Summary
This report by Prevention Institute and the Center for the Study of Social Policy makes the case for action and delineates opportunities for systems, policy, and practice change at the intersection of community safety and positive early child development. For example, emergent opportunities at the intersection include changing norms about fathers and fatherhood through systems and practice change; engaging the community development sector to address housing issues through policies and practices; and building the early education to employment pipeline through state and local policy change.
Building on the learning and outcomes from the national project, Cradle to Community: A Focus on Community Safety and Healthy Child Development funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this paper offers the following:
- Provides an overview of the fields of early childhood and community safety;
- Lift up and make the case for the important relationship between early childhood development and safe communities;
- Presents opportunities and mechanisms for promoting early childhood development and community safety using a shared framework and building on local policies and practices in both fields;
- Describes the early signs of success we have seen during the project and emergent opportunities for work at the intersection; and,
- Recommends directions and needs for future efforts to promote the dual outcomes of safe communities and optimal development for young children.
Videos
The Power of Networks for “Cradle to Community: A Focus on Community Safety and Healthy Child Development”
Team members from Prevention Institute and the Center for the Study of Social Policy discuss the power of collaborative networks and why it’s crucial to share strengths, explore solutions, and support one another in working towards community safety and positive early childhood development. The “Cradle to Community: A Focus on Community Safety and Healthy Child Development” project was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.