About Us

In the Applied Research on Children (ARC) Lab, we aim to better understand and promote the development and well-being of young children (ages 0-5 years) and their families. Specifically, our research team investigates children’s early environments, and the role of programs and policies in supporting children and families. These include Early Head Start, Head Start, Educare, early care and education settings, and home visiting programs. By collecting new data and utilizing existing data, we investigate influences on individual differences in children’s development and families’ well-being with the goal of informing practice and policy. We use a range of research designs and methodological techniques, including both quantitative data analysis and qualitative coding. The directors of the Applied Research on Children Lab, Drs. Rachel Chazan Cohen and Caitlin Lombardi, are currently accepting new graduate students to join the lab for Fall 2025. If interested, please reach out to them directly. Their emails can be found on the Contact page.

For more details on our current research projects, visit the Projects page.

For direct access to the lab's publications, visit the Dissemination page.

To learn about who's involved with the ARC Lab, visit Our Team page.

To learn about the undergraduate early childhood specialization program, visit the Program page on the Department website.

If you're interested in learning more about research opportunities in the ARC Lab, please click here to indicate your interest.

 

February 2025: 

Kim M. Gans, Violeta Chacon, *Sarah W. Warykas, *Vanessa Esquivel, *Madeline Baird, *Suge Zhang, Alison Tovar, *Snehaa Ray, *Naomi Inman, *Peter McCauley, Viviana C. Zambrano Rodriguez, *Michelle Miller, *Nathaniel Stekler, Patricia M. Risica. Exploring barriers and facilitators to water availability and accessibility, and potential strategies for improving water accessibility and children's intake in family childcare homes: A qualitative study. Accepted for publication. Frontiers in Nutrition.    

• Michelle Miller and Vanessa Esquivel, along with colleagues published a paper focused on a qualitative approach to understanding barriers to water access and intake, and facilitators and strategies to increase water access and consumption among children in family childcare homes: Gans, K. M.,  Chacon, V., Warykas, S.W., Esquivel V., Baird, M., Zhang, S.,  Tovar, A., Ray, S., Inman, N., McCauley, P., Zambrano Rodriguez, C.V., Miller, M., Stekler, N., Risica, P. M. (2025). Exploring barriers and facilitators to water availability and accessibility, and potential strategies for improving water accessibility and children's intake in family childcare homes: A qualitative study. Accepted for publication
  

Ferreira van Leer, K., Mendez, J., *Torres, Y., & *Velazquez, M. P. (2025). Insight from Latine community-based organizations on accessing government assistance programs for low-income Latine families in North Carolina. Journal of Family and Economic Issues. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-024-10027-3 

• Kevin Ferreira van Leer published a paper alongside colleagues examining how Latine-serving community-based organizations (CBOs) in North Carolina support low-income Latine families in accessing government assistance programs. The paper focused on access to child care subsidies particularly. The study reports findings from an analysis of 10 in-depth interviews with CBOs. The study identifies unique administrative burden to government assistance programs as well as the solutions CBOs engage in to address them and increase access to programs. Additionally, findings highlight the important role CBOs in countering local and national sociopolicial climates for Latine communities.  Specific implications for child care subsidy programs, policymakers and CBOs are discussed. The paper can be accessed here. 

CT Early Years was featured in the UConn Impact Report! (page 44) 

January 2025: 

Dorris, H. J., *Carlson, D. D., Ballarino, G. A., Lopez, N. V., & Emond, J. A. (2025). The Performance of Ankle- and Waist-Based Accelerometry in Quantifying Physical Activity Intensity Among 6- to 24-Month-Year-Olds: A Semistructured Laboratory Study. Child: care, health and development, 51(1), e70035. https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.70035 

• Delaina Carlson and colleagues from Dartmouth College published a paper demonstrating the performance of accelerometry in differentiating physical activity levels among infants and toddlers. Accelerometry is used in research across many fields and is considered the gold standard for measuring physical activity. Yet it has not been fully examined in infants and toddlers, particularly those who are unable to walk independently. This paper offers insights for future use of accelerometers in young children. 

