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Top Takeaways is a series of recaps from important conversations, town halls, webinars and virtual events about early learning.

The Children鈥檚 Movement of Florida held their third annual virtual summit on Oct. 27.  Hosted by the organization鈥檚 president Madeleine Thakur, the featured a keynote address by 鈥� psychiatrist, researcher, clinician, principal of the and coauthor, with Oprah Winfrey, of . His remarks are not available on video, but here he is in conversation with Winfrey:

Here are our takeaways from the event:

1. 鈥淭he proper time to influence the character of a child is about a hundred years before he is born.鈥� Perry began his remarks with this quotation from playwright William Inge. That is, while many theories about childhood development focus on how families are structured, not enough attention is paid to the structure of society. Perry argued that humans evolved to belong to clans of 80 or so people and that growing up in a household of just one or two adults is 鈥渂iologically disrespectful.鈥�

Since humans don鈥檛 live in clans anymore, children will benefit the most from the effort we put into building a healthy society through democracy, public education, suffrage and civil rights.

2. 鈥淎 history of connectedness is a better predictor of health than history of trauma.鈥� To judge from the Zoom chat, this remark resonated the most with viewers. Perry presented graphs that highlighted the rapid development of brains during the first two months of life, suggesting that early trauma and neglect pose risks that are extremely difficult to overcome, but the quality of relationships can mitigate those risks. Home visiting programs like , he said, harness relationships, which he called 鈥渢he most powerful gift we have as a species.鈥�

3. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 build the man first, you can鈥檛 build the father.鈥� This observation by Christopher Brown, president of the (NFI), also got an enthusiastic response in the Zoom chat. Brown discussed , NFI鈥檚 flagship fatherhood curriculum, which covers five cross-cultural characteristics: self-awareness, caring for self, fathering skills, parenting skills and relationship skills. Orlando father Dexter Nelson gave examples of the way schools and other institutions devalue fathers by assuming the mother is the 鈥減rimary鈥� parent.

Darrick McGhee, CEO of Johnson & Blanton, LLC and pastor of Bible Based Church in Tallahassee (as well as a board member of the Children鈥檚 Movement of Florida) captured the power of engaged dads when he said, 鈥淚鈥檓 still my son鈥檚 hero. I didn鈥檛 grow up with that.鈥�

4. Early intervention makes all the difference. Tamelia Malcolm, from , and Tamika Maxwell, a medical champion, joined the panel on developmental delays, emphasizing the value of early screening and support for babies with autism and disabilities.

The panelists spotlighted three resources:

• , a national network of programs that 鈥渆nsure access to quality emotional support for families of individuals with disabilities and/or special health care needs鈥�;
• , which 鈥渙ffers services to eligible infants and toddlers, age birth to 36 months, who have or are at-risk for developmental disabilities or delays鈥�; and
• which 鈥渁llows parents to personalize the education of their children with unique abilities by directing money toward a combination of programs and approved providers.鈥�

5. Florida businesses are embracing family. Vance Aloupis, CEO of the Children’s Movement of Florida, led off the final session, titled Win the Talent War with Family-Friendly Policies, by urging viewers to recognize that competition for workforce is tight and that post-pandemic, many young parents have come to expect policies that allow them to bring their full selves to work.

It鈥檚 not enough for family leave policies to be on the books, he noted. Staff should be actively encouraged to take the time off. He recalled how his own organization took a giant leap into family-friendliness when Thakur began bringing her baby son into the office. Vinessa Gordon, research and grants analyst , also brought her baby into the office.  Her colleagues enjoyed picking the baby up when he was crying.

Juan Vasquez, a project manager with , said that parental leave and time off supports recruitment and retention. As soon as Elisa Ju谩rez, director of culture and DEI at , joined the company in July 2021, she advocated for four weeks of paid parental leave.

The policy isn鈥檛 just for moms, because, as she said, 鈥淔amilies don鈥檛 all look alike.鈥� Kathleen Brugueras, senior director of culture and change management, , noted that as one of the biggest employers in the state, their progressive personal time off policies are having a major influence on other companies.

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 麻豆精品. Learn more here.