Emotional Literacy Development with Children in Vulnerable Communities

Children living in vulnerable communities experience multiple risks impacting their academic development and long-term emotional and physical wellbeing. Preventative interventions focusing on Emotional Intelligence (EI) earlier in a child's development equips the child with the necessary skills to navigate additional stressors that exist in lower socio economic status (SES) communities. EI is one of three pillars of intelligence, with academic intelligence and aptitude. However, EI is the only flexible indicator of intelligence. Development of EI skills with children will ensure the wellbeing of the children and ultimately improve the community's overall public health. This paper reviews theoretical approaches to EI, measurement tools, and interventions that are culturally appropriate. The development of an EI program will be demonstrated in a case study of an elementary school in Richmond, CA. Richmond, CA is the largest city in West Contra Costa County. The collaborative preventative intervention is being implemented to increase EI skills and improve the long-term emotional and physical health of school-age girls. The intervention is piloted with 3rd through 5th grade girls and provides evidence-based curricula in the school and with a partnering afterschool program, Girls Inc. of West Contra Costa County. Implementing preventative interventions in vulnerable communities similar to Richmond, CA will support the development of EI skills in children and are hypothesized to have long- term impacts for success in the workforce and emotional/physical health. Two arguments will be made throughout the paper. The first is for more research to be conducted on effective, culturally appropriate EI measurement tools and interventions for children in vulnerable communities. The second is for collaborative interventions to be implemented in local vulnerable communities to increase EI skills of children in those communities.Master of Public Healt