Dr. Charles Nelson III is a Professor of Pediatrics and Neuroscience and Professor of Education at Harvard University, and the Richard David Scott Chair in Pediatric Developmental Medicine Research at Boston Children's Hospital, presents at the "Child protection and care reform in the context of Moldova – EU Association agenda: Ending the placement of young children in institutional care – from policy to action " conference on 21 March 2024. The conference was organized in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and Research, UNICEF, Keystone Moldova, and Partnerships for Every Child.
In this lecture, Dr. Nelson explains the role of experience in brain development, the effects of early profound deprivation on development, the history of institutional care, and an overview of institutional care.
He concludes with an introductory overview of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a 20+ year longitudinal study examining the effects of institutionalization and high-quality foster care.
During the conference, more than 100 participants, representing the wide array of care reform actors and decision makers in the central and local government, NGOs, academia and international experts, reviewed findings of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project and national research conducted in 2023 on the potential for a moratorium on placing children 0-6 in institutional care.