This short entry in the Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development presents literature and survey results of the effects of community violence on child development. Surveys estimate that more than 50% of children and youth have experienced some level of community violence exposure. This experience has been shown to impact development negatively, leading to increased emotional, social, and behavioral problems. The authors conclude that “the effects of violence exposure are particularly problematic for young children and have been shown to adversely impact brain development.” There are many prevention and intervention strategies that communities and parents can use to reduce violence, including limiting children’s exposure to violent video games, movies, and television.

Aimed at informing decision makers in states and communities about research and best practices for preventing intimate partner violence (IPV) including teen dating violence, this package from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) presents a comprehensive series of approaches and corresponding available evidence that supports eight broad strategies. These strategies include disrupting pathways to partner violence, encouraging household financial security, and teaching skills to form safe and healthy relationships. The package provides a rationale for each strategy, before continuing into a series of approaches specific to the strategy’s goal. It also provides a list of Potential Outcomes that span physical and psychological benefits.

In a study by Abt Associates on the experiences of those entering homeless shelters, data showed that behavioral health problems decreased over time for this population. Post-traumatic stress disorder was the only metric unchanged, but levels of psychological distress, alcohol dependence, and drug abuse all lessened at the 20-month and 37-month follow-up assessments. Coming in to the shelters, parents exhibited high levels of behavioral health problems, which were found to be more severe for those parents who were foster children or who experienced domestic violence. These high levels of behavioral health problems decreased over time due to multiple factors, including improved housing circumstances. Behavioral health measures improved more for those parents who became stably housed as opposed to those who continued to be homeless, although substance abuse made stability more difficult to attain. The report notes the policy implications that stable housing programs will likely reduce levels of psychological distress, and also that substance abuse counseling programs can help homeless families find housing stability.

Research shows that children who must be separated from their birth parents fare better when placed in the care of relatives as opposed to non-relatives. This finding is becoming particularly important as the number of foster children increases due to the opioid crisis, and relatives like grandparents increasingly shoulder the responsibility of care for these children. Generations United offers a report with data on the opioid crisis as it pertains to grandfamilies, and also lists policy and program recommendations to help stakeholders in the field. Besides prioritizing placement of foster children with relatives, the report recommends fully using services established under the Family First Prevention Services Act and the National Family Caregiver Support Program, providing legal and foster parent licensing assistance, helping grandfamilies attain funding and support, and creating a National Technical Assistance Center on Grandfamilies.

This presentation by the Rural Policy Research Institute highlights challenges that rural residents face in obtaining affordable and available health care. Affordability is directly related to the cost of insurance policies, either private or public, while availability is directly related to provider capacity, transportation, and technology. To increase the affordability of health care, the Institute first recommends educating people on the differences between their health plan options and their eligibility for public program insurance, while also restructuring provider networks and benefit design to reduce costs. Availability is limited in rural areas, due to scarce high-level professionals, states’ push toward community-based care which results in closed regional facilities, and a limited spread of functioning rural hospitals. The presentation concludes by detailing changes made in response to changing insurance payment structures. It also proposes accountable care organizations and health communities as the next step to creating desirable change in health care access for rural populations.

This recent Council for a Strong America report profiles the opioid epidemic in Wisconsin and how parental substance abuse should be considered a significant Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) that impedes childhood development. The report notes how high-quality early care and education programs, Head Start, and home visitations support children as they grow up by preparing them to avoid crime, raise families of their own, and contribute to the workforce. The implications of the epidemic in Wisconsin have a broader national impact.

New research from the Center for Poverty Research illuminates the links between low socioeconomic status (SES) and metabolic syndrome, a family of conditions that make a person more likely to experience heart disease, strokes, and diabetes. These conditions affect nearly one-fourth of the world’s population, and children raised in poverty are 83% more likely to suffer from metabolic syndrome than children of a high SES after controlling for other factors. Adult SES has a less pronounced effect on metabolic syndrome risk. This poses to policymakers an evidence-backed opportunity to improve long-term productivity, health, and well-being outcomes by targeting young children currently growing up in poverty.

This Urban Institute brief reviews states’ efforts to curb opioid misuse from 2012 through 2015. The brief covers the insights and experiences collected in 2015 from the first seven states participating in the National Governors Association’s Prescription Drug Abuse Reduction Policy Academy.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance (OFA) Regions I through IV hosted the OFA Regions I-IV East Coast TANF Directors’ Meeting, Leveraging Partnerships to Help Families Achieve Economic Stability, on July 24-26, 2018 at the Westin Boston Waterfront in Boston, Massachusetts. The meeting convened representatives from TANF programs from Regions I-IV and provided TANF representatives with an opportunity to learn about promising practices, discuss shared challenges faced by TANF programs, and share ideas with peers from other states about how to respond to the needs of low-income families. The meeting also included practitioners and researchers who shared information about their own work, and who looked to TANF representatives and federal partners for future research opportunities. Representatives attended presentations from experts and program administrators, and worked with other states to think of innovative practices during Team Work sessions.

This guide from the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture is a comprehensive list of Federal resources in rural communities for community leaders to use when combatting opioid addiction and seeking available treatment options. The resource list is broken down into 26 categories to reflect the efforts of multiple Federal agencies, as well as the complex set of direct and indirect needs related to opioid misuse.