Roadmap Framework

The science of the developing child points to eight prenatal-to-3 policy goals that all states should strive to achieve to ensure that children are born healthy to healthy parents, that parents have the skills and resources they need to be the parents their children deserve, and that when children are not with their parents, they are in high-quality, nurturing care environments. Detailed information on each of the PN-3 goals is available in the Goal Profiles section of the complete Roadmap, along with information on state progress toward meeting the goals.

Through comprehensive reviews of the most rigorous evidence available, the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center identified 11 effective solutions, including five effective policies and six effective strategies, that foster the nurturing environments infants and toddlers need and many of which, reduce longstanding disparities in outcomes among racial and ethnic groups and socioeconomic statuses. As the evidence base grows and more information becomes available, the list of effective policies and strategies will expand, and additional information on the return on investment of each effective solution will be provided. Currently, states should strive to fully implement the 11 PN-3 solutions with the strongest evidence of effectiveness to date.

The purpose of states’ implementing effective PN-3 solutions is to improve the wellbeing of infants, toddlers, and their parents, and to reduce long-standing disparities in outcomes by race and ethnicity. The 2020 Roadmap provides information on how children and families are faring on 20 outcome measures that depict states’ progress toward achieving each PN-3 goal. Each of the outcome measures is intentionally calculated in the negative direction to demonstrate where states have room for improvement and to help states prioritize PN-3 policy goals for which progress is lagging.