At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, home visiting programs were faced with an unprecedented challenge: How do you deliver home visiting services without visiting homes? One home visiting model--Child First--quickly pivoted to telehealth, offering caregivers the option to receive services virtually. Child First has since resumed delivering…

A robust body of evidence over the past half a century has documented the importance of early childhood experiences for adult outcomes. From maternal prenatal care to early intervention in infancy and toddlerhood, and through high-quality care and educational experiences in the preschool years, support services and programs for families and young…

The Ready for School, Ready for Life initiative in Guilford County, North Carolina, aims to support interconnected programs and services for young children and their families with the goal of having children enter kindergarten ready for learning. The initiative aims to strengthen connections among existing programs in Guilford County and provide…

The Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE) is the national evaluation of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program. MIECHV was authorized by Congress in 2010 and started a major expansion of evidence-based home visiting programs for families living in at-risk communities. The study is being…

Early childhood interventions can be highly cost effective when positive impacts are sustained into adulthood. Yet while many recent preschool interventions have been found to have short-term effects on young children's language, literacy, mathematics, executive function, and social-emotional development, studies show that impacts on cognitive and…

This summary describes the Head Start CARES research project, which evaluated three classroom-based approaches to enhancing children's social-emotional development: (1) The Incredible Years Teacher Training Program; (2) Preschool PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies); and (3) Tools of the Mind--Play. The three social-emotional…

The early twenty-first century has seen increased attention to developing young children's social-emotional skills and competencies in preschool programs, including Head Start--the largest federally funded early-childhood education program in the United States. At the same time, there has been greater recognition of the importance of adapting…

This paper uses data from the Head Start Impact Study (HSIS), a nationally representative multisite randomized trial, to quantify variation in effects of Head Start during 2002-2003 on children's cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes relative to the effects of other local alternatives, including parent care. We find that (1) treatment and control…

Children living in poverty face considerable developmental risks. This report presents interim results from an evaluation of parental employment and educational services delivered within a two-generational, early childhood program targeting low-income families who are expecting a child or who have a child under age 3. This study is part of the…

Low-income preschool children face many risks to their social-emotional development that can affect their school experience and social outcomes for years to come. Although there are some promising approaches to improving young children's social-emotional competence, the evidence base is limited, particularly on the effectiveness of these…

Children living in poverty face considerable developmental risks. This report presents interim results from an evaluation of parental employment and educational services delivered within a two-generational, early childhood program targeting low-income families who are expecting a child or who have a child under age 3. This study is part of the…