Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Carol McAllister, PhD¹, Tammy Thomas, MSW, MPH¹, Patrick C. Wilson, PhD², and Beth Green, PhD³. (1) Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, 221 Parran Hall, 130 Desoto Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, 412-624-8139, tltst26@pitt.edu, (2) Department of Anthropology, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada, (3) NPC Research, 4339 S.W. Macadum, Suite 52 B, Portland, OR 97239

School-readiness is at the heart of current policy debates about the health and development of young children. These debates focus on the supposed “lack of readiness” of children in low-income and minority families but rarely are the voices of these families included in such debates. Based on qualitative methods (open-ended interviews, ethnographic case studies, and photovoice techniques), this presentation will analyze community and policy influences on school-readiness as experienced and understood by low-income, predominantly African-American parents who took part in the national evaluation of Early Head Start (EHS). Building on the work of Mindy Fullilove, we use the metaphor of “root shock” to characterize the impact of a multi-generational story of community destruction on EHS study families, as well as to explore additional dimensions of dislocation that interact with and reinforce the effects of physical displacement. Our work highlights the meaning and experience for low-income and minority families of HOPE VI public housing policies, community violence, social isolation, economic restructuring, and dislocation of traditional structures of transgenerational caregiving. Our analysis fosters appreciation of how community and policy contexts affect the lives of even very young children and reveals links among public policy, community environments, family experiences, and the emotional lives of parents and children. The goal of our study is to contribute to a more holistic and ecological vision for public health professionals and community activists committed to eliminating disparities in school-readiness and more generally in the health and development of young children.

Learning Objectives:

• Develop an understanding of how to include the voices of those directly affected by public policy in policy debates.
• Articulate from the perspectives of parents how communities and policies influence school- readiness.
• Discuss the impacts of the HOPE VI public housing policies on families previously residing in public housing.

Keywords: Policy/Policy Development, Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No