Advocacy strategies and resources
Early childhood development
Stages of Development
Understanding a child’s stages of development is important because it helps caregivers, educators, professionals, and most importantly, advocates, support the child’s physical, emotional, social, and cognitive growth appropriately. It allows for early identification of delays or challenges and promotes healthy development through age-appropriate guidance, expectations, and care.
Each developmental stage builds on the previous stages and informs of subsequent stages. Meeting developmental milestones can be disrupted by genetics or environmental factors and will determine if a child’s developmental age is aligned to their chronological age.
Examples of genetic or environmental factors that could affect a child’s development before the age of 18 yrs old, include:
Prenatal - chemical imbalances in the mother’s body during pregnancy due to conditions, toxins or direct trauma to mother or fetus.
Physical - exposure to conditions such as household financial health or overcrowded living spaces that can lead to injury, abuse or neglect.
Socio/Cultural - Norms, values, beliefs / standards of behavior that regulate life in child’s cultural group.
Learning - degree and type of stimulation/sensory input available in child’s immediate environment to promote cognitive development.
Emotional - nature of interpersonal relationships child has, specifically the emotional bond between parents and parents and parents and child; the degree of nurturance available to the child.
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Physical: Rolls, crawls, walks, runs, climbs, uses hands for drawing and self-care.
Cognitive: Learns through play, explores cause and effect, begins problem-solving.
Language: From babbling to speaking in full sentences, names objects, asks questions.
Social/Emotional: Forms attachments, expresses emotions, begins to share, play with others, and show empathy.
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Physical: Gains strength and coordination, rides a bike, improves handwriting and sports skills.
Cognitive: Thinks more logically, understands cause and effect, improves problem-solving and focus.
Language: Expands vocabulary, reads and writes with confidence, follows complex instructions.
Social/Emotional: Forms stronger friendships, develops empathy, follows rules, gains independence and self-confidence.
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Physical: Puberty begins—growth spurts, hormonal changes, and development of secondary sex characteristics.
Cognitive: Begins abstract and critical thinking, develops stronger reasoning and planning skills.
Language: Expresses more complex thoughts, engages in debates, refines reading and writing.
Social/Emotional: Seeks independence, explores identity, influenced by peers, may show mood swings, develops deeper relationships.
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Physical: Most reach physical maturity; brain continues developing, especially the prefrontal cortex (decision-making).
Cognitive: Thinks more abstractly and critically, makes long-term plans, and considers consequences.
Language: Communicates clearly and persuasively, understands nuanced language and diverse perspectives.
Social/Emotional: Establishes personal identity and values, seeks independence, builds deeper relationships, develops emotional regulation and self-awareness.
NOTE: As a reminder, an advocate does not diagnose the child assigned to them. Instead, advocates learn how to advocate for age-appropriate services for their youth and help connect youth and caregivers to necessary services to support their developmental needs.
Each developmental stage builds on the previous stages and informs of subsequent stages. Meeting developmental milestones can be disrupted by genetics or environmental factors and will determine if a child’s developmental age is aligned to their chronological age.
Depending on the age of your youth, it is crucial to understand what developmental milestones the youth in their age range need to meet and what additional developmental support the youth may need.
As you get started on a case as an advocate, and have your first meeting with the PSW (Protective Social Worker), it will be important to confirm the following health related questions:
Does the youth have active medical insurance?
Does the youth have a pediatrician?
When was the youth’s last visit with their pediatrician?
Are there any developmental concerns?
Does the youth have a Health and Education Passport?
As an advocate, you will find yourself needing to build rapport with your youth’s caregiver, so the language you use to discuss child development will be crucial to respect and maintain healthy boundaries.
It is important as an advocate to know how to approach the conversation with a caregiver and team members to ensure that the youth’s needs are met and avoid the stigmatizations that may be associated with developmental delays. It will be important to be mindful of cultural differences and to be aware of your own cultural biases as an advocate when making decisions about how to communicate with families.
Tips for when you have concerns to share:
Highlight the child’s strengths – keeping the conversation positive.
Normalize the conversation – talk about development regularly. Use a milestone checklist to help your comments remain fact-based and not based on feelings.
Share and Encourage the caregiver to share any concerns with the child’s doctor – advocates do NOT diagnose.
Hold the team and caregivers Accountable - follow up every few weeks to ensure developmental concerns are addressed.
Be an active listener:
Pay close attention and make eye contact.
2. Acknowledge understanding by nodding or repeating key points.
3. Be sensitive to caregivers' feelings and ask follow-up questions when needed.
Resources for ALL Ages:
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Physical: Can they sit, walk, run, and use their hands to feed or dress themselves?
Cognitive: Do they explore, solve simple problems, and follow instructions?
Language: Are they babbling, speaking words or sentences, and asking questions?
Social/Emotional: Do they make eye contact, show emotions, play with others, and seek comfort?
Resources:
Glossary for Child Development Terms
Children's Council - Children’s Council is an agency that helps families and children, and will connect to other community agencies such as:
Wu Yee Children’s Services, Mission Neighborhood Centers - Early Head Start/ Head Start, SFUSD Early Education Department
First 5 - San Francisco Family Resource Centers
How To Talk with the Doctor Guide – to share with the caregiver to help encourage the appropriate conversations with a doctor.
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Physical: Can they ride a bike, play sports, and manage daily tasks (dressing, hygiene)?
Cognitive: Do they focus on tasks, solve problems, and understand cause and effect?
Language: Are they reading, writing clearly, and expressing ideas in conversation?
Social/Emotional: Do they make friends, handle emotions, follow rules, and show empathy?
Resources:
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Physical: Are they going through puberty and adjusting to body changes?
Cognitive: Can they think critically, plan, and understand abstract ideas?
Language: Do they express thoughts clearly, argue logically, and understand complex language?
Social/Emotional: Are they forming their identity, managing emotions, handling peer pressure, and building deeper relationships?
Resources:
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Physical: Have they reached physical maturity and developed healthy habits?
Cognitive: Can they make informed decisions, set goals, and think about long-term consequences?
Language: Do they communicate effectively in various settings and understand nuanced language?
Social/Emotional: Are they developing a strong sense of identity, maintaining healthy relationships, managing stress, and showing independence?
Resources:
NOTE: If a child lives in a bilingual household, learning 2 languages may also affect their language development, which is why it is important for a professional to confirm whether the developmental delays are genetic or environmental.
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