Abstract
Emerging and powerful research finds that babies' earliest experiences have a lasting influence on their development. This article, drawing on several research projects conducted by the National Center for Children in Poverty, identifies emerging state and community approaches to translate these scientific findings into the real world of services and polices, particularly for infants and toddlers whose development may be compromised by poverty and other risk factors. The focus is on 3 strategies: (1) using federal programs, such as Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) and Early Head Start, to deliver enhanced services; (2) implementing new approaches to serve more vulnerable families; and (3) creating infrastructure mechanisms to plan, manage, fund, deliver, and monitor services that are consistent with emerging developmental knowledge. For each of the overarching strategies, specific innovative examples are provided. The article concludes with a discussion of 3 critical implications and lessons for others: promote partnerships both within and across jurisdictions (including federal and state); consider how federal programs might be used as the basis for more efficient and family-responsive services; and infuse sustained best-practice activities into ongoing planning and implementation activities at both the state and local levels.