The Board on Children, Youth, and Families (BCYF) advances the health, learning, development, resilience, and well-being of children, youth, and families by convening leading experts from diverse disciplines to assess the best available evidence on critical issues.

As a non-governmental scientific body within the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, BCYF draws on expertise across the biological, behavioral, health, and social sciences to identify innovative, evidence-based solutions that inform national policy and practice. Through a range of methods—from rapidly convened workshops to comprehensive consensus studies and forums—BCYF delivers timely, rigorous analyses that undergo external peer review to ensure independence and quality.

BCYF provides sustained, authoritative, and multidisciplinary expertise to interpret new scientific findings and address major social challenges affecting children and adolescents. The Board fosters interdisciplinary approaches that integrate insights from health, behavioral, and social sciences to inform public policy and program development. A defining feature of BCYF’s work is its developmental perspective and its emphasis on recognizing children, adolescents, and families as distinct populations with unique needs often overlooked in policy discussions.

BCYF’s studies examine systemic, ecological, and developmental factors shaping the health and growth of young people within their families, schools, and communities. By incorporating emerging theories and research on prevention, health promotion, and positive youth development, BCYF helps reimagine policies and programs that support thriving across the life course. These integrative approaches move beyond discipline-based analyses to leverage new conceptual frameworks and theories of change that better connect research, policy, and practice.