October Research in Progress


On Thursday, October 9, the Institute for Early Childhood Well-being hosted its October Research in Progress event. This series provides a forum for Boston University faculty and researchers to share their ongoing work, discuss challenges, and foster new convergent research collaborations.

We were thrilled to welcome presentations from faculty at the School of Public Health and the School of Social Work.

  • Dr. Peter Rockers (Associate Professor, School of Public Health)
    • “The Ultra Poor Graduation Approach and Child Development”
    • Dr. Rockers discussed his longitudinal study on a large-scale anti-poverty program in Uganda. He shared findings from the first wave of data, which showed that while household economics improved, there was no measurable short-term impact on child development (ages 0-3). His team is now in the field for a 6-year follow-up to test the hypothesis that positive child outcomes take longer to emerge.
  • Dr. Dolores Acevedo-Garcia (Professor, School of Social Work) & Dr. Pamela Joshi (Research Professor, School of Social Work)
    • “Including immigrant families and children in the U.S. Tax and Transfer System, Advancing Evidence and State Policy Action”
    • Dr. Acevedo-Garcia and Joshi highlighted their urgent work on policy equity, noting that 1 in 4 U.S. children lives in an immigrant family. Their research shows how excluding U.S. citizen children from safety nets like the EITC/CTC is a critical failure. Their simulations found that simply including these children could reduce their poverty rate by an estimated 30%.
  • Dr. Stephanie Ettinger DeCuba (Research Associate Professor, School of Public Health)
    • “Associations between childcare constraints and health and material hardships among families with young children, opportunities to improve equitable access”
    • Dr. Ettinger DeCuba presented findings from Children’s Health Watch data on how childcare challenges impact family well-being. Her analysis of ~23,000 families found that childcare constraints (due to cost, hours, or availability) are significantly linked to higher odds of food insecurity, housing instability, poor child health, and caregiver depressive symptoms.

A major theme of the event was that a family’s economic stability—whether through poverty alleviation, equitable tax credits, or affordable childcare—is a critical foundation for child health and development.

Thank you to all our presenters and attendees for the robust discussion. We look forward to seeing you at our next event!