Promoting Child Well-Being Through Early Intervention: Findings from the Chicago Longitudinal Study

This chapter presents evidence from the Chicago Longitudinal Study (CLS) on the impacts of the Chicago Child-Parent-Center (CPC) program, which provides educational and family support services to economically disadvantaged children and their parents from preschool through third grade. It describes its basic philosophy and service model, and highlights some of the salient effects attributed to the CPCs, including impacts on child maltreatment and child welfare services. The program theory is then linked to the estimated effects by detailing the hypothesized mechanisms of change through which the intervention operates. The implications of findings for tailoring effective prevention programs and child welfare policy are discussed.