was originally reported by Chabeli Carrazana of . 

In America, diapers have long been treated as a luxury good rather than a necessity. 

struggle to afford all the diapers they need. A quarter of families miss work as a result, often because they don鈥檛 have enough diapers to send with their children to child care. 

It鈥檚 a largely invisible issue with enormous consequences for the health of parents and children. Studies have found that diaper need is a greater contributor than food insecurity and housing instability. And when parents don鈥檛 have enough diapers, they make do with sanitary pads, rags or other materials. Some report having to leave their children in soiled diapers for extended periods, raising the risk for urinary tract infections and diaper rash. 

So Amy Kadens, who has worked in the diaper space for nearly 15 years, wondered: What if diapers were free for the parents who need them most? For decades, the United States has not had a good answer. So she came up with her own. 

Diaper banks started popping up across the nation in 2011, collecting donations and dispersing diapers to families through a . They are one of the few lifelines for parents. 

Kadens, who co-founded a nonprofit that provides diapers called Share our Spare in 2011, knew that diaper banks often operate with limited staff and resources, and operationally can only address a small percentage of a massive need. Without more government support, they can only get at a slice of the problem. 

Federal assistance programs that help low-income families, such as food stamps and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), have never allowed families to use those funds to purchase diapers. 

鈥淒iaper banks are doing heroic work with very little. I didn鈥檛 want to reinvent the wheel,鈥� Kadens said. But, 鈥淚 wanted to continue to sink my teeth into this.鈥�

So Kadens started to work on a solution that could give people the funds to get whatever diapers they needed, without the warehouses to store donations or the teams to get those donations out. 

That solution was Diaper Dollars, a $40 e-card that users get in their email every month. The virtual card comes with a barcode they can scan at checkout at most major retailers, including Walmart, CVS and Walgreens, that will cover the cost of diapers. So far, users in Illinois and Ohio can access the program.

The idea, Kadens said