With the federal government still shut down, SRCD recognizes the uncertainty many of our members face as research projects and grant activities are disrupted. We remain committed to supporting our members and monitoring developments to ensure that any funding measure includes robust science funding for federal research agencies. Click on the button below to learn more about how a shutdown might impact your work.

 SRCD is excited to announce the newest Social Policy Report, Prioritizing Sleep Health in Foster Care: Trauma-Informed Considerations for Policy. This report highlights the importance of prioritizing sleep health in foster care. Although federal law requires that each child in foster care receive “safe and proper” care, current policies rarely address sleep health in practice. This issue offers four evidence-based and trauma-informed policy considerations to guide states in developing evidence-based policies to promote optimal sleep health among foster children.

Applications are OPEN for the 2026-2027 SRCD U.S. Policy Fellowship Program. Receive a highly competitive stipend while immersing yourself in a state agency or Congress.

Applications due January 6, 2026 at 11:59 pm ET.

The Administration may have released some of its holds on certain Fiscal Year 2025 funds for research agencies like the National Institutes of Health. Researchers should reach out to their Members of Congress to try to get grant funds released before the fiscal year ends on September 30, 2025.  

SRCD members recently came to Washington, DC for the first Child Policy Connect event. They met with 19 congressional offices to answer policy questions about youth mental health research and advocated for science funding. Find out more about their week in the nation's capital – and how you can get involved.

SRCD is proud to welcome 25 accomplished mentors to the Jacobs Foundation-funded LEARN Mentorship Program, which empowers early-career scholars from the Majority World to build their research capacity and advance expertise in child development.

SRCD responds to a federal plan to apply immigration-based eligibility restrictions to programs such as Head Start, community health centers, and health services. Our response highlights the literature on the value they bring to children’s development, educational outcomes, and long-term well-being, and what is at stake if access is restricted. SRCD thanks our scholars who helped to create this response. 

SRCD is pleased to announce the latest Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, Stability and Change in Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Across Childhood and Adolescence, by Drs. Benjamin E. deMayo, Natalie M. Gallagher, Rachel A. Leshin, and Kristina R. Olson from the Department of Psychology, Princeton University.

The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) is pleased to announce the selection of Oxford University Press (OUP) as its new publishing partner. Beginning in 2026, OUP will publish SRCD’s four journals, Child Development, Child Development Perspectives, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development and Social Policy Report. 

Call for Submissions Portal is now OPEN!! 

The organizers invite researchers, practitioners, advocates, and policymakers to submit proposals for the 2026 Global Forum, to be held in the Netherlands. This in-person event will bring together international, interdisciplinary voices to advance developmental science that addresses the lives of LGBTQ+ children and adolescents. Submissions may focus on identity development, health and wellbeing, education, families, policy, civic participation, and more—with an emphasis on intersectionality, innovation, and actionable science.

Submission Deadline: Thursday, November 6, 2025, at 11:59 PM ET

The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) publishes three journals, as well as the Social Policy Report. SRCD members receive full digital access to all three journals as a benefit of membership. If you are an SRCD member and would like to access the publications, please log in to your SRCD member account.

Wear your commitment to developmental science and SRCD by purchasing some of our merch store offerings: t-shirts, hoodies, clothing for babies and toddlers, tote bags, and more.