What happens in school depends on what happens at home. Children’s physical health, mental health, and sense of security are critical to the development of their emotional readiness, resilience, growth mindset, self-control, and ability to set goals and manage stress. These capabilities, in turn, are linked to indicators of early school success such as kindergarten readiness, school achievement, attendance, and graduation rates.[1]

The COVID-19 pandemic increased existing disparities by causing widespread stress, loss, isolation, and economic distress for children and their caregivers. Even as the economy recovers, many American families continue to face high rates of hardship. As of October 2021, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that 20 million adults reported difficulty getting enough food, and 12 million Americans were behind on rent. Households with children, Black adults, Latino adults, and other people of color were affected the most.[2]

Bridging gaps in opportunity and achievement requires a multifaceted approach that tackles in-school and out-of-school factors that influence how children learn and succeed. Here’s what philanthropic funders can do to help:

Social and emotional development begins in the earliest days of life. When children feel secure in their primary relationship with a parent or caregiver and have their needs met in responsive and consistent ways, they begin forming the foundation for early relational health. Early relational health recognizes the role of this primary relationship in advancing the ability of children to learn to pay attention, regulate their emotions and behavior, express feelings, and overcome challenges successfully.[3] All of these skills allow children to be responsive to other adults around them, including teachers, and able to learn in school. Early relational health applies a public health framework and encompasses what we know about child development, including emotional, brain, and physical development.

Support for children’s emotional, mental, and physical well-being can take many forms. For example, in-school health clinics provide mental health and nutrition services; basic preventive care through immunizations, vaping and tobacco prevention, and check-ups; prescriptions and other care for sick children; physical and mental health screenings; and follow-up counseling and crisis intervention when needed.[4] Programs that focus on social-emotional learning can reduce levels of anxiety and depression in children and help them build the resilience needed to succeed in stressful environments.[5]

Schools are increasingly asked to take on social service roles beyond teaching. Wraparound services that extend beyond the school such as family support groups, tutoring, recreation therapy, transportation, and legal services address children’s mental and physical well-being while also supporting the entire family. When nonprofit organizations and community partners provide these services in coordination with schools, then teachers, principals, and staff can concentrate on student learning.

Very young children rely on the adults around them — parents, grandparents, and caregivers — to meet their basic needs of housing, food, physical safety, and health. When the adults around them experience physical, financial, and mental hardship, children’s learning and healthy development suffer. Toxic stress experienced in early childhood — known as adverse childhood experiences or ACEs — is linked to chronic health problems, mental illness, and substance abuse as that child grows to become an adult. ACEs can also negatively impact education and job opportunities.8

A multigenerational approach involves addressing families’ needs. There are multiple ways philanthropic funders are helping. They include meeting basic needs such as providing funds to increase housing assistance (providing rental assistance, increasing the supply of affordable rental homes, and enforcing renter protections) mental and physical health services for the whole family; access to benefits (e.g., Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Unemployment Insurance, Disability Insurance, Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Care Tax Credit, etc.) for eligible households; and guaranteed income programs. Some donors, professional grantmakers, and nonprofits are also advocating for policies that include raising the minimum wage and advancing more equitable income growth so that more families have the economic resources to provide a strong start for their children.

There are also opportunities for communities to use federal funding through the 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP). Donors can fund organizations that are establishing programs and tools to help communities and youth advocates navigate access and use of this unprecedented influx of funding.[7]

Notes

1. Center on the Developing Child at Harvard (n.d.). InBrief: Executive Function: Skills for Life and Learning. https://46y5eh11fhgw3ve3ytpwxt9r-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-con- tent/uploads/2015/05/InBrief-Executive-Function-Skills-for-Life-and-Learning-2.pdf
2. Center on Budget and Policy 2021. “Tracking the COVID-19 Recession’s Effects on Food, Housing, and Employment Hardships.” www.cbpp.org. https://www.cbpp.org/research/ poverty-and-inequality/tracking-the-covid-19-recessions-effects-on-food-housing-and.
3. Hampton, P., & Willis, D. (n.d.). Advancing Early Relational Health. Center for the Study of Social Policy. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://cssp.org/our-work/project/advanc- ing-early-relational-health/
4. Garcia, & Weiss, E. (2017). Education Inequalities at the School Starting Gate. Econom- ic Policy Institute. Retrieved from https://www.epi.org/publication/education-inequali- ties-at-the-school-starting-gate/.
5. Taylor, D., Oberle, E., Durlak, J. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2017). Promoting Positive Youth De- velopment Through School-Based Social and Emotional Learning Interventions: A Meta-Anal- ysis of Follow-Up Effects. Child Development, 88(4), 1156–1171. https://doi.org/10.1111/ cdev.12864.l
6. Center on the Developing Child at Harvard (n.d.). Toxic Stress. Center on the De- veloping Child at Harvard University. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://developingc- hild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/toxic-stress/
7. In the first year of the pandemic only 40 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in pre-school in 2020, a 14 percentage-point drop from 2019 and the first time since 1996 that fewer than half of U.S. children in that age group attended preschool. US Census Bureau. (n.d.). Census Bu- reau Data Reveal Decline in School Census. Gov. Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2021/decline-school-enrollment.html