Center on the Developing Child: “Place Matters” for Children

A new working paper by the Center on the Developing Child, “Place Matters: The Environment We Create Shapes the Foundations of Healthy Development,” highlights the growing body of research on the important role that children’s and families’ environments play in child development. By analyzing the impact that various interconnected environments (the social environment, built and natural environments, and systemic influences) have on families’ lives, the research shows how policy areas ranging from “environmental protection, climate change policies and mitigations, housing, zoning, urban planning, economic development, criminal legal reforms, and anti-discrimination policies, among others” all intersect with early childhood development and must be part of a comprehensive approach to improving life outcomes for every child.

In sum, “supporting healthy child development is still about caregiver-child relationships, and it’s also about communities, businesses, and governments working together to assure a supportive and healthy environment for all young children—with particular attention to natural and built environments that fall far short of that goal.”

At Allies for Every Child, we understand the importance of trauma-informed building design and access to safe green space for our community, and we incorporate these values as much as we can into all of the places where we work with children and families, including our high-quality early education center (thoughtfully designed by architect Richard Weinstein) and Allies’ Children’s Learning Garden.