Case Management Training Case Management Task Force
Module A Session 2 Exercise 1 Handout – Child Development
What is the principle and why do caseworkers need to know it?
Knowing how children’s capacities develop throughout childhood helps us:
• Support child development and identify risks to it
• Appropriately involve children of different developmental stages in case management
• Ensure case plans adequately address children’s needs and are not harmful
What is child development?
Development is the process of growth and change
throughout life. Humans change the most during
childhood. 80% of a person’s brain develops by the
time they are three.
The way the brain develops in the first three years
can affect the child for the rest of his or her life
including their ability learn, how they behave,
communicate, interact with others, and cope with
change and stress throughout life. The brain also
changes significantly in adolescence due to puberty
affecting motivation and emotion primarily.1
Challenges to development during childhood can affect us throughout our lives.
Things that impact on children’s brain development.
The environment in which children live
The experiences they have and the care they receive
The type of interactions that children have with their parents/ caregivers (especially in the first
three years of a child’s life)
Positive Influences on Brain Development Negative Influences on Brain Development
Nutrition; safe, positive, non-violent Poor nutrition; unsafe, negative, violent
environments; and positive relationships with environments; and lack of love and nurturing
parents/caregivers relationships with parents/ caregivers
Experiences build brain architecture
We are born with around 100 billion brain cells called (neurons).2 Throughout our lives, we will not
grow many more brain cells. What does continue to develop after we are born, especially in the first
three years of life, are things called circuits (synapses) between these brain cells. Circuits pass
messages (electrical or chemical signals) between brain cells. This is how the brain works. These
circuits enable children to do things, like understand language, talk, think, learn, walk, catch a ball,
trust others, and manage their emotions. They are like electrical wires that - when connected -
enable the lights to turn on.
1
Adolescent Brain Development: A period of vulnerabilities and opportunities, (2004) Dahl, R. New York
Academy of Sciences, 1021: 1-22.
2
Children and Brain Development: What We Know About How Children Learn (2001 and 2011) J. Graham and
L.A. Forstadt: [Link]
Case Management Training Case Management Task Force
If the synapses or circuits between neurons are used repeatedly, they become permanent. If they
are not used, they will remain weak and may die away (e.g. when we forget the vocabulary of a
language we do not practice). This also affects adults especially as they age.
Imagine there is a village with many, many homes. Between these homes is the bush. For people in the
homes to know each other, form positive relationships, and work together well, there must be paths that
connect the homes. For the path to be clear and to not become overgrown, this path must be walked
and cleared regularly. If you do not walk the path regularly between your home and other homes, the
path will become difficult to see, the relationship between people in your home and in the other homes
will suffer. It is similar with the pathways between cells in the brain. For positive neurological pathways
to develop and become strong, the pathways must be used.
The impact of nurturing, loving parenting
Babies’ brains develop through interaction with adults. For example, a baby makes a
signal/sound/gesture and the adult responds or, an adult points to something and names it; helping
the child to learn the name of the thing more quickly. In this process the adult helps the baby form
the connections their brain needs for later learning.
Loving, nurturing experiences with caring adults activate the circuits between brain cells and help
children learn positive skills and ways of interacting with others and getting their needs met.
Parents / caregivers can do many things that can help stimulate children’s brains in positive ways
and help them develop positive skills.
Attachment
Attachment is the strong and lasting emotional connection between a child and caregiver during the
child’s first years of life. It is characterised by reciprocal affection and the tendency of young infants
to seek physical closeness to their primary caregiver. Forming a secure ‘attachment’ to at least 1
adult is key for healthy development.
If an attachment is disturbed it has been shown to impact negatively, including in later life, on:
• Self-confidence and sense of self-worth.
• Capacity to develop and sustain relationships.
• Mental health and behaviour.
• Motivation to learn and achievement.
• Ability to develop and control emotions, especially aggression and empathy for others.
• Learning right from wrong / conscience development.
The impact of toxic stress on child development
Prolonged or repeated physical or emotional stress can have a negative impact on children’s
development. This stress might be due to abuse or neglect. It can also be due to repeatedly
witnessing violence in their home or community.
When children experience prolonged or repeated periods of physical or emotional stress, their
brains produce a stress hormone (cortisol). High levels of this hormone over time can deteriorate
the connections or circuits between brain cells and damage the way the brain functions. 3 This is
called ‘Toxic Stress’. When children are abused or exposed to violence, their brains are focused on
3
Children and Brain Development: What We Know About How Children Learn ( 2001 and 2011) J. Graham and
L.A. Forstadt: [Link]
Case Management Training Case Management Task Force
survival and responding to threats. As a result, other parts of their brains aren’t activated as
frequently and won’t develop as well.4
The presence of an adult a child is attached to can help a child to regulate their stress levels, but
without such an adult, stress has the negative impacts just described.
If these problems are not addressed they can cause a long-term impact on the child’s development.
Impact of Extreme Neglect on Brain Development
Most stressors are not harmful:
• Certain behaviors, reactions and emotions are normal responses to abnormal situations.
• Most children and their families regain normal functioning through general self and community
support.
• The psychosocial wellbeing of adults, particularly caregivers has a direct impact on children’s
reaction to the situation.
Positive Moderate, Normal and important for healthy Examples: meeting strangers,
Stress short-lived development as enables emotional dealing with every day
stress responses self-regulation and problem solving frustrations.
Tolerable Strong / high Able to disrupt brain architecture E.g. death or serious illness of a
Stress stress responses but short term and gives the brain loved one, a frightening injury,
opportunity to recover when parental divorce.
paired with supportive
relationships that facilitate
adequate coping
Toxic Strong, frequent Chronic; uncontrollable and / or E.g. chronic neglect, family
Stress or prolonged experienced without the child violence, physical or sexual
stress responses having supportive caregivers. abuse, parental mental illness,
ongoing emotional abuse.
Strong, prolonged or repeated physical or emotional stress (including forms of child abuse or
children repeatedly witnessing violence in their home or community) can have a negative impact on
children’s development if it is chronic, uncontrollable or experienced without the child having
supportive caregivers to help them through it.
When children experience prolonged or repeated periods of physical or emotional stress, their
brains produce a stress hormone (cortisol). High levels of this hormone over time can deteriorate
the connections or circuits between brain cells and damage the way the brain functions. 5 This is
called ‘Toxic Stress’.
When children are abused or exposed to violence, their brains are focused on survival and
responding to threats. As a result, other parts of their brains aren’t activated as frequently and
won’t develop as well.6
4
Understanding the Effects of Maltreatment on Brain Development (2009) Child Welfare Information
Gateway.
5
Children and Brain Development: What We Know About How Children Learn ( 2001 and 2011) J. Graham and
L.A. Forstadt: [Link]
Case Management Training Case Management Task Force
The presence of an adult a child is attached to can help a child to regulate their stress levels, but
without such an adult, stress may have the negative impacts just described.
Preventing Toxic Stress with Early Interventions7
Key people such as caseworkers need to:
• Be aware of it
• Provide preventative or ‘early interventions’
This may reduce the risk of harm and prevent children from needing to be removed from their
families (‘prevention of care’), which can also cause problems (including disturbing attachments)
Early Interventions
• Parenting skills: Confidence, involvement, positive discipline.
• Early childhood development classes and accelerated learning for older children.
• Life skills for adolescents.
• Home visiting by health workers during pregnancy and for the first two years of a child’s life.
• Therapeutic interventions by mental health workers.
Resilience is the ability to survive and even thrive under abnormal or difficult conditions. (For more
information see [Link]). Efforts to increase resilience, such as early
interventions, can help to reduce the negative effects of abuse that can otherwise lead to toxic
stress.
6
Understanding the Effects of Maltreatment on Brain Development (2009) Child Welfare Information
Gateway.
7
Allen, G. (2011), Early Intervention: The Next Steps, UK Government, available from:
[Link]