Child Development

Knowledge of child development is the foundation for work with children, and therefore is a requirement for all those seeking to protect children. It influences every aspect of a child from physical growth and mental abilities, to how they express emotions, think and behave.

Healthy development takes children through stages, whereby they obtain an increasing number of physical, mental, and emotional skills in order to become independent adults. These stages provide benchmarks for determining if a child is developing normally. Without knowledge of the normal developmental stages of a child, a worker cannot identify developmental delays, assess the impact of abuse, or make recommendations regarding the child’s physical, mental or emotional health. Understanding what a child is capable of allows adults to communicate on their level and provide age-appropriate responses and interventions.

Knowledge of early childhood development and attachment behaviour is particularly important for protection workers. The physical health and care a child experiences as an infant will affect their development into adulthood. A child needs to have experienced a positive attachment by the age of 3 in order to develop cognitively, physically, socially, and psychologically. Healthy attachments come from the close bond a child experiences when provided with the responsive and stable care of at least one adult. In a residential home, children are less likely to receive the amount of individual attention from a permanent caretaker that they require. Children under 12, in particular, benefit more from a kinship, foster or adoption placement where they can experience closer relationships.

Observation of a child’s attachment to caretakers will influence the type of care, permanency plan, and level of support services offered. It can also aid in the identification of abuse.

This section contains information on the importance of child development knowledge, guidance on the ages and stages of children, and attachment theory.

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Traumatic Separation in Children and Adolescents

National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 14 Nov 2017

This webinar, from the U.S. National Child Traumatic Stress Network, as part of its Childhood Traumatic Grief e-learning series, describes the impact of traumatic separation, attachment, and attachment disruption on children and adolescents.

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The SAGE Handbook of Early Childhood Policy

Linda Miller, Claire Cameron, Carmen Dalli, Nancy Barbour - SAGE Publishing, 01 Nov 2017

This Handbook explores early childhood interventions and policy through 36 chapters in various country contexts, including chapters on early childhood services for children in care.

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The influence of maltreatment history and out-of-home-care on children’s language and social skills

Jarrad A.G. Lum, Martine Powell, Pamela C. Snow - , 24 Oct 2017

This study examined the extent to which maltreatment history and the characteristics of out-of-home care correlated with the language and social skills of maltreated children.

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Innocenti Research Brief – Parenting Interventions: How well do they transport from one country to another?

Frances Gardner - UNICEF, 01 Oct 2017

This brief summarizes recent findings from two global, systematic reviews on the effectiveness of parenting interventions.

3 Principles to Improve Outcomes for Children and Families

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 01 Oct 2017

This report from the the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University in the United States argues that, to be maximally effective, policies and services should: (1) Support responsive relationships for children and adults, (2) Strengthen core life skills, and (3) Reduce sources of stress in the lives of children and families.

A multisectoral approach to childhood development

The Lancet, 30 Sep 2017

This editorial by The Lancet draws connections between early childhood development, education and childhood violence, illustrating the need for early and cross-sectoral investments in children.

Care and Connections: Bridging Relational Gaps for Foster Youths

Ramona Denby, Efren Gomez, and Richard V. Reeves - Brookings Institution, 14 Sep 2017

This report explores the challenges of implementing and evaluating relationship-based interventions for young people with experience in the U.S. foster care system and presents recommendations for both practitioners and researchers for successful implementation and evaluation in the future.

Portuguese adopted adolescents' perception of attachment relationships to parents

Raquel Barroso, Maria Barbosa-Ducharne, and Vanessa Coelho - Child & Family Social Work, 13 Sep 2017

This study investigated Portuguese adolescent adoptees' perceptions of their attachment relationships with their adopted parents compared to adolescents living with biological parents and adolescents living in residential care.

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Neural and Cognitive Factors Influencing the Emergence of Psychopathology: Insights From the Bucharest Early Intervention Project

Sonya Troller-Renfree, Charles H. Zeanah, Charles A. Nelson, Nathan A. Fox - Child Development Perspectives, 07 Sep 2017

This article utilizes data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project to examine the neural indices of cognitive control and visual attention biases in children who have been institutionalized in order to understand how they influence the emergence of psychopathology in children with experience in institutional care.

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Successes and challenges in developing trauma-informed child welfare systems: A real-world case study of exploration and initial implementation

Becci A. Akin, Jessica Strolin-Gotzmna, and Crystal Collines-Camargo - Children and Youth Services Review, 06 Sep 2017

This paper describes and analyzes the implementation of trauma and evidence-informed interventions in three federally-funded statewide demonstration sites in different regional contexts throughout the United States.

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