Ferreira van Leer, K., Lombardi, C., Chazan-Cohen, R., *Esquivel, V., Isais, P., & *Berset, A. (2025). Implications of state policy context for the well-being of immigrant families with young children. American Journal of Community Psychology, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12783 

• • Kevin Ferreira van Leer, Caitlin Lombardi, Rachel Chazan-Cohen, Vanessa Esquivel, and Anne Berset, along with colleagues, published a mixed methods paper examining the role of state policy exclusions on immigrant family wellbeing. Previously, little research had explored how state-level social policy exclusions may be associated with the well-being of immigrant parents and development of their children. The study quantitative analyzed a subsample of low-income immigrant parents from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort (ECLS-B; N = 1550), a nationally representative survey, alongside focus groups with immigrant parents of young children from two states with differing social policies. Quantitative results found that immigrant parents in restrictive states had greater parental stress when children were 2 and 4. Qualitative results outline how sociopolitical contexts influence stress and social program access. Together, these findings illustrate that immigrant parents with young children and low-incomes face parenting-related stressors associated with state restrictiveness toward immigrants. Additionally, access to social programs was found to be associated with positive developmental outcomes, highlighting the importance of ensuring eligible families receive the benefits of social programs. This study yields multiple implications for policy and practice. The paper is publicly available.  

Huang, R., Chazan-Cohen, R., & *Carlson, D. (2024). Early Family Conflict and Behavioral Outcomes in Children from Low-Income Families: The Indirect Effects of Parental Depression and Parenting Practices. International journal of environmental research and public health, 21(12), 1664. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21121664 

• Rong Huang, Rachel Chazan-Cohen and Delaina Carlson published a paper in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health examining the role that maternal depression and parenting behaviors play in the associations between family conflict in early childhood and children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors in early adolescence. 

December 2024: 

Vanessa Esquivel was featured in UConn Today for her recent Head Start Dissertation Grant from the Administration of Children and Families for her dissertation work to study the association between parents and Early Head Start service providers. Caitlin Lombardi is mentoring Vanessa on this project. https://today.uconn.edu/2024/12/giving-latine-families-an-early-head-start/ 

Rachel Chazan Cohen, Vanessa Esquivel, and Michelle Miller attended the Educare Data Camp at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where they met with the national network of researchers from Educare, Start Early, and Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute to discuss ongoing papers, practice, and updates related to work in Educare schools.  

The ARC Lab welcomed Skyler McQuiston as a new Research Assistant on the CT Early Years project. Skyler is a 2024 graduate of Cornell University. In her new role, she is helping with participant recruitment, data collection, and collaborating with child care programs.

Michelle Miller and Rachel Chazan Cohen submitted a Fall Matrix report and a summary brief to EASTCONN.

November 2024: 

Delaina Carlson published a paper in collaboration with colleagues from the Media and Health Behaviors Lab at Dartmouth College in Technology, Mind, and Behavior, entitled “Validating the Problematic Media Use Measure in Preschool-Aged Children: Associations With Children’s Screen Media Use, Bothersome Pestering to Use Screen Media, and Emotional Self-Regulation" 

The CT Early Years project completed the first practice advisory board meeting. The advisory board included members from organizations focused on Early Childhood.   

October 2024: 

Dr. Dana Thomson from Child Trends joined the ARC lab during her visit for the Luckey Family Studies Lecture. She facilitated discussion around various topics including the major differences between academic and non-academic research and careers and how to prepare for and develop skills for careers outside of academia.

Anne Berset published a paper in collaboration with colleagues from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in The Journal of Foster Care, entitled "Kinship and foster caregivers’ perspectives on the need to tailor parenting programs: A qualitative study” 

September 2024: 

The First 5 California Home Visiting Workforce grant came to an end. A final report was submitted to the state of California along with a research brief entitled “Reflective Supervision in First 5 California Home Visiting Workforce.” Findings have been presented widely including at the National Home Visiting Summit and the National Research Conference on Early Childhood. 

Rachel Chazan Cohen presented findings from the F5 California Home Visiting study and the plan for the CT Early Years project to the Santa Clara County Strong Start Coalition on September 10. The coalition consists of providers, county office staff, community-based organizations, and advocates.  

HDFS Ph.D. student Vanessa Esquivel, with the advisement and mentorship of Dr. Caitlin Lombardi, has been awarded the prestigious 2024 Early Care and Education Research Scholars: Head Start Dissertation Grant from the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to support her dissertation research titled Investigating Parent-provider Relationships In Early Head Start Among Latine Families: An Integrative Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Study.  Esquivel is the first UConn student to be awarded this highly competitive federal grant, which will support her work of building a comprehensive understanding of parent-provider relationships among Latine families and informing future policy and program efforts of Early Head Start and the broader field of Early Care and Education. This is a two-year award totaling $50,000.   

