Why I’m Founding CCFP
By Katharine B. Stevens
BLOG
November 30, 2022
The early childhood field is at a pivotal moment, facing unprecedented political momentum and opportunity for change. Public and political interest in early childhood as a crucial area of social policy is on the rise — and should be, thanks to a growing body of brain science that gives us a powerful new understanding of the fundamental importance of early human development. We now know that the first years of life lay the groundwork for all dimensions of human flourishing and promise an upstream solution to many of society’s biggest challenges.
But the great potential of early childhood policy to help America’s young children is hindered by a lack of political and ideological balance in the field. Current debates are impaired by misconceptions about what drives human development, and ignore early health in favor of early school. We need much greater emphasis on early development science as the basis for policy that can truly improve the well-being of young children and their families.
Early childhood advocates have largely become early childhood program advocates, narrowing policy focus to expanding non-parental, group programs and taking us farther and farther down the wrong policy road. And what’s being left out of the debate is the most important issue in the first place: how best to ensure that all young children can flourish.
We know that ideas have great power to drive good policymaking and positive social change. But meaningful policy debate cannot take place with only one side talking. While in most policy fields a disparate range of organizations conduct nonpartisan, policy-relevant analysis, not enough such work is being done in early childhood and almost none grounded in the science of development. Early childhood needs new, ideologically diverse, nonpartisan organizations focused on rigorous, evidence-driven policy work, especially those emphasizing early health and the family-focused perspectives now missing from the field.
That’s why I’m founding the Center on Child and Family Policy (CCFP), the first national think tank focused specifically on early childhood. We’re dedicated to advancing science-driven policy that gives every child the strongest start possible and expanding the scope of policy debate in this profoundly important area of American life.
CCFP will focus on children, not programs. We view early development — not early school — as the key to human flourishing, and families as the key to ensuring that young children develop well. And we believe that the neuroscience of human development must play a much larger role in policymaking to improve the well-being of young children and their families.
We will promote early childhood policy that strengthens families, supports parents, and improves early health from the prenatal period on. We will amplify policy focus on the underutilized role of public healthcare in improving child and family outcomes, and we’ll highlight the importance of improving access to high-quality preschool programs for children living in poverty and adversity, while maximizing parental choice.
Finally, we’ll expand engagement in early childhood policy around key issues such as strengthening families, advancing opportunity, and closing the skills gap. We’ll aim to raise crucial questions, elevate diverse views, and encourage robust debate. And we’ll seek to bring stakeholders together, both across sectors and from across the aisle, to facilitate better cross-partisan and cross-issue dialogue.
The well-being of America’s young children is crucial both to their life chances and the success of our nation overall. CCFP’s aim is to promote the healthy development of all young children, giving every child the opportunity to thrive.
See Also
Blog ~ April 14, 2021
Op-Ed ~ April 9, 2021
Video ~ January 25, 2018