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April 2023Vol. 24, No. 3Early Relational Health Critical to Healthy Families and Communities

The Nurture Connection movement, conceived and made possible by the Center for the Study of Social Policy and its partners, recently launched a dedicated website to grow and gain support for the movement to build healthier, resilient, and more connected communities through the promotion of early positive relationships. Early relational health (ERH) is 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. It is critical to creating healthy children, healthy families, and healthy communities. While parent and family perspectives and partnerships play a powerful and central role in the movement, Nurture Connection is working to “build a community of communities,” where a diverse and growing network of caregivers, innovators, influencers, organizations, and advocates across geographies, systems, sectors, and expertise work collaboratively toward equitable and transformative solutions to advance ERH.

Visit the Nurture Connections website to learn more about the movement, including its emphasis on preventive mental health.