August 2024: 

The CT Early Years team hosted a series of virtual trainings for the project’s Family Consultants from The Villages and Children’s Community Programs of Connecticut. The trainings covered a variety of topics meant to prepare Family Consultants for the project’s launch, including using the Family Map Inventory, partnering with child care programs and onboarding families.  

Vanessa Esquivel, HDFS Ph.D. student, received the 2024 Professional Development Grant for Emerging Scholars Studying Poverty and Economic Mobility among Latino Populations from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families. The 2024 Professional Development Grant ($2,750) aims to support the professional, academic, and scholarly development of doctoral students pursuing research that focuses on poverty and economic mobility among Latino communities.  

Delaina Carlson published a paper with colleagues from Dartmouth College in Frontiers in Sleep, entitled “Within-child associations between sleep quality and emotional self-regulation over 6 months among preschool-aged (3- to 5-year-old) children.” 

Rachel Chazan Cohen is a guest editor for a special issue of the Early Childhood Research Quarterly focused on the services for infants and toddlers. See the call for papers here.  

July 2024: 

The CT Early Years team were joined by Lori Roggman and Mark Innoecenti to host a 3-day training in Hartford, CT for the project’s Family Consultants from The Villages and Children’s Community Programs of Connecticut. The training covered the Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO) and techniques for using it as a coaching tool when working with families. 

Rachel Chazan Cohen along with colleagues at Boston College Mary E . Walsh Center for Thriving Children and Harvard University's Center on the Developing Child published a research brief about the importance of comprehensive whole child/whole family services in early childhood. Wasser Gish, J., Chazan-Cohen, R., & Warren, T. (2024). Strengthening Whole Family Comprehensive Supports in Early Childhood: Implications for Head Start and Early Head Start. On July 17th, Rachel, Joan Wasser Gish, and Tassy Warren presented the report to Strategies for Children, an early childhood advocacy group in Massachusetts.  

Eleanor Fisk, HDFS and ARC lab alum, and Rachel Chazan Cohen published an article exploring library use in rural communities. Fisk, E. & Chazan-Cohen, R. (2024). Rural resource: The role of distance and community for families with toddlers in rural areas. https://doi.org/10.5860/cal.22.2.6 

Along with colleagues, Rachel Chazan Cohen published an article on the importance of practicum experiences in early childhood teacher preparation programs:  

Lippard, C. N., Vallotton, C. D., Fusaro, M., Chazan-Cohen, R., Peterson, C. A., Kim, L., & Cook, G. A. (2024). Practice matters: how practicum experiences change student beliefs. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 45(3), 371–395. https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2024.2351471 

Michelle Miller and Rachel Chazan Cohen submitted the 2024 End of Year Report to Eastconn. In the report they discuss family and child data on family goals, family well-being, family engagement, and parent-child relationships. Summaries and recommendations from the report were shared back with program staff and their policy council.

June 2024:

Many ARC members attended and presented at the National Research Conference on Early Childhood in Arlington, VA. Presentations included the following:

• Fisk, E., Lombardi, C. M., Cook, K. D. Staff perceptions of offering services to expectant families in Early Head Start. 
• Cook, K. D. & Lombardi, C. M., & Fisk, E. Examining Early Head Start program services to support child and family needs. 

An article authored by Early Childhood Specializations faculty (Caitlin Lombardi, Anne Bladen, Mary Tabb Foley, Meg Galante-DeAngelis, Kim Larrabee, and JoAnn Robinson) was among the top 10 most viewed papers in the Infant Mental Health Journal in 2023.

May 2024:

Vanessa Esquivel and Michelle Miller attend the 2024 Educare Learning Network meeting hosted by Educare Winnebago in Sioux City, Iowa. During the meeting they had the opportunity to tour the Educare Winnebago school which is located on the Winnebago Indian Reservation in northeast Nebraska.

On May 8, Vanessa successfully defended her dissertation proposal titled Investigating Parent-Provider Relationships in Early Head Start Among Latine Families: A Mixed Methods Study. Congratulations, Vanessa!

The ARC Lab had a final meeting of the spring semester, where we celebrated Vanessa’s successful dissertation proposal defense and discussed summer plans. 

The Connecticut Start Early project, led by Rachel and Caitlin, was featured in a UConn Today article.

April 2024:

Congratulations to Rong, who will be leaving the ARC lab this summer and to start a new position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Science and Counseling at Austin Peay State University (APSU). Rong is excited about this new chapter of being an Assistant Professor at APSU, where she will teach undergraduate courses on Intro to Psychology and Developmental Psychology, and supervise undergraduate students doing research on early childhood development. Congratulations, Rong!

March 2024:

The final convening of the Elevating Equity project was held at the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore, Maryland. Caitlin, Kevin, Rachel, Vanessa, and Anne engaged in two incredible days of presentations and cross-project discussions focused on equity-oriented and community engaged research, utilizing mixed methods with secondary data, research findings, and dissemination with and for community audiences. More to come on this exciting project.

Rachel presented collaborative research conducted with Rong, Caitlin, and Marketa at the Administration for Children and Family’s (ACF) Office of Planning Research and Evaluation (OPRE) Head Start Secondary data grants grantee meeting. This project focuses on understanding how Early Head Start contributes to long-term social emotional outcomes for Black children.

Caitlin and Dr. Kyle DeMeo Cook of Boston University’s Center on the Ecology of Early Development (CEED) presented collaborative research at the Administration for Children and Family’s (ACF) Office of Planning Research and Evaluation (OPRE) Head Start Secondary data grants grantee meeting. This research focuses on understanding family experiences in different Early Head Start services types and how these relate to children’s development.

February 2024:

A large intervention developed by Rachel and Caitlin in collaboration with the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood was approved for funding by the state of Connecticut at the UConn Board of Trustees meeting. This $10 million grant will test how early childhood programs can enhance children and families’ wellness and children’s school readiness, starting in the infant/toddler period. Read more about this grant on our website here.

Caitlin chaired the selection of applicants for SRCD’s U.S. Policy Fellowship Program at SRCD in Washington DC.

In the February meeting of the ARC lab, Vanessa and Michelle presented dissertation research questions to the lab for feedback and discussion. 

January 2024:

Caitlin, Kevin, and Rachel received funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation for the dissemination phase of their project, "Addressing Inequities for Immigrant Families”. This $115,000 grant is supporting community engagement and dissemination of research findings over 1.5 years. Vanessa and Anne are supporting the data collection, data analysis, and dissemination of the project findings.

In her role as Co-Chair of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)’s Science & Social Policy committee, Caitlin, co-Chair Sara Vecchiotti of the Couch Family Foundation, and SRCD’s Director of Policy responded to and submitted comments on behalf of SRCD members on the proposed rules to the Head Start program.

Rachel, colleague Sarah Crowne from Child Trends, and Rong presented at a symposium at the National Home Visiting Summit at the end of January in Washington DC. The topic is about home visiting supervision and well-being: A further analysis of the First 5 California Home Visiting Study.

December 2023:

In our December ARC meeting, we welcome long-time collaborator and new faculty affiliate Dr. Kevin Ferreira van Leer and discussed ARC lab member updates and spring semester goals.

Vanessa and Michelle attended the annual Educare data camp on the campus of the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, where all local evaluators of Educare schools come together to talk about and analyze data. 

Rachel and Caitlin published a paper in Frontiers of Psychology, “Parenting and family self-sufficiency within Early Head Start”. 

November 2023:

In our November ARC meeting, we welcomed new graduate student Anne Berset and discussed the process for identifying a dissertation topic. 

Caitlin and Rachel published a paper in the Journal of American College Health entitled “Mindfulness, coping, and disruptions as predictors of college student distress at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic”. 

Kevin, Eleanor, Vanessa, Caitlin and colleague Kyle DeMeo Cook from Boston University  published a research brief with the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health suggesting how relationships between Early Head Start providers and families are important to child and family outcomes. 

October 2023:

On October 25, Rachel and Caitlin presented the Connecticut Start Early project to the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood staff at the Connecticut Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

The second ARC meeting of the year was held in October, focusing on job talks and preparing for the job market.

ARC faculty and graduate students attended the HDFS Luckey Lecture series to hear Dr. Adriana Umaña-Taylor speak about her work on the development of ethnic-racial identity during adolescence. 

Caitlin, Vanessa, Kevin, and colleague Kyle DeMeo Cook from Boston University published a research brief examining racial and ethnic matches between children and providers in Early Head Start. 

Rachel and Caitlin met with the staff from the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood to discuss the Connecticut Start Early project.

September 2023:

The first ARC lab meeting of the year! We welcomed new graduate students, Amanda Sather and Delaina Carlson.

