Electronic Library

Evidence

Strengthening Families is based on extensive and rigorous research, conversations with hundreds of professionals in child- and family-focused fields, and input from an advisory panel of experts in early childhood and abuse and neglect prevention. These are summarized in the following documents:

• A literature review on child abuse and neglect prevention
• A study of exemplary early childhood programs that are building Protective Factors
• An exploration of seven program strategies that early care and education centers use to build Protective Factors and other programmatic elements employed by the centers studied
• Sharon Lynn Kagan’s paper on early childhood infrastructure and an executive summary
• Deborah Daro’s paper on child abuse and neglect prevention, and its accompanying table
• Conversations with the expert advisory panel
• A Power Point presentation describing the research behind Strengthening Families

Further Learning

The following documents are also useful in understanding the Strengthening Families approach:

• A list of resources on the economic impact of early childhood education
• A longitudinal study of the impact of early care and education (Reynolds, et al.) that shows a 51% decline in child maltreatment
• The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, which examines the impact of trauma on child development
• The Fragile Families Research Brief, which explores linkages between child care centers and community resources
• The NAEYC Crosswalk showing how NAEYC Accreditation Standards for early care and education centers relate to the Protective Factors