Our Mission
The Center for Child and Family Policy is dedicated to improving the well-being of children and families through research, education, and engagement. We study factors that influence child outcomes, develop and test promising interventions, and advance evidence-based practices and policies that can inform change and unlock opportunities for all children and their families.
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annual report
Recent News
When Policy Becomes Personal
July 20, 2023
EdNC
Teachers love full circle moments — those situations where our influence is broader than we imagined, as years later we encounter students from long ago in places we didn’t expect.
read more about When Policy Becomes PersonalStudy Finds Positive Results for Disadvantaged Children in Fifth Grade from Public Pre-K Programs
July 17, 2023
The Journal
A recent study showed marked positive outcomes for Black and Hispanic disadvantaged children in the fifth grade who had attended pre-K programs. Ken Dodge expanded on research done in 2014, when North Carolina’s public pre-K program, NC Pre-K, was begun.
read more about Study Finds Positive Results for Disadvantaged Children in Fifth Grade from Public Pre-K ProgramsStatewide project helps early childhood workforce be ‘seen, heard, and held’
June 26, 2023
EdNC
ITTI Care is a research project based out of Duke University and funded by North Carolina’s Division of Child Development and Early Education. The mission of the project is to support the wellness of the early childhood workforce, ensuring they feel “seen, heard, and held” in their workplaces.
read more about Statewide project helps early childhood workforce be ‘seen, heard, and held’As funding cliff looms, NC has opportunity to improve child care access, advocates say
June 21, 2023
NC Health News
In North Carolina, federal pandemic funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, which went into effect in March 2021, helped childcare providers boost pay and benefits and subsidized the cost of child care for many families.
read more about As funding cliff looms, NC has opportunity to improve child care access, advocates say
Featured Projects
Research Project
STEPS: Study of Teen Experiences that Promote Success
This project aims to advance research on the relationship between economic well-being, wealth, adolescent functioning and mental health.
learn more about STEPS: Study of Teen Experiences that Promote Success
Research Project
Developing and Evaluating Progressive Prosecution in Durham, NC
The purpose of this project is to support the development and evaluation of new evidence-based plea bargaining policies and practices in the Durham District Attorney’s Office.
learn more about Developing and Evaluating Progressive Prosecution in Durham, NC
Research Project
Child and Adolescent Predictors of Young Adults’ and Their Parents’ Primals in Nine Countries
This study provides an unprecedented opportunity to understand whether and how primals in early adulthood are predicted by childhood and adolescent experiences and how parents’ primals are related to their young adult children’s primals in the most diverse long-term longitudinal study ever conducted.
learn more about Child and Adolescent Predictors of Young Adults’ and Their Parents’ Primals in Nine Countries
Research Project
Baby’s First Years Study
Baby’s First Years is a pathbreaking study of the causal impact of monthly, unconditional cash gifts to low-income mothers and their children in the first three years of the child’s life. The cash gifts are funded through charitable foundations. The study will identify whether reducing poverty can affect early childhood development and the family processes that support children’s development.
learn more about Baby’s First Years StudyFor Students
The Center offers a variety of ways for Duke students at every level to learn about child and family policy and become involved in original research.