Health care reaches more children under age three in the United States than any other family-facing system and represents the most common entry point for developmental assessment of and services for children. In this article, Adam Schickedanz and Neal Halfon examine how well the child health care system promotes healthy child development early in…

Child Trends, with the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the George Kaiser Family Foundation, invited a variety of stakeholders from across the country to attend a meeting in May 2016: "Building Our Future: Strategies for Investing in Early Childhood." The goal of the meeting was to learn more about various types of…

The importance of nature-based play has gradually become forefront in an array of research fields. From the more obvious physical benefits to the complex mental benefits, nature has proved time and time again to be the cure-all for a variety of common ailments. Richard Louv, author of the famed "Last Child in the Woods," has spawned a…

President Obama announced his Early Learning Agenda during his Second Inaugural Address. This announcement has galvanized a special focus on early childhood policy and practices, for the prenatal to 5-year-old period, to improve educational outcomes for America's youth. The emergent science of early childhood development places an emphasis on…

Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…

This is the fifth and final report of a longitudinal study examining the use of a comprehensive system of prevention and early intervention services in Palm Beach County, and how its use relates to the outcomes of children and families living in four targeted geographic areas (TGAs) with high rates of poverty, teen pregnancy, crime, and child…

The Child and Family Resource Program (CFRP) of the Office of Child Development (OCD) is described. CFRP is designed to provide family-oriented, comprehensive services to children from the prenatal period through age 8, according to their individual needs. The program description stresses the use of existing community resources in a linked program…

The International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI) promotes the wellbeing of children growing up in difficult circumstances. ICDI works to improve policies and practices affecting these children by doing research and training. ICDI believes in the power of children and young people, supporting their rights and addressing the underlying causes…

There is growing recognition of the impact of exposure to trauma on the social and emotional development of children and adolescents, and this recognition has spurred initiatives to improve the standard of care and increase the identification, diagnosis, and treatment of child trauma. Leaders of child traumatic stress (CTS) initiatives recognize…

Since their appearance in the early 1970s, family support programs have represented a new way of working with families, based on the partnership they establish with families, their acceptance in the community as an asset and resource for all families, and the trusting relationship they build with families who participate in these programs. This…

In 1999, the Board of Commissioners of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, joined with 21 philanthropic foundations and private funders, as well as nearly 80 community service agencies, to form a public-private partnership that would launch an early childhood initiative, Invest in Children, as a comprehensive system of care focused on improving the…

The experiences of parents at home with their children have educational value when the experiences are backed up by understanding of what happens every day, by sound principles in approaching home problems, and by knowledge of good techniques of training children. The purposes of parent education work are to furnish parents with sound principles…

This document provides meeting highlights and a background briefing report from a policy seminar about family resource and support programs and parent education programs. At the meeting, one of a series of family impact seminars, Theodora Ooms, the moderator pointed out that a new federal program had been authorized in the previous year to…

FIFTY ADULTS (39 HOMEMAKERS AND 11 MALE FAMILY HEADS) LIVING IN SUBSTANDARD HOUSING AREAS IN WASHINGTON D.C. WERE INTERVIEWED TO DETERMINE THEIR INTEREST IN HOMEMAKING EDUCATION, PROGRAM NEEDS, AND AWARENESS OF EXISTING CLASSES. A PUBLIC SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, A DIRECTOR OF A PUBLIC RECREATION CENTER, AND ALL DIRECTORS OF PRIVATE AGENCIES PROVIDING…