Policy & Advocacy

Policy & Advocacy for Early Relational Health

Early Relational Health is the state of emotional well-being that grows from emotional connection between babies and toddlers and their parents and caregivers when they experience strong, positive, and nurturing relationships with each other. Nurture Connections

To effectively promote and ensure Early Relational Health for our communities, it is critical for policy and advocacy efforts to focus on a broad continuum of cross-sector services and supports across promotion, prevention, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.  As an Early Relational Health community, we must champion policies that are reflective of and responsive to our diverse communities across Washington, center in family and provider strengths, and support adults’ efforts to create safe, supportive, and nurturing relationships and environments for young children in the prenatal, perinatal, and early developmental stages of children.

The Center for Early Relational Health aims to join with partners and communities across sectors in Washington State and beyond to ensure innovative and transformative policy development is shaped with communities and lived experts, reflects both science and community and cultural wisdom, and aims to advance anti-racist, anti-oppressive practices and behaviors that promote healthy development, nurturing relationships, healing, and well-being for young children, families, providers, and communities.