Brain science is clear that infants’ and toddlers’ experiences are the foundation of the rest of their lives. During this unparalleled time of development, the early experiences and relationships a child has with parents and caregivers influence how a child masters new skills like walking, language, cognitive skills, and social interactions. These early childhood experiences are shaped in significant ways by state policies and programs.
When these state policies fall short, they hurt infants and toddlers of all backgrounds — but they often fall hardest on Black children. Infant mortality rates, for example, are too high for all racial and ethnic groups in Texas, but Black infants in Texas are twice as likely to die during the first year of life compared to White and Hispanic babies. Experts point to several causes for these disparities, including implicit bias in the health care system; the physical toll of stress (including stress related to racism) on health and pregnancies; the way current and past discrimination affects Social Determinants of Health such as housing, education, and employment; and lack of access to health insurance.
The coronavirus pandemic and recession have disrupted many of the experiences and supports that children rely on and added greater urgency to these policy priorities. Due to the pandemic, infants and toddlers are missing check-ups that they need for immunizations, screenings for disabilities and developmental delays, and other needs. Instead of nurturing experiences in high quality child care, many infants and toddlers are now home with stressed out parents trying to work full-time jobs while taking care of their kids. Texas families are losing health insurance as they lose their jobs. Delivery of services — from ECI to CPS services — is often disrupted.
Infants and toddlers can’t put this stage of early brain development on hold until after the pandemic — so policymakers can't put it on hold either. During the pandemic and next legislative session, we encourage Texas policymakers to prioritize the policies outlined in this testimony regarding children's health, maternal and infant health, Early Childhood Intervention (ECI), Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI), Child Welfare, and Access to Quality Child Care.