An Eye to Brazil

     The Center on the Developing Child Harvard University has a page dedicated to some of the work going on globally in the EC field. I was particularly interested in Brazil's Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância (NCPI). This is a partnership between five different groups including "Developing Child, Fundação Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal (FMCSV), the Medical School of the University of Sao Paulo, Insper, Sabara Children’s Hospital, and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard" aimed at training policy makers to use the emergent and relevant science of child development to inform policy and program development.

     During the seminars, policy makers and professionals collaborate, learn from one another, and help sculpt programs to serve the nation of Brazil, with a particular eye to the impacts of socioeconomic inequality. Three developments from last year's collaboration included:

• "A comprehensive national “Legal Framework for Early Childhood” was developed by the 27 members of the Federal Congress who participated in ELP and it was adopted by the lower House of the Congress in early 2015.
• A new early childhood development program in the city of São Paulo led by its First Lady.
• A new home visiting program, designed by the coordinator for child health in the Federal Ministry of Health, and piloted by the First Ladies of São Paulo and Fortaleza."

     By educating policy makers on the science behind child development, a direct link is made between research and results. This type of collaborative partnership between science and programs not only strengthens the children of the country, but the profession and professionals in the country as well.