It is well known that the period starting at pregnancy and ending with the start of kindergarten sets the stage for how children learn, experience the world, and grow into adults. In our current society, there are many people whose children have unfair disadvantages in their opportunities in these first years, for reasons parents can’t control. These reasons can include things like living in poverty, experiencing racism having a disability, or using drugs.
It can be hard for researchers and people that make government decisions to hear what is really important to people that have these unfair disadvantages. This means that they can’t solve problems or create programs that are helpful to these families.
This project will bring together researchers, people that make decisions in government, community program workers, and community members to work together to identify:
1) What are the most important topics to research to help all kids be healthy, especially those with less advantages
2) How should these research projects receive input from communities during the process
The team hopes that this will help all kids, especially those that already have unfair disadvantages, to lead happy and fulfilling lives.