Child Development

Knowledge of child development is the foundation for work with children, and therefore is a requirement for all those seeking to protect children. It influences every aspect of a child from physical growth and mental abilities, to how they express emotions, think and behave.

Healthy development takes children through stages, whereby they obtain an increasing number of physical, mental, and emotional skills in order to become independent adults. These stages provide benchmarks for determining if a child is developing normally. Without knowledge of the normal developmental stages of a child, a worker cannot identify developmental delays, assess the impact of abuse, or make recommendations regarding the child’s physical, mental or emotional health. Understanding what a child is capable of allows adults to communicate on their level and provide age-appropriate responses and interventions.

Knowledge of early childhood development and attachment behaviour is particularly important for protection workers. The physical health and care a child experiences as an infant will affect their development into adulthood. A child needs to have experienced a positive attachment by the age of 3 in order to develop cognitively, physically, socially, and psychologically. Healthy attachments come from the close bond a child experiences when provided with the responsive and stable care of at least one adult. In a residential home, children are less likely to receive the amount of individual attention from a permanent caretaker that they require. Children under 12, in particular, benefit more from a kinship, foster or adoption placement where they can experience closer relationships.

Observation of a child’s attachment to caretakers will influence the type of care, permanency plan, and level of support services offered. It can also aid in the identification of abuse.

This section contains information on the importance of child development knowledge, guidance on the ages and stages of children, and attachment theory.

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Integrating Early Childhood Development and Violence Prevention - Webinar Recording

CPC Learning Network , 10 Dec 2014

On December 10, 2014, the CPC Learning Network hosted a webinar to discuss the integration of early childhood development and violence prevention.

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Parenting a Child Who Has Experienced Trauma

U.S. Children’s Bureau, 01 Nov 2014

This factsheet discusses the nature of trauma, its effects on children and youth, and ways to help your child.

Peeling Back the Layers - Kinship Care in Victoria

Rachel Breman - Baptcare Research Unit in partnership with OzChild and Anchor, 01 Oct 2014

Baptcare, OzChild and Anchor - three organizations that provide kinship care services in Victoria, Australia - commissioned this research to explore the impact that complexity in care arrangements has on children and families in kinship care.

Saving Brains, A Grand Challenge

Dr. Mike Evans, 23 Sep 2014

This animated video, made by Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Health Design Lab at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, illustrates the impacts of trauma and negative experiences on young children’s brain development and the ways in which healthy cognitive development can be promoted.

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What neuroscience and social science tell us about the effect of care environments on children

Dr. Kathryn Whetten & Dr. Charles Nelson, Christian Alliance for Orphans, 24 Aug 2014

This video features a segment of a talk on the effects of care environments on children, hosted by the Christian Alliance for Orphans. The key speakers featured include Dr. Kathryn Whetten & Dr. Charles Nelson, who discuss the Positive Outcomes for Orphans study (POFO) and the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP), respectively.

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Does Family Matter? The Well-Being of Children Growing Up in Institutions, Foster Care and Adoption

Christie Schoenmaker, Femmie Juffer, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, and Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg - In A. Ben-Arieh et al. (eds.), Handbook of Child Well-Being, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 03 Jul 2014

In this chapter of the Handbook of Child Well-Being, the authors review the findings from research on the cognitive and social-emotional development of children growing up in institutions, foster care and adoption.

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Complex Trauma: Facts for Caregivers

National Child Traumatic Stress Network , 01 Jun 2014

This factsheet from the US National Child Traumatic Stress Network provides useful information to parents and caregivers of children who have experienced complex trauma.

Fathers Matter: Involved fathers change the lives of children

Save the Children, 23 Apr 2014

This leaflet is a mapping of Save the children’s role and work in promoting the engagement of fathers. It presents some of the evidence of the benefits of involving fathers and some of the strategies used by the organization and others.

Driving Science-Based Innovation in Policy and Practice: A Logic Model

Harvard Center on the Developing Child , 31 Mar 2014

This narrated interactive feature presents a logic model showing how policies and programs that strengthen specific kinds of caregiver and community capacities can build the foundations of healthy development.

A study of children in institutions offers a perspective on the cognitive benefits of parenting

Mary K. Rothbart and Michael I. Posner, Times Higher Education, 13 Mar 2014

This article reviews a new book by Charles A. Nelson, Nathan A. Fox and Charles H. Zeanah who conducted seminal studies in Romania on children who were institutionalised, comparing their developmental and well-being outcomes to children who were placed in foster care or adoptive families.

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