Crosby Receives Grant to Examine How Public Benefit Programs Impact the Development of Young Immigrant Children

Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Danielle A. Crosby, has recently received an award from the Foundation for Child Development as part of its Changing Faces of America's Children - Young Scholars Program. The primary mission of this program is to support young scholars who are conducting research intended to identify and understand the challenges faced by immigrant families and their children.

Dr. Crosby's three-year study will involve analyzing in-depth, longitudinal data for a nationally-representative sample of more than 10,600 young children to generate important new information about the linkages between policies, immigrants' engagement in public programs, and children's development. Specifically, the study will: 1) examine the extent to which low-income immigrant families use various public benefits and services in the post-reform era; 2) identify the micro- and macro- level factors that predict such use; 3) evaluate the effects of benefit receipt on children's developmental trajectories (from infancy through the transition to school); and, 4) explore the potential mechanisms by which any effects occur.

The Foundation for Child Development (FCD) is a national private philanthropy in New York City dedicated to promoting the well-being of children, operating from the belief that families, schools, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and government at all levels share complementary responsibilities in the critical task of raising new generations. More information about the Young Scholars Program, the New American Children Initiative and other work being supported by FCD is available at www.fcd-us.org.