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

On Oct. 11, hosted a conversation examining how a child鈥檚 broader environment shapes early learning development, beginning before birth. , a pediatrician, author and activist, and , professor of social justice and social policy at the University of Michigan, share their playbook for a new cash allowance program out of Flint, Michigan, and how this new initiative can make a difference in reducing poverty and profound disparities across the United States. The discussion was facilitated by .

Here are our top 5 takeaways.

1. The physical environment influences child development. It is widely known and documented that the child-caregiver relationship is critically important, but it doesn’t exist in isolation. Burghardt emphasized that the environment that surrounds children, both built and natural, is shaped by human actions, 鈥渋ncluding very intentional decisions around policies that shape the environments where kids live. They鈥檙e not evenly or randomly distributed. They鈥檙e shaped by and deeply rooted in public policies and social history.鈥�

鈥淧ediatricians are the ultimate witnesses to failed social policies,鈥� Hanna-Attisha said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 this inaction in policy or certain actions that make our kids sick and implicate their entire life course.鈥�

Citing the consequences of exposure to lead-laced water in Flint, she continued, 鈥淟ike most environmental exposures, they often don鈥檛 show up acutely. We see their manifestation and impact years, if not decades, later.鈥�

Many lifelong consequences, such as behavioral problems, cognition issues, high blood pressure, early dementia, gout and kidney disease, are linked to exposure to neurotoxins in early childhood and prenatally. Hanna-Attisha writes about this topic at length in What the Eyes Don鈥檛 See.

2. The onus is not on the individual. 鈥淲e have to be mindful that the challenges that face us today did not arise out of thin air,鈥� Shaefer said. 鈥淲hen we think about something like poverty, it is often a matter of compounded disadvantage.鈥�

His brings health, income and social mobility into dialogue with each other, with a new index for poverty. The case of Flint is extreme, though its trajectory is not unlike many communities across the nation. 鈥淚t is an emblematic story of what happens when you live in a place that has been chronically disinvested, that does not prioritize the health and development of our children,鈥� Hanna-Attisha explained.

Practices like redlining and blockbusting made certain neighborhoods specific to African Americans. 鈥淓ven before the water crisis, that made growing up in Flint toxic,鈥� Hanna-Attisha said.

After that occurred, the address of a kid in Flint predicted whether or not they would drink poisoned water. 鈥淗ow can it be an individual’s fault when communities have been bifurcated and divided in these ways, not just for a decade, or a few decades, but well over a century?鈥� Shaefer asked.

3. There鈥檚 a new prescription for hope, health and opportunity. To mitigate the water crisis, and promote the health and development of kids, Hanna-Attisha, Shaefer and families in Flint teamed up to create a first-of-its-kind city-wide initiative called .

鈥淪tarting in 2024, we will be prescribing every pregnant mom an unconditional, universal cash allowance in mid-pregnancy, and every baby an unconditional, universal monthly cash allowance from birth to twelve months of age.鈥�

Philanthropic donations and a redirection of state funds from TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) fund the program. Their goal is to raise $55 million and to continue for five birth cohorts over five years.

4. There鈥檚 precedent for universal child payments. 鈥淭he old cash welfare system that we had in the United States was a very stigmatized program,鈥� Shaefer said, explaining its long history of invasiveness and structurally racist approach.

Following the global movement for child allowances, 鈥淭he logic starts from a very different place,鈥� he said. 鈥淩aising kids is expensive, and society has a reason to come alongside parents and support parents in that work. One way to do that that empowers families is to provide cash to pay the utility bill or to buy diapers or buy the crib.鈥�

5. The results of cash allowances are promising. Research shows that by dispersing such universal payments, child poverty plummets and reports of child maltreatment and resulting out-of-home placements decline, along with food hardship, and parents’ mental health improves.

In addition to numerous health measures, the team will look for improved civic engagement and well-being outcomes. Rx Kids will officially launch on Feb. 14, 2024, during Black History Month and on Frederick Douglas鈥� self-proclaimed birthday.

Hanna-Attisha shared her favorite quote, which guides her work, 鈥淚t is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.鈥�

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