Early Childhood Development
Co-Chairs:
Nathan Chomilo, MD, FAAP
Roger Sheldon, MD, FAAP
Krishnan Subramanian, MD, FAAP
Birth to age 5 are the most critical years for a child’s intellectual, emotional and social development. Children require safe environments, responsive relationships, and appropriate nutrition to improve lifelong outcomes in learning and health. The MNAAP supports those program that provides Minnesota parents the opportunity to help their child develop during the critical first 5 years of life and help prepare the child to be successful not only in school but in life.
Minnesota families depend on several state programs to support early childhood development
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- Over 33,000 families use the Child Care Assistance Program.
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- 15,000 children are enrolled in Head Start
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- 2.4% or 5,000 of children 0-3 use Help Me Grow/Early Intervention services
- WIC participation has increased by over 50,000 persons in the last 10 years
MNAAP’s Early Childhood Caucus has collaborated with the AAP Division of State Government Affairs in the preparation of the guide below for policymakers and legislators: Minnesota Early Childhood/Prenatal to Three Policy Development. The document addresses Access to Care, Early Education, Equity, Family Environment, and Systems Development.
Dr. Paul Dworkin is a nationally recognized developmental-behavioral pediatrician and the founder of Help Me Grow. He is Executive Vice President and Community Child Health Director for the Office for Community Child Health, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
