Virtual Event: The Health, Mental Health, and General Wellbeing of Our Early Childhood Education Professionals

Registration Closed

**Live Attendance Required to earn CEUs** (complete all requirements within 30 days of event).

Health and Development Risk and Protective Factors: how and why multiple factors—including community, economic, political, and cultural influences—support or impede healthy development and the quality of relationships; and ways to work with families to identify strengths and use them as resources to reinforce protective factors, help manage challenges, and reduce risks.

Virtual Event: The Health, Mental Health, and General Wellbeing of Our Early Childhood Education Professionals

January 15th, 2025, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET

Special Member Exclusive follow-on discussion, 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET

Join the January Virtual Member Event for a special rebroadcast of Dr. Walter Gilliam’s Research/Science Plenary presentation at the 2024 LEARN Conference: The Health, Mental Health, and General Wellbeing of Our Early Childhood Education Professionals. Save your spot for this FREE event by registering today!

Those who provide care and education for young children have always had it rough, but this is especially true during the past four years. As a result, their health and mental health have suffered, resulting in large amounts of childcare employment turnover and stymying economic recovery. This presentation will provide recent data from the largest epidemiologic study of the early childhood education workforce, highlighting their health, mental health, and financial well-being and recommendations for how we can better care for those who provide care to our young children.

Learner Objectives:

As a result of this event, participants will be able to:

Summarize the impact of COVID-19 on early childhood educators in the United States.
Articulate the relationship between race and the health and mental health of early childhood educators in the United States.
Describe the status of mental health supports for American early childhood education professionals and considerations to advance them.

Member Exclusive w/ZERO TO THREE, 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET

ZERO TO THREE Members are invited to join an Exclusive Event Debrief directly following the event (from 3:00-3:30 pm ET). Reflect on the ideas and possibilities introduced in the Virtual Member Event with your fellow ZERO TO THREE Members. Consider together what left you curious, what excited you and inspired application potentials. Construct individual and collective knowledge and forge connections within your Member Community.

Walter Gilliam

Executive Director

Buffett Early Childhood Institute

Walter S. Gilliam, PhD, is the executive director of the Buffett Early Childhood Institute and the Richard D. Holland Presidential Chair in Early Childhood Development at the University of Nebraska. He is a tenured professor at the Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, and an adjunct professor at the Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Gilliam is President of the Board of Directors of ZERO TO THREE.

Dr. Gilliam has conducted extensive research involving early childhood education and intervention policy analysis, ways to improve the quality and mental health of prekindergarten and child care services, early childhood mental health consultation, early childhood expulsions and suspensions, the impact of early childhood education on school readiness, implicit bias in early childhood settings, and the health and wellbeing of early childhood professionals.

Dr. Gilliam’s research involves early childhood education and intervention policy analysis, ways to improve the quality and mental healthiness of early childhood programs, early childhood expulsions and suspensions, and most recently the impact of COVID-19 on early childhood programs, including leading epidemiological studies of COVID-19 transmission in child care programs and exploring the mental health impacts of the pandemic on child care professionals and the children they serve.

In 2008, Dr. Gilliam was the co-recipient of the Grawemeyer Award in Education for the most influential work in the field of education and was awarded the Priscilla Canny Research Award from Connecticut Voices for Children for the researcher who has most benefited children through state government. He has authored or coauthored numerous publications on young child development and early education and intervention, including the books A Vision for Universal Preschool Education (2006) and The Pre-K Debates: Current Controversies and Issues (2011). His research and work are frequently covered by international and national media.

**Live Attendance Required** (complete within 30 days of event). All registrants will have 30-day access to the session recording.

ZERO TO THREE is pleased to offer Continuing Education Units for a wide range of learning events, both in person and on line.

Contact hours and CEUs are automatically added to your registration for no additional charge. Registrants can earn up to 0.1 CEU or 1 Contact hour for attending this event. Continuing Education Units are awarded with live attendance, completed session evaluation, and a passing quiz score of 75% or greater.

Learner Objectives:

Summarize the impact of COVID-19 on early childhood educators in the United States.
Articulate the relationship between race and the health and mental health of early childhood educators in the United States.
Describe the status of mental health supports for American early childhood education professionals and considerations to advance them.

Contact hours offered may vary per discipline. For more information regarding ZERO TO THREE CEUs, please visit: https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/1657-earn-ceus-from-zero-to-three. Please note: A computer or electronic device with internet connection is required for successful completion. This session will be hosted for one hour and includes a brief introduction, 45 mins of content based teaching, and 10 to 15 minutes of Q and A. Questions can be posted throughout the session, and the presenter will address as many as possible.

Additional Details:

ZERO TO THREE is accredited as an Authorized Provider of Continuing Education and Training by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). In obtaining this accreditation, we have demonstrated compliance with the ANSI/IACET Standard, which is recognized internationally as a standard of excellence in instructional practices. As the official standard for continuing education and training, IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are recognized by a wide range of organizations, including professional associations, regulatory boards, corporations, and universities.

Though IACET CEUs are widely accepted, it is up to each organization to choose whether or not it will accept them. For this reason, we strongly advise that you confirm in advance if a particular body accepts IACET CEUs. To view a list of companies, regulatory boards, and organizations that have reported to accept the IACET CEU credit, please click here. This list is not exhaustive, nor does it guarantee that an IACET CEU will automatically be accepted.

*Presenters have affirmed that they do not have proprietary interest in products, instruments, devices, services or materials discussed in this course, and have confirmed that they have not been compensated in relation to this presentation.