Developmental Illiteracy of Young Children’s Caregivers Is a Risk Factor for Child Outcome
High quality caregiving is essential to support developmental processes and build school readiness skills for every young child. Developmental literacy of caregivers is a major contributing factor supporting young children’s development in physical/neurobiological, motor, regulatory, somato-sensory, social/emotional, relational, verbal and nonverbal communication, and cognitive domains.
Child abuse and neglect, and multiple placements in foster care are among the risk factors curtailing young children’s development. Developmental illiteracy of caregivers of young children in the child welfare system places them at additional developmental risks and poor educational outcomes.