Summer 2020
We Can't Breathe
At a demonstration in front of the Boston Police Headquarters four days after George Floyd’s murder, I saw a young woman wearing a mask on which she’d written the words, “I Can’t Breathe.” Around the country, signs and T-shirts are saying, “Silence is Violence,” “White People: Do Something,” and “Stop Killing Us.”
 
It was time to stop killing our Black and Brown sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, husbands, wives and lovers, grandparents, aunts and uncles 400 years ago. No one in the United States of America should have to fear for their lives—everyday—because of the color of their skin. No parent should have to give “the talk” to their children that every Black and Brown parent knows they must just to try to keep them alive. No virus should have a disproportionate chokehold on Black and Brown people because they have most of the highest-risk jobs, and the least access to health care.
 
Around the country, we’re saying we’re done with this. We were done with this a long, long time ago. And we’re saying we’re done talking about this. It’s time for action.
 
Breathe. Speak up. You decide what you’re going to stand up for—and how.
 
Joshua Sparrow, MD, Executive Director, Brazelton Touchpoints Center, June 1, 2020

Juneteenth
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Friday, Juneteenth, 2020 commemorates the end of slavery. We need this day to be a national holiday. Not just to remember the end of slavery, but to remember slavery itself, and the ways that it lives on in the systemic racism that continues to exploit, harm and kill. This can be a day for examining where it is embedded in our institutions, workplaces, and neighborhoods, and in ourselves, and committing to ending it – wherever it lives. 
 
That will mean remembering and recommitting every day. We each need to find our part in taking racism down. For those of us who experience the privileges it produces, our roles will need to measure up. The signs say, “White Silence is Violence.” We can end racism. Not someday. Not later. But now, and every day.

Words are better than silence but they're not enough.

Joshua Sparrow, MD, Executive Director, Brazelton Touchpoints Center June 19, 2020

Supporting Families and Communities through the Pandemic
As schools closed, millions stayed home, and the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in every community across the country this spring, BTC sprang into action to support providers helping families navigate unprecedented challenges. 


Visit BTC’s archive or watch recordings of these and other webcasts on our YouTube channel , including the Learning to Listen Conversation Series
Professional Development
To support family-facing providers in their online work with children and families, Brazelton Touchpoints Center is offering a  series of free webinars and an online learning community  that will explore how to manage the challenges posed by virtual service delivery and share strategies providers have found for building and sustaining strong relationships with families virtually. In partnership with the  Rapid Response Virtual Home Visiting (RR-VHV) Collaborative , we will build on lessons learned from virtual home visiting, adapted for all family-facing providers.

The first series of six webinars kicks off on  Wednesday, July 22, at 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT . Participants can register for the entire series or for individual webinars. Participants also can register to join an online learning community.
Learn Online with BTC!
To keep providers fully in tune with approaches and techniques for helping families navigate the COVID-19 crisis, BTC’s professional development programming is now online

Check out our new course catalog for the full menu of opportunities to learn with BTC , with offerings ranging from 90 minute webinars, short topic-based seminars, and our comprehensive core Touchpoints course on “the how” of child and family engagement.  Whether you’re looking to learn at your own pace or attend a scheduled virtual class, BTC has something for all learners, at all levels !

Learn the skills you need to support families, now more than ever, in one of our upcoming courses :
  • The Power of Observation: Connecting with Families through the Child’s Behavior
  • Valuing Passion: Connecting with Families Around What They Care About
  • I Hear You: Active Listening to Engage Families
Launch of Newborn Behavior International (NBI) and "Leaders in the Field" Webinar Series
The Brazelton Institute is delighted to announce the birth of its global online community, Newborn Behavior International (NBI) and an inaugural "Leaders in the Field" webinar series   to celebrate the launch. Webinars occur on the first Friday of each month at 4PM US Eastern time. Recordings of all webinars will be available on the website. Campbell Paul, President Elect of WAIMH offered the first webinar on July 7. View the recording here.

Future speakers include Joy Osofsky, Ed Tronick, Nadia Bruschweiler-Stern, Charles Nelson, Dieter Wolke, Joshua Sparrow and Heidelise Als.

Save the Dates - Learning to Listen Returns!
Following conversations this spring on international social justice, supporting LGBTQ families, and creating opportunities for children with autism spectrum disorders, BTC's Learning to Listen conversation series returns this October featuring more leaders championing change in their communities! Registration opens soon - stay tuned!

Wednesday, October 14 – Transgender-rights advocates Johanna Olson and Aydin Olson-Kennedy will talk about children’s gender identity and how to provide gender affirmation to all children.

Wednesday, October 28 Mayra Alvarez , CEO of the Children’s Partnership, will discuss current immigration policies and their harmful effects on children and families.

Wednesday, November 18 Hassan Daniel , founder of the Father Factory, will discuss fathers with childhood histories of sexual abuse and how they can heal and become the fathers they want to be and their families need them to be.

Thank you to our generous sponsor!
Protecting Life and Celebrating Birth on Dr. Brazelton's Birthday
Dr. Joshua Sparrow shared this reflection on the life of Dr. Brazelton on May 10, 2020 in honor of what would have been his 102nd birthday.
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

On Wednesday, September 12, 2001, parents and children held each other closer than ever before letting go. Suddenly, life was newly burdened, and more precious. My ninth-grade carpoolers talked about the children they knew whose parents had been on the planes, and then about the helpers, the EMTs, the firefighters, the doctors and nurses. That was who they wanted to become.

The Spanish flu pandemic began in 1918, the year Berry Brazelton was born. That year saw the end of many lives, as we have and will this year. Yet in 1918, babies – Berry, and others – kept being born. Human life clung on. Berry’s life’s work was about life – its beginnings. He watched and listened and learned from babies. Every baby, he learned, knows what really matters, what makes us human, the certainties that ground us in uncertain times, the continuity amidst all the change. Being with babies or keeping a child in mind helps us hold onto who we always will be and our dreams for their futures.

Berry dodged that pandemic, and this one. He would have been quick to see what we all now know: this virus multiplies inequity. It makes us all vulnerable, but those of us who have always been discriminated against are more so. Those who can least afford to lose, lose the most. If he were here, Berry would have helped us summon strengths we never knew we had – the strengths that every baby inspires in us to protect all babies through the worst of times.

Speakers Bureau
One of the most important tools for navigating today's crisis environment is knowledge . BTC's renowned faculty draw on decades of clinical expertise, professional experience and contemporary research in healthy child and family development to deliver presentations, facilitate workshops, and lead conversations with providers, families, and others - all to promote professional development and family and community engagement.

Topics covered by our faculty include   childhood trauma, COVID-19 pandemic, early learning and care, child maltreatment and abuse, and mental health and the opioid epidemic.

Learn more about the benefits of engaging BTC Faculty for your next conference, convening, panel discussion, or workshops -  contact us today !
In Case You Missed It...
We're always sharing knowledge, resources, and research on Facebook - in case you missed it, here are some of the most popular things that have really engaged our community -   join the conversation today !
Stay Connected