The idea of brain science in child welfare is hardly new but a pair of recent efforts highlight a growing push in the child welfare field to move an influx of findings drawn from the worlds of neuroscience and child development into practice.
According to leaders in the field, child welfare policies and practices can see immediate and substantive benefits from the successful translation of this emerging brain science, but several challenges remain.
A recently released brief from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University draws attention to translational opportunities for brain science in a child welfare context. Researchers from the center have helped define the harmful toll “toxic stress” takes on many children and even adults in the child welfare system.
Toxic stress can result when children experience stressful situations that include abuse, neglect, violence, poverty or caregivers with substance abuse or mental health issues, disrupting the development of brain architecture.
Steven Cohen, the author of the brief and a senior fellow at the Center on the Developing Child, said that the science around toxic stress and even adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has been initially well understood but challenges remain in linking the science in practical ways for practitioners and policymakers.
[For more of this story, written by Jeremy Loudenback, go to https://chronicleofsocialchang...ience-practice/22894]
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