News and Insights

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Strengthening Stability: Actionable Strategies to Support Young Children and Caregivers

Drawing on insights from the latest working paper from the Early Childhood Scientific Council on Equity and the Environment, From Resources to Routines: The Importance of Stability in the Developmental Environment, this conversation examines how interconnected systems—including housing, employment, health care, education, and community supports—can help create, maintain, and restore stability.

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Welcoming Our New Faculty Director

We are thrilled to share the news that Stephanie M. Jones, PhD, has been named the next Faculty Director at the Harvard Center on the Developing Child. Dr. Jones is the Gerald S. Lesser Professor of Early Childhood Development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she is Director of the EASEL Lab and co-Director of the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative. An accomplished researcher, she brings a broad range of relevant experience and expertise to her new role at the Center. As a developmental psychologist trained in child development, prevention science, and social policy, her work is focused on building knowledge through rigorous research and translating that knowledge into equitable policy and systems change to improve conditions in the places where children live, grow, play, and learn.

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Climate disasters can alter kids’ brains — before they’re even born

A new article from Grist highlights how exposure to climate-related disasters during pregnancy and early childhood can disrupt healthy brain development, with long-lasting effects on learning, behavior, and health.

Our Chief Science Officer, Lindsey Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP, was quoted in the piece, emphasizing that while this is a highly sensitive developmental period, it’s also a window of opportunity. With the right supports and policies in place, we can buffer the effects of climate stress and promote resilience in both children and those who care for them.

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Celebrate 20 years of the Center on the Developing Child with this special anniversary newsletter. Check out key moments in our history with our new interactive timeline, and read reflections from Faculty Director Stephanie M. Jones, PhD, on the Center’s next chapter. You’ll also find a new Q&A with the President of the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, Jessie Rasmussen, on the progress the field has made over the past two decades. And, as we look ahead, learn how you can help support the next 20 years of impact.

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