2025 NYZTT Annual Conference 
Adversity and Resilience in Children's First Years: How to Transform the Future of Childhood
Friday, May 9, 2025
9:30 AM - 12:45 PM

Keynote Speakers:
Brenda Jones Harden PhD & Pat Levitt, PhD  

A Hybrid event 

In-person at Bank Street College of Education

& Online Via Zoom

A light breakfast and networking opportunity for In-person guests

Registration and more details are here.

Part 1 with Keynote Speaker Dr. Pat Levitt:

Young children who experience adverse experiences (ACEs) (e.g., abuse, neglect, parental incarceration) experience a toxic stress response that is associated with poor health outcomes over the lifespan. ACEs impact young children’s brain, immune, and metabolic systems in ways that have implications for their longer-term health. As a field, we would like to have the capacity to identify children experiencing toxic stress as early as possible to promote early interventions that support development. This presentation will focus on sharing data from more than 300 mother-child pairs over the first two years of life. The presentation will focus on making information about the science and measurement of early toxic stress understandable for professionals and parents. Findings will be explored that show relations between changes in biological measures over time and child neurodevelopmental outcomes, highlighting how children’s experience of ACEs, biology, and development are linked. This presentation will give the audience powerful information about the connection between children’s lived experience and their biology, health, and development.

Part 2 with Keynote speaker Dr. Brenda Jones Harden: 
Building upon the cutting-edge science of toxic stress shared in the first presentation, the second presentation will focus on what we can do to combat toxic stress.   How can we help children experiencing toxic stress? What are the elements needed for an early childhood system of care that can buffer children from early life adversity and toxic stress? Specifically, the presentation will focus on how to best prevent mental health and developmental problems (Primary prevention: e.g., universal home visiting, early care and education), efforts to respond to early indicators of problems (Secondary prevention: e.g., parenting programs, targeted home visiting), and intervention for existing problems (Tertiary prevention: e.g., infant/early childhood mental health interventions). We will explore how well these interventions work for infants and toddlers and their potential to promote positive outcomes or resilience in young children exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

**This conference Will Not be recorded. We hope you will be able to attend live in person or virtually via Zoom

Registration and more details are here.