Building a Roadmap for Prenatal-to-3 State Policy (with Cynthia Osborne)
With Katharine B. Stevens | Cynthia Osborne
Center on Child and Family Policy
October 25, 2023
Cynthia Osborne discusses the work of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, which focuses on building the evidence base for effective state policies to improve outcomes for infants, toddlers, and their families.
Dr. Osborne explains the importance of the prenatal-to-three period in shaping children's development, and describes the rigorous process the Center uses to identify effective policies and strategies. She also discusses the just-released 2023 Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap, which lays out the most recent research on the best public investments states can make to impact child outcomes, and shows where each state is on the most effective policies and strategies.
Key Takeaways
The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center focuses on identifying effective state policies to improve the wellbeing of young children and their families.
The Center's eight policy goals address essential conditions for young children to flourish, including the emotional and physical wellbeing of both children and their parents, and families' financial stability.
The Center uses a rigorous process to evaluate the evidence for policies and strategies: considering the theory of change, the strength of the research, and the causal link between the policy and outcomes.
The Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap guides state leaders on the most effective investments to ensure all children can thrive from the start.
About the Guest
Cynthia Osborne is a professor at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College of Education and Human Development, and a nationally renowned researcher and expert on child and family policy.
She is also the founder and executive director of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, based at Vanderbilt: an academic research center that focuses on building the evidence base on the most effective state policies to improve the wellbeing of young children and their families.
Links to the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center’s Work
Why Do We Focus on the Prenatal-to-3 Age Period?: Understanding the Importance of the Earliest Years
Subscribe to Early Matters on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other major podcast platforms.
FAMILIES AND PARENTING FEDERAL AND STATE POLICY
See Also
Blog ~ April 14, 2021
Video ~ January 30, 2020
Video ~ October 26, 2017