HealthySteps (HS) is an evidence-based integrated model designed to provide enhanced primary care services to young children and families. This article describes the strategies HS specialists use, adapt, and innovate while maintaining fidelity to the model to meet the unique needs of diverse settings, circumstances, and communities. The authors…

DC:0-5™: Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood (ZERO TO THREE, 2016) emphasizes the centrality of relationships for young children's development and psychopathology. The authors share the story of a young child and his mother to illustrate the use of DC:0-5, with an emphasis on how…

Weakening federal assistance programs that provide children with affordable health care, nutritious food, stable housing, and early childhood education by imposing funding cuts, work requirements, unreasonable time limits, and other unnecessary bureaucratic barriers undermines access to services for low income families and undercuts opportunities…

All Washington's children and youth grow up safe and healthy--thriving physically, emotionally, and educationally, nurtured by family and community. In this first five-year strategic planning cycle, the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) will focus on six Strategic Priorities--one relates to equity, three relate to…

This article describes an infant and early childhood mental health-informed therapeutic visitation program that offers clinical support, systems-level advocacy, and developmentally appropriate guidance to families navigating the child welfare and family court systems. The program offers treatment, permanency, and placement planning for infants,…

Healthy psychosocial development during childhood is a key determinant to the future well-being of all individuals. In many areas of Africa, demand for psychosocial support continues to grow in response to the increasing number of children left orphaned as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. These orphans face various challenges and yet, in most…

Each year, effective federal programs give parents the power to provide their children with affordable healthcare, nutritious food, stable housing, and early childhood education. These programs lift millions of children out of poverty, but also have long-term benefits--children in families who accessed these programs have higher educational…

Over the last decade, California leaders have made tremendous progress on supporting kids in some crucial areas. They have vastly increased the percentage of children enrolled in health insurance and made paid family leave available for most workers. They have also invested in free school meals, committed to universal transitional kindergarten,…

Too often in California, children (especially children of color, foster youth, and those growing up in poverty) lack the components critical for a healthy early life. For example, as few as 3% of families that might benefit from voluntary home visiting have access to home visiting programs, 32% of children entering foster care are under the age of…

Young people across California are leading the way forward socially, culturally, and politically. They are organizing for racial justice, learning and working and caring for family members during a pandemic, and voting in record numbers. The past two years with the COVID-19 pandemic has been hardest on kids, particularly children of color, in…

The 2019-20 Pro-Kid Policy Agenda for California is the comprehensive roadmap at the state level to ensure that all children have the necessary supports to reach their full potential. California has an obligation to end systemic injustices that create barriers to kids of color, as well as kids living in poverty and undocumented kids, from growing…

California has long been on the cutting edge of social and political change. This trendsetting continues today on issues from addressing climate change to supporting immigrant communities to ensuring equal rights for all. But, when reviewing the grades of this year's California Children's Report Card, it is difficult not to ask the question: why…

This summary presents highlights of the "Minnesota Early Childhood Risk, Reach, and Resilience Report." The report describes potential risks to the healthy development of young children and the extent of coverage of publicly-funded services to meet their early learning, health, and basic needs. It also includes new and emerging…

Lack of progress for improving the lives of kids is unacceptable. All children need stability and a path to opportunity. This is true for nearly half of California's children who live in low-income families, where caregivers struggle to afford the quality support and services they need for their kids. This is also true for the approximately…

The 2020 Pro-Kid Policy Agenda for California is the comprehensive roadmap at the state level to ensure that all children have the necessary supports to reach their full potential. California has an obligation to tear down the structural barriers to all kids, especially kids of color, from growing up healthy, safe, and ready for college, career,…