Science to Policy and Practice: Three Principles to Improve Outcomes for Children and Families

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard has identified three principles that can guide public policy choices and front-line practice across a wide range of areas affecting children and families. The paper discusses the science behind each of these principles and presents examples of how they might be applied. The paper also explores the crucial ways in which the three principles are related to and support one another. This is the second installment in a series of papers looking at the implications of the science in different policy areas. The web-based version of the content includes an accompanying interactive graphic.