Benefits of Early Care and Education for Children in the Child Welfare System

Young children birth through five years old in the United States are more likely to experience child maltreatment, subsequent child welfare system involvement, negative developmental outcomes, and serious maltreatment-related injuries and death than older children. This research-to-practice brief provides a model for how early care and education services can benefit this vulnerable age group by exploring emerging evidence from social science research on the effects of ECE on the child welfare system.