The Maine Children’s Alliance (MCA) is committed to improving the lives of Maine’s children, youth and families.
MCA provides nonpartisan leadership to promote and advocate for sound public policies that benefit Maine’s children. They are a respected and reliable source of data and information about the status and well-being of Maine’s children. They effect positive change by fostering coalitions, consensus and improved systems that affect the lives of children in Maine.
A.C.C.E.S.S. is a voluntary coalition of child care providers and allies from all over Maine.
Recalls – Child Products
- Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:00:00 +0000: Tumblekins Toys Recalled by International Playthings Due to Choking and Laceration Hazards - US Consumer Product Safety Commission - Recent Child-Related Product Recalls
The toys can break into small pieces with sharp points, posing choking and lacerations hazards to children.- Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +0000: Children's Slides Recalled by Landscape Structures due to Fall Hazard - US Consumer Product Safety Commission - Recent Child-Related Product Recalls
The Slalom Glider is a playground slide that lacks a transition platform on the top and sides of the chute. Children can fall when moving from the ladder to the slide and when descending the chute.- Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:00 +0000: Bumbleride Recalls Indie & Indie Twin Strollers Due to Fall Hazard - US Consumer Product Safety Commission - Recent Child-Related Product Recalls
The front wheel can break at the axle hub, causing the stroller to tip and posing a fall hazard.- Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0000: Weeplay Kids Recalls Infant Bodysuits Due to Choking Hazard - US Consumer Product Safety Commission - Recent Child-Related Product Recalls
The snaps can detach from the fabric of the garment, posing a choking hazard to infants and young children.- Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:30:00 +0000: Infant Rattles Recalled by Lee Carter Co. Due to Choking Hazard - US Consumer Product Safety Commission - Recent Child-Related Product Recalls
The rattle's handle is small enough to fit into a child's throat, posing a choking hazard and violating federal rattle standards.
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Newsletters
For a list of all of our most up to date newsletters, please visit our Newsletters page.
Helpful Links
“Everyday Steps for Raising Successful Kids”
From time to time, all parents need a little help. Sometimes, a piece of solid, encouraging advice can help you have an “a-ha” moment that changes the way you think and act. Instead of focusing on what’s wrong with kids, our positive, strength-based approach to parenting focuses on what’s right with kids (and parents), and the small, everyday steps you can take to help kids be successful in the future.
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Drawing on the full breadth of intellectual resources available across Harvard University’s graduate schools and affiliated hospitals, the Center generates, translates, and applies knowledge in the service of improving life outcomes for children in the United States and throughout the world.
Resources
Five Numbers to Remember About Early Child Development
Videos
Brain Hero: Following a two-year collaboration with the Interactive Media Division of the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California to develop and test new ways of communicating the science of early childhood development, the Center on the Developing Child has released the collaboration’s first product, “Brain Hero.” The three-minute video depicts how actions by a range of people in the family and community can affect a child’s development. Based loosely on such games as “Guitar Hero,” “SimCity,” and “The Game of Life,” the video adapts the visual sensibility of interactive game models to a video format and portrays how actions taken by parents, teachers, policymakers, and others can influence life outcomes for both the child and the surrounding community.
1. Experiences Build Brain Architecture: The basic architecture of the brain is constructed through a process that begins early in life and continues into adulthood. Simpler circuits come first and more complex brain circuits build on them later. Genes provide the basic blueprint, but experiences influence how or whether genes are expressed. Together, they shape the quality of brain architecture and establish either a sturdy or a fragile foundation for all of the learning, health, and behavior that follow. Plasticity, or the ability for the brain to reorganize and adapt, is greatest in the first years of life and decreases with age.
2. Serve & Return Interaction Shapes Brain Circuitry: One of the most essential experiences in shaping the architecture of the developing brain is “serve and return” interaction between children and significant adults in their lives. Young children naturally reach out for interaction through babbling, facial expressions, and gestures, and adults respond with the same kind of vocalizing and gesturing back at them. This back-and-forth process is fundamental to the wiring of the brain, especially in the earliest years.
3. Toxic Stress Derails Healthy Development: Learning how to cope with adversity is an important part of healthy development. While moderate, short-lived stress responses in the body can promote growth, toxic stress is the strong, unrelieved activation of the body’s stress management system in the absence of protective adult support. Without caring adults to buffer children, the unrelenting stress caused by extreme poverty, neglect, abuse, or severe maternal depression can weaken the architecture of the developing brain, with long-term consequences for learning, behavior, and both physical and mental health.
