| Policy makers face tough decisions. Child Trends can support your effort to develop, guide, and promote sound policies affecting the well-being of the nation’s children and youth.
How Does Child Trends Meet the Needs of Public Policy Makers?
Child Trends tracks issues that effect children. It provides research-based evidence of What Works to improve prospects for vulnerable children. We provide critical guidance -- from investments in early childhood and out-of-school time programs to helping teens make a successful transition to adulthood.
How Has Child Trends Informed the Development of Policy?
• Newspaper articles and editorials urged Congress to improve the federal adoption tax credit, based on analyses from our Child Welfare research area, showing that the credit was not reaching the families most in need of this assistance.
• State child care administrators turned to Child Trends’ Early Childhood Development researchers when they needed research-based guidance on how best to allocate increased federal dollars to improve the quality of child care for low-income working families.
• Policy debates in a number of states used Child Trends’ state data on children’s health and city data on healthy birth outcomes provided by the
Health research area.
• Researchers in our Teen Sex & Pregnancy research area study trends in teen sexual activity, contraceptive use, and childbearing, helping policy makers develop strategies for preventing unintended pregnancies and STDs.
In particular, the information gathered and disseminated through Facts At A Glance, an annual newsletter highlighting national-, state-, and city-level data on teen pregnancy, childbearing, and sexual behavior, has helped to inform policy and practice aimed at reducing teen pregnancy.
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A 50-State Tour of Child Well-Being: A Race to the Bottom?
Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that ours is a big—and varied—country. Our larger states have populations comparable in size to those of many nations. Thus, national-level data can only ever tell part of the story of our well-being. The child in Louisiana and the child in Minnesota may have some things in common, but their experiences surely diverge according to the unique cultural and policy environments in which they grow up. While children nationwide might watch the same TV shows, and visit the same chain stores, states or regions still retain traditions of values, customs, and practices that vary—for better, and for worse—when it comes to children. Read more... | | |
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