelt response to groundbreaking research by Dr. Bruce Duncan Perry and colleagues showing the negative developmental impact of toxic stress in the first two months of life, and the importance of practicing what she calls “Neuro-Nurturing®” during this influential time in  infant brain development.

The booklet dispels 22 potentially harmful myths to reassure and support new parents. A portion of each myth is told from the newborn’s point of view. Readers also learn what newborns need for establishing a secure attachment and overall optimal development from what McNelis refers to as,Neuro-Nurturing® Knowledge. “It is all based on brain science revealing what babies and their parents/caregivers really need,” McNelis said.

Details of ways the project’s partnership between Bethell and McNelis can benefit newborns, families, caregivers, communities, and PACEs Connection are spelled out in the attached one-sheet that is ready for download and distribution at resiliency initiative meetings across the country.

The sheet shares information about Bethell and McNelis and their work thus far, and was created with support from Dana Brown, PACEs Connection PACEs science statewide facilitator, who is hoping that promoting the work directly to communities will create use of the Well Visit Planner and the Neuro-Nurturing® materials.

“Bethell and McNelis are dedicated to creating positive health equity, including child flourishing and family resilience. This is a terrific fit for any community,” said Brown.

“In California we have PACEs Connection cross-sector, resiliency focused communities in numerous counties. We’re starting out with the members of the PACEs Connection Cooperative of Communities. Our hope is that member organizations in 12 counties in the Cooperatives will share the information with the parents and caregivers for the families they serve, and that hospitals, clinics, and child-serving organizations – including home-visiting nurses – will help promote use of the Well Visit Planner and the Brain Insights materials,” said Brown.

Cross-sector community member organizations belonging to the Coops include schools, communities of faith, health clinics, child-and-family-serving organizations, businesses, hospitals, media representatives, law enforcement, county and city government offices, and more.

The twelve member counties are: Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Sonoma, Tulare, and Yolo.

“We’ll know we’re succeeding if there is an increase in enrollments in the Well Visit Planner in these areas. This is important because by promoting well child visits, we increase the likelihood of families and physicians establishing a an ongoing relationship. Building on a trusted relationship, together they are more likely to be able to identify a developmental delay, postpartum depression, or  consequences of a challenge in the home that can be supported before a challenge becomes a crisis,” said Brown.

“The hope is to continue to braid resources within communities — as they are interested — so there are lists of resources available for the pediatricians and other caregivers to share with families. We want to support parents, care providers, and communities in creating safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for every child, and believe these innovations, in combination with more to come, can help to do that,” said Brown.

“This project partnership and the fact that Deb is willing to discount her materials so they can be a potential fundraiser for communities, and is sharing with PACEs Connection profits from the sale of her materials — which are promoted on the Well Visit Planner site, which has the potential to reach millions of parents — bodes well for all involved,” said Brown.

According to McNelis, the ringed books are literally positive infant and childhood experiences parents and childcare providers alike can keep in their pockets and use throughout the day to engage little ones in activities that nurture optimal brain development. Across the series of books, there are scores of activities to stimulate fine and large motor development, language skills, thinking abilities, creativity, curiosity, self-awareness, and most importantly, connection with others.

State and child serving organizations have bought thousands of sets of the ringed books for parents in various programs.

“The First 60 Days” booklet and the ringed Neuro-Nurturing® series from newborn through age five, are available for bulk and individual purchase. Organizations seeking to customize the materials can opt to have their logo printed on the back cover, and can resell the materials at the retail price for fundraisers, in hospital and faith community gift shops, at health fairs and such, as is detailed in the attached one sheet,” said Brown.

“People wishing to access and use the Well Visit Planner with their infants and children need simply click on the link and enroll,” she added.

For more information about joining the PACEs Connection Cooperative of communities in California, reach out to Dana Brown at dbrown@pacesconnection.com. For Coop information the U.S. and territories, contact Mathew Portell, director of education and outreach, at mportell@pacesconnection.com.

Attachments

Hide

Images (8)

Files (1)

10.3.23 Community Support Flyer.pdf

Carey Smith Sipp

carey.pacescommunites@gmail.com

👍 2👏 1

 Carey Sipp 10/15/256:15 PM

(Author’s note – Deborah McNelis and I were dear friends, partners in advancing the concept of Neuro-Nurturing, and webinar buddies, having created and or participated in about 40 webinars since we met in April, 2023. We only knew each other for two-and-a-half years, but spent many hours together on the phone, Zoom, and on webinars as hosts, panelists, speakers, raising awareness of the lifelong protective value of advancing healthy early brain development. I loved and respected Deb deeply; she is sorely missed. All  involved with PACES Connection appreciated her generosity, enthusiasm for the mission, and support. We were on a parallel track to create a movement ensuring that all children – and inner children –  thrive by lifting up pregnant and newly-delivered mothers, new fathers, foster parents, caregivers, and community members by helping them understand their vital role, as emotionally regulated adults, in Neuro Nurturing healthy brain development. While I am not yet sure how her work will be continued, I know it will continue. As long as I am involved in PACEs Connection, the concept of Neuro Nurturing will be advanced to help prevent child abuse and neglect; to help promote positive maternal, infant, child, and community experiences. Greater likelihood of health and wellbeing across the lifespan begins with the foundational and consistent safety, stability, and nurture so vitally important to healthy infant and child brain development.)

Friend and supporter of PACEs Connection, and author of The First 60 Days (which highlights the importance of “Neuro-Nurturing” infants in the first two months of life), Deborah McNelis passed away last Friday after a sudden and brief battle with cancer. She had recently turned 70.

After discovering PACEs Connection via Twitter and LinkedIn, Deborah’s “The First 60 Days” booklet, now a book, was reviewed on PACEs Connection. She began posting on the social networking site, sharing opportunities for fellow members to learn more about “what babies need most” (for adults to understand the importance of early brain development) in her monthly e-newsletter, and participated in multiple webinars in support of PACEs Connection programs.

Her 2023 PACEs Connection conference presentation, “What if Babies Ran the Workplace,” explored how the world might change if babies were the CEOs: people wouldn’t come to work when sick or when they needed to care for a loved one, and they’d demand universal health care, paid family leave, and access to high quality childcare. In that talk, she made a compelling case for affordable, brain-boosting childcare, urging that childcare workers be treated as professionals they are.

A central tool in her work was her signature series of ringed books (“packets”), each containing 40 age-appropriate, developmentally matched activities paired with the neuroscience rationale behind them. Canadian publisher Redleaf Press contracted her to adapt materials to support infant’s and children’s transitions—from one activity to the next—with brain-friendly strategies.

Deb often said: “Most people don’t realize the signals babies give about overstimulation or boredom. It is important to honor their rhythms and make transitions—feeding to napping, play to rest—smooth and respectful of their internal states.”

Deborah’s career as an early childhood brain development expert spanned nearly 50 years. She often recalled that at age 19 she had a moment of clarity that started her on this path.

“I was watching a concert with little children. They were obviously adored and nurtured and enjoyed making music together. And I realized in that moment I wanted all children to experience being loved, expressive, and appreciated for their own uniqueness, and it dawned on me that not all the adults in children’s lives know what children really need most from them – that unconditional love and acceptance,” Deb said.

Her journey began as a kindergarten teacher. When parents asked how they might support their infants and toddlers at home, she first jotted ideas on 3×5 cards. Over time, she refined them into the handy pocket-sized ringed booklets—each offering activities and the “why behind the action”—to help parents and caregivers engage knowledgeably and confidently.

“For example, sorting sticks and rocks by size, shape, and color may not seem important. But sorting helps children develop the skills to be able to write, or develop other hand-to-eye coordination based skills. Every activity has a purpose,” Deb said.

Late in 2023,  Deb was contracted through PACEs Connection and Healthy Blue (North Carolina) to deliver a project supporting foster parents of young children. Over the course of 27 webinars (in collaboration with Carey Sipp, now volunteer co-director of PACEs Connection), she introduced participants to Neuro-Nurturing principles. The feedback included 100% of participants reporting at least some degree of increased confidence in parenting, and 97.4% saying they would recommend the webinar to other parents.

Deborah McNelis was born in Minnesota on September 1, 1955.

A beloved mother, educator, author, and visionary founder of Brain Insights, Deb coined and popularized the term Neuro Nurturing—a philosophy of promoting early relational health and healthy brain development grounded equally in science and compassion.

As her daughter, Tracy Thompson, who collaborated with Deb from the very beginning, helping with research, writing, creating content and supporting her goals behind the scenes, said, “Through her writing, speaking, and workshops, she translated the miracle of early brain development into insights and doable practices. Her mission was always to make nurturing relationships and responsive care central to how we support every child and caregiver.”

Deb founded Brain Insights, LLC, in 2008. She launched the First 60 Days Movement about three years ago to emphasize the profound impact of the first two months of brain development after a study on the timing of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) was published in 2019 and then written about by Bruce Perry, MD, in his 2021 book co-authored by Oprah Winfrey, “What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing”.

Her Neuro Nurturing Interaction Packets, along with books and toolkits, reached families, educators, and communities across the U.S. and around the globe. According to braininsightsonline.com research, a total of more than 250,000 of these  ringed booklets and packets – in English and Spanish – are in use worldwide.

Her first fiction book, The Reminder, released just months ago, “speaks to the core of who we are—interweaving themes of essence, memory, and love. Her creative voice enriched many lives,” Tracy wrote in Deborah’s obituary.

Beyond her professional achievements, Deborah was cherished for her warmth, steady faith in human potential, and her rare ability to make complex science accessible and full of hope. She served on the boards of organizations including The Powerful Project, The Global Presence, and the Wellness for Children Initiative.

Deborah is survived by her daughters, Tracy (Schmid) Thompson and her husband, Jason, and Trisha (Schmid) Helchinger and her husband, Franz; her cherished grandchildren Benjamin, Zachary, Levi, Ava, and Max; and a wide circle of family and friends—siblings, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and their families.

The family requests that those who wish to honor Deborah do so by making a gift in her name to early childhood development programs, PACEs Connection, or The Powerful Project.

As Tracy said,

“Her memory will live on in the countless children whose early lives were shaped by her vision—and in the many adults she inspired to nurture with purpose and love. Her legacy is a generation of children who know they are worthy of love, from the very beginning.”

What others who worked with her on the Neuro Nurturing webinars are saying about the passing of Deborah McNelis:

I join you in the shock, grief and sadness at Deb’s passing. I met Deb as a co-traveler on the long journey to anchor our systems in the truth that early life nurturance is how we can thrive even as life brings natural struggles.May we stay the course in her honor and light and continue to build an inescapable movement for transformation.

With gratitude for Deb and deep awareness of the mystery and profundity of this life we seek to nourish and protect!

– Christina Bethell, PhD, founder of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

When we prioritize early relational health and Neuro Nurturing, we equip parents and support persons to become the child’s first and strongest protective factor. A regulated, emotionally healthy caregiver fosters deeper bonds and richer interactions, laying the groundwork for how a child learns, loves, and thrives for a lifetime. Deb was a sweet and generous soul, and I was looking forward to connecting with her in person to advance the work of early relational health and Neuro Nurturing. Although our hearts are heavy, we will ensure her legacy lives on.

– Demetrius Geiger, MPH – Manager Social Impact programs, CHC: Creating Healthier Communities

Deborah McNelis was an amazing force of goodness and positivity. We will try to carry on with her work, with humility and homage in Deb’s honor.

– “Denni” Diana Fishbein, PhD, founder, director, and president of the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives, Senior Scientist in the FPG Child Development Institute at University of North Carolina

Links to selected stories by or about

Deborah McNelis

https://www.pacesconnection.co…hiatrist-bruce-perry

https://www.pacesconnection.com/g/aces-in-education/blog/register-now-neuro-nurturing-advancing-powerful-strategies-for-lifelong-health-black-birthing-and-decade-of-the-child-initiatives-may-22-12-pm-1-30-pm-est

https://www.pacesconnection.co…rt-that-starts-early

https://www.pacesconnection.co…s-connection-monthly

https://www.pacesconnection.co…workplace-june-13-15

Attachments

Hide

Images (8)

Carey Smith Sipp

carey.pacescommunites@gmail.com

❤️ 2

Tags: Deb McNelis, Demetrius Geiger, MPH, George Halvorson, CHC Creating Healthier Communities, Christina Bethell, PhD, Deborah McNelis, Neuro Nurturing, Early Relational Health, Brain Insights, Brain Development, Diana Fishbein, PhD

Views: 1,210