The Board on Children, Youth, and Families advances the health, learning, development, resilience, and well-being of all children, youth, and families by mobilizing expertise from multiple disciplines to analyze the best available evidence on critical issues. As a joint unit with the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education and the Health and Medicine Division within The National Academies, the Board offers sustained, authoritative, multidisciplinary perspective and research expertise in the analysis of new scientific findings and significant social problems affecting the populations of children and adolescents. BCYF fosters interdisciplinary studies involving the health, behavioral, and social sciences and applies this knowledge to important public policies and social concerns that involve children, youth, and families. A distinctive aspect of the Board’s role is the use of multiple disciplines and developmental perspectives within its studies and deliberations. The Board also fosters the recognition that children, adolescents, and families constitute unique populations whose important differences are often not addressed in public policy and program development discussions.
The Board on Children, Youth, and Families advances the health, learning, development, resilience, and well-being of all children, youth, and families by mobilizing expertise from multiple disciplines to analyze the best available evidence on critical issues. The Board on Children, Youth, and Families (BCYF), within the Health and Medicine Division, is a non-governmental, scientific body within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that convenes top experts from multiple disciplines to analyze the best available evidence on critical issues facing children, youth, and families today. Our ability to evaluate research simultaneously from the perspectives of the biological, behavioral, health, and social sciences allows us to shed light on innovative and influential solutions to inform the nation. Our range of methods—from rapidly convened workshops to consensus reports and forums—allows us to respond with the timeliness and depth required to make the largest possible impact on the health and well being of children, youth, and their families throughout the entire lifecycle. BCYF reports provide independent analyses of the science and go through a rigorous external peer review process.
