“Scaffolding” is a practice that is often used in executive function-informed practices, especially in education settings for students with learning disabilities. It is equally relevant, but rarely used, in employment and related human services programs. Scaffolding refers to the practice of facilitating an individual's ability to solve a problem, complete a task, or achieve a goal that they cannot complete without assistance. It involves breaking tasks into smaller steps and providing tools and supports to help an individual achieve each step. Scaffolding may also involve providing environmental modifications to compensate for weak executive functioning skills or allow a person to practice her skills in an environment that facilitates success.

In this paper, the authors highlight evidence in support of investments in both parents and children during the paired sensitive period of early life and the transition to parenting. A sensitive period is a specific and limited time when the individual is especially open to environmental inputs, typically because the brain and body are rapidly developing or reorganizing during that time window. Importantly, the openness to experience that occurs during sensitive periods provides both opportunity and vulnerability.

Infants, toddlers, and children living in high-poverty communities experience a high rate of exposure to trauma, placing these youth on a compromised developmental path. This issue brief summarizes research about the impact of trauma on young children, and possible intervention strategies that could protect them from the many adverse effects of trauma. These interventions support parents in providing the stable and nurturing caregiving that is necessary for young children’s developmental growth and promoting children’s sense of safety and security. The implementation of such interventions can potentially reduce or provide a buffer against traumatic experiences for these infants and toddlers. Additionally, the brief describes how child care, Early Head Start, home visitation, and child welfare could become trauma-informed infant and toddler service delivery systems.

On Tuesday, April 21, 2015, the Office of Family Assistance, in partnership with the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development, hosted a webinar for Tribal TANF and Tribal TANF-Child Welfare Partnerships grantees titled “Addressing Toxic Stress and Trauma in Native Communities: The Promise of Tribal Home Visiting.” Toxic stress results from exposure to strong, excessive, and/or prolonged adversity in childhood without the buffer of stable environment and supportive relationships with caring adults. American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) children face unique circumstances and disproportionate exposure to adverse childhood experiences, necessitating a discussion of how best to address toxic stress, trauma, and detrimental health effects to promote resilience among AIAN children. The webinar included an overview of toxic stress and how it affects AIAN child health, followed by an overview of the Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program, and a presentation from a Tribal Home Visiting grantee that is actively working to address toxic stress in one tribal community.

On July 9, 2014, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted a Brown Bag "Toxic Stress Among Men and Boys of Color." This Brown Bag featured Dr. David Pate, Jr. an Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee. During the Brown Bag, Dr. Pate, Jr. discussed his current research on the impact of toxic stress, trauma, and adverse childhood experiences on men and boys. His presentation featured a discussion about initial findings related to variable effects on men and boys, personal accounts from study participants, and final policy recommendations.

The Office of Family Assistance (OFA) hosted a webinar entitled Integrating Executive Functioning Principles, Soft Skills Activities, and Case Management Coaching in order to Improve Economic Success for TANF Recipients. This Webinar provided resources and step-by-step recommendations to help participants better integrate case management approaches based on the work of the Crittenton Women's Union, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities- Building Better Programs initiative and the Minnesota's Ramsey County activities. The overarching goals of the Webinar were to: 1. Provide an overview of executive functioning, the emergence of brain science research within the human services and the intersection of executive functioning and soft skills as a means to improve social and economic development from the Building Better Program's initiative developed by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities; 2. Provide integration insights from the Crittenton Women's Union approach to improving executive functioning and economic mobility among TANF recipients and low-skilled individuals; and 3. Share lessons learned and implementation strategies from Ramsey County, Minnesota which has been rigorously evaluated and has been shown to improve economic outcomes for clients.

This resource from the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University provides links to numerous articles, all related to toxic stress. A variety of articles are provided, all related to reducing toxic stress in children. Links to related content, including a factsheet on toxic stress, can be found as well.

This study assessed the associations between family socio-economic status and single parenthood to predict child executive functions. The study found that families with low socio-economic status with one parent in the home had children who performed less well on executive function tests than children from similarly low socio-economic status families with two parents.

Published by the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, this article discusses the emerging fields of neuroscience and the impact adverse childhood experiences have on the social, emotional and physical well-being of children. Based on research conducted by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child at Harvard University, the authors discuss the long-term consequences for learning, behavior, physical and mental health when individuals are exposed to extreme poverty, neglect, abuse, or severe maternal depression.

This overview from ACF provides a summary of the current ongoing Early Head Start University Partnership grant program. It contains a link to the programs selected as part of the most recent research grant. The purpose of the grants is to test interventions designed to mitigate the effects of toxic stress on young children. Early Head Start was chosen as a vehicle to test these interventions since it is already designed to meet the needs of families below the poverty line with very young children.