Cook's aide James Percell takes food carts from the kitchen to classrooms at lunchtime at Children's Village. — TOM GRALISH/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS
DAMARIS Alvarado-Rodriguez, owner of three Children’s Playhouse early childhood education centres, thought it best to do away with statistics in her presentation to tell the story of a growing problem.
She had enrolled a four-year-old preschooler into her day-care centre. The first day of school the father, who seemed fine, dropped off the child. He participated in all the rituals that parents do to ensure a good handoff of a new student to a teacher.
“And then the father went home and committed suicide,” Alvarado-Rodriguez said.
Alvarado-Rodriguez was one of the panellists at the Children First’s Racial Equity Early Childhood Provider Council conference, where the organisation released its latest policy brief: Priorities of Early Childhood Providers in Pennsylvania.
Children First, a youth advocacy organisation for Southeast Pennsylvania, gathered early learning providers last month, to present its findings and discuss the report’s most pressing concerns, including funding, staffing shortages, and the steadily increasing mental health needs for children.
Declining mental health of young children“It’s at pandemic level,” said Abiguel McMillan, who owns Abiguel’s Beloved Family Child Care in East Mount Airy.
McMillan, who has owned her child care business for six years, said almost all of the children at her centre now enter with an individualised educational plan (IEP), a written support plan for children with special needs.
“There’s a crisis, and almost every child I see – more the 50% of the classroom – has special needs.”
According to the United State Department of Health and Human Services, one in five young people experience mental health-altering problems during their school years, including stress, anxiety, bullying, family problems and depression. Self-injurious behaviours are on the rise, too.
Unis Bey is the owner of Grays Ferry Early Learning Academy and the chair of the council’s Racial Equity Subcommittee, which consists of 50 members representing a variety of programmes all advocating for equitable access.
Since Covid-19 began, Bey said, she has noticed that children are demonstrating significantly more delays, especially in speech.
Other behaviours she has witnessed are severe aggression toward adults, including hitting, biting, and spitting; self-injurious behaviour where a child will throw themselves on the floor or smack themselves; and constant screaming as a way to cope with sensory overload.
She said early childhood providers need more help, but the current mental health system for getting pre-school-aged children evaluated is slow, fragmented, complex, and difficult for a parent to navigate.
“When you talk about the system – the way the system is right now is inequitable. How many children in Philadelphia County are waiting for help? Over 10,000 – more than any other county.”
One awful solution
McMillan decided the only way to meet the demands of her children was to invest in more training to help her cope. She also is limiting the children she enrolls who exhibit challenging behaviours.
When a grandmother brought her five-year-old grandchild to the enrolment interview, McMillan spent time with the child but had to reject the application.
“I said to myself, ‘I just can’t,’” said McMillan, the sole teacher at her family childcare centre. During that initial meeting, the child, who had already been kicked out of several schools, was demonstrating challenging behaviours. “He was aggressive and used some profanity,” McMillan recalled.
Research shows that suspension or expulsion from pre-kindergarten leads to children who are more likely to deal with academic failure, grade retention, have negative attitudes regarding school and ultimately drop out.
With 42% of the suspensions and expulsions nationwide being Black boys, it also becomes a racial equity issue.
Bey said she has been in the field 16 years, including six as an owner, and she hasn’t expelled a child. Instead, she rolls up her sleeve to help.
“I actually go into the classroom to help the teacher,” Bey said. But she acknowledges that early childhood teachers are not special education specialists. “We are not speech therapists. We are not occupational therapists.”
Upending an archaic mental health system
Instead of pushing children out, the Children First’s subcommittee is recommending more funding for specialised teacher training, for adapting their centres to create inclusive environments, and for implementing rapid interventions.
”Just as US$100mil (RM449mil) was allocated for mental health funding for schools, we recommend equal funding for children in early childhood programmes who are experiencing mental health challenges,” the report notes.
Bey said one additional recommendation is to foster a collaborative partnership among all the stakeholders to find the best ways to deal with challenging behaviours.
Alvarado-Rodriguez said the mental health system for young children is out of step with what modern providers need. “The mental health system is archaic and like a puzzle that we need to throw the pieces up in the air and start rebuilding,” Alvarado-Rodriguez said.
Alvarado-Rodriguez continued her story to make her point in her presentation.
After the father’s death, the child, who is now in kindergarten, was beset by emotional problems that the staff dealt with daily as best they could. But resources and support for the child, the teachers, and family were in short supply and waits were long.
“We failed that child although I provided as much as I possibly could. By we, I mean the city, the state, everybody,” she said. “This is not pointing fingers, this is about working collaboratively with city, state, and federal organisation to ensure children, families, and teachers have the resources to meet the needs of every child.”
In the meantime, Alvarado-Rodriguez and her staff are still haunted by the memory. “I pray for the child every day.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer/Tribune News Service
Those suffering from mental health issues or contemplating suicide can reach out to the Mental Health Psychosocial Support Service (03-2935 9935 or 014-322 3392); Talian Kasih (15999 or 019-261 5999 on WhatsApp); Jakim’s Family, Social and Community care centre (011-1959 8214 on WhatsApp); and Befrienders Kuala Lumpur (03-7627 2929), visit www.befrienders.org.my/centre-in-malaysia for a complete list of numbers and operating hours, or email sam@befrienders.org.my.