Rachel, Vanessa and Michelle spent the day with the Educare Springfield staff talking about research and sharing ideas about the year ahead. 

Rachel and Caitlin presented to staff from the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood on the Connecticut Start Early project plans.

August 2023: 

The Elevating Equity team, of Caitlin, Rachel, Vanessa, and Kevin Ferreira van Leer, joined a Peer Convening of other research teams to discuss project updates and joint dissemination work.

June 2023:

Rachel and Caitlin attended the 2023 Meeting of the Child Care and Early Education Policy Research Consortium (CCEEPRC) in Washington, DC. Rachel presented a paper on exciting new work that we are undertaking with the state of Connecticut, Integrating Comprehensive Services in Early Education Programs: A State Example. 

Caitlin and Rachel attended the grantee meeting for their secondary data analysis grant funded by the Administration for Children and Families. The meeting was in Washington, DC, the day before the CCEEPRC meeting. 

Caitlin spoke to the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health about her research on the effects of publicly funded health insurance on children’s health and development. Read more about this research here in this UConn Today article.

May 2023:

Congratulations to all of our Early Childhood students who graduated this May! 

Congratulations to Jennifer, who graduated from UConn with a BA in Human Development and Family Sciences. She presented a research poster entitled Parent Involvement in Educare and Child Outcomes at the UConn Frontiers Undergraduate Research poster exhibition. She worked closely with Eleanor on the analysis for this poster.  

April 2023:

Caitlin and Rachel attended the kick off meeting for the Connecticut Blue Ribbon panel on Child Care, a group charged with providing the governor of Connecticut with recommendations to support the child care system. 

Caitlin received tenure and was promoted from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor! Read more about Caitlin here.

March 2023:

Congratulations to Eleanor Fisk, who successfully defended her dissertation, How Early is Early Enough? How Enrolling in Early Head Start and the Availability of Services during Pregnancy promotes later Parenting and Child Development Outcomes, today! In May, Eleanor will start a position as a Research Associate at James Bell Associates within their Child and Family Development practice area. Read more about Eleanor in the HDFS Grad Student Spotlight.

Caitlin, Rachel, Eleanor, Rong, Vanessa and Michelle attended the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Eleanor presented a paper from her dissertation, “Associations between services available to pregnant women through Early Head Start and toddlers’ socioemotional development.” Caitlin was a panelist in a roundtable discussion focused on lessons from community-engaged research approaches. She also presented a paper, “Understanding comprehensive service referrals among families in Early Head Start.” Rong presented…Michelle presented and Vanessa presented . Rachel led a meeting of the Network of Infant-Toddler Researchers (NitR), a national group funded by the Office of Planning Research and Evaluation in the Administration of Children and Families, that brings together applied researchers focused on bridging policy, research and practice. 

Along with colleagues from around the country, Rachel presented a workshop about the importance of Home Visitors understanding and utilizing social justice principles in their work with families. The workshop was presented at the annual National Home Visiting Summit. 

February 2023:

Rachel was invited to present to Strategies for Children, an advocacy group in Massachusetts, about how research is embedded in Educare schools.  

December 2022:

Rachel, Vanessa, Michelle and Eleanor attended the annual Educare data camp on the campus of the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, where all local evaluators of Educare schools come together to talk about and analyze data! 

November 2022:

Caitlin, Rachel, and Eleanor Fisk presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management in Washington, DC. Eleanor presented a paper, “(In)equities in the availability of services through Early Head Start during pregnancy”. Caitlin presented a paper, entitled “Understanding comprehensive services in Early Head Start for children and families with greater needs”. Rachel presented a paper entitled, How Comprehensive Services in Early Head Start Lead to Impacts for Children & Families. 

Rachel and Caitlin briefed federal staff, specifically the Coordinated Services Workgroup in the Administration for Children and Families, the government agency that oversees Head Start and Child Care ~  Unpacking Comprehensive Services in Early Head Start.

September 2022:

Rachel (pictured here) was part of a National Head Start Association briefing on Early Head Start for the bipartisan Congressional PreK and Child Care Caucus. She and Caitlin also visited the offices of several members from the Connecticut Congressional Delegation. 

Rachel and Caitlin applied for and received a secondary data analysis grant from the Office of Planning Research and Evaluation. Using data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, the project will explore the mechanisms of how Early Head Start has long term positive impact for Black children