NCJ Number
232132
Date Published
August 2009
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the risks faced by young children with social, emotional, and behavioral problems.
Abstract
This paper from the National Center for Children in Poverty examines the importance of healthy social-emotional development in early childhood. Previous research has shown that negative experiences early in life can impair children's mental health and affect their cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional development. This paper discusses specific family and environmental factors that increase children's risk for social, emotional, and behavioral problems. These factors include coming from low-income neighborhoods, living in low-income households, having one or more parent with a mental illness, and being exposed to domestic violence. The paper also examines other issues that play an important role in the social-emotional development of young children. These include children in foster care and/or the child welfare system, the role of race and ethnicity in relation to increased risk factors, the failure of current service delivery and support systems, practice barriers due to Medicaid and other State policies, and the adverse impact of unmet needs on young children. Recommendations for policymakers are discussed. Tables, figures, and endnotes