Colleen A. Kraft

"I learned that kids live in the community and that pediatricians need to be involved in the community in order for children to develop healthy habits and succeed in life."

"Separating children from their parents contradicts everything we stand for as pediatricians — protecting and promoting children's health ..."

"... I went to medical school before I became a mother. I had my oldest son as a fourth-year medical student. And so, when I was an intern, he was a baby. I had my daughter in the middle of my residency. And then my youngest son in my first year of private practice. And throughout my career, what I decided to do had everything to do with my own kids ... because the surprising thing that I learned is that what you do with children as a pediatrician is just a little bit in your office. What you really need to do is change the world around where they live day-to-day ... if you're going to improve their health."

"Over a span of two weeks, AAP President Colleen A. Kraft, M.D., M.B.A., FAAP, and other pediatrician experts were featured in more than 60 national and regional news outlets covering the crisis at the border. They had a consistent message: Family separation causes irreparable harm to child health, and detention is no place for a child. Amid advocacy and outcry from pediatricians, advocates and the public, President Donald Trump issued an executive order in June that sought to end the administration’s policy of separating children and parents at the border."