Mother and son playing with wooden toys.

Advancing Early Relational Health

Transforming child health care and early childhood system building


What We Work For

Young children’s growth and development depend on the positive emotional connection that babies and toddlers and their parents and caregivers experience with each other.

These early positive relationships also support parents’ and caregivers’ overall well-being by giving them joy, comfort, and meaning. Early Relational Health—or the state of emotional well-being that grows from the positive emotional connection between babies and toddlers and their parents and caregivers when they experience strong, positive, and nurturing relationships with each other—is critical to creating healthy children, healthy families, and healthy communities.

How We Do It

Community by community, we are building a networked and engaged movement in partnership with parents and families. Through our collective imagination and effort, we can make sure that every child is cared for and valued, every family is supported and heard, and every community is made stronger through positive and enduring emotional connection.

Learn more about Early Relational Health and join the movement at our sister site, www.NurtureConnection.org.

Our Experts

Pasty Hampton portrait.

Patsy Hampton

Senior Associate and Director, EC-LINC
Contact:
She, Her, Hers
patsy.hampton@cssp.org
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David Willis portrait.

David Willis, MD

Senior Fellow
Contact:
He, Him, His
SEE FULL PROFILE