Dr. Katharine B. Stevens Launches the Nation’s First Think Tank Dedicated to Early Childhood
NEWS RELEASE
November 30, 2022
To arrange an interview or for other media inquiries, please contact Allison Gallagher at (703) 798-5656 or agallagher@ccfp.org
Washington, D.C. — On November 30, leading early childhood expert Dr. Katharine B. Stevens launched the nation’s first think tank dedicated to early childhood research and policy: the Center on Child and Family Policy (CCFP).
Based in Washington, D.C., CCFP will build on Dr. Stevens’s years of prior work as an early-childhood scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Her new organization aims to strengthen research, diversify intellectual leadership, and foster a more vigorous competition of ideas in the early childhood policy field.
Dr. Stevens founded CCFP because America is at a watershed moment for advancing policy that can meaningfully improve children’s outcomes. Yet we are failing to realize the great potential of early childhood policy to better young children’s lives.
Recent media coverage has overwhelmingly highlighted the “child care crisis,” stressing the role of child care in increasing GDP and enabling women to advance their careers. At the same time, national policy debates are dominated by a left-leaning network of influential advocates, academics, and funders who dismiss vital research and shut out competing perspectives. And right-of-center thought leaders and policymakers have long blocked greater spending and have been inadequately engaged. Together, these factors have led us to a narrow policy focus on expanding publicly funded pre-K and child care programs, instead of focusing on what matters: ensuring that all young children have the chance to thrive.
CCFP aims to shift emphasis back to children, stressing policies that strengthen families, support parents, and improve early health as the essential drivers of children’s development. The organization will also emphasize early development science as the proper foundation for effective child and family policy.
CCFP has assembled a stellar advisory committee of leading child and family policy experts – including Oren Cass from American Compass, James Heckman from the University of Chicago, Cynthia Osborne from the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, and Ralph Smith from the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, among others – to help lead the think tank’s work in this deeply consequential area of American life.
“Improving the well-being of America’s young children is crucial both to their life chances and the success of our nation as a whole,” says Stevens. “CCFP intends to promote the new ideas and broader debate that are critical to advancing that goal.”
To learn more about CCFP, please visit www.ccfp.org.
See recent work by Dr. Katharine Stevens:
5 Questions with Family Studies: Katharine Stevens on Family-Focused Child Care Policy
The Role of Families in Human Flourishing: My Long-Read Q&A with James Heckman
The Unintended Consequences of Universal Childcare: Lessons from Sweden
Does Pre-K Work? The Research on Ten Early Childhood Programs—and What it Tells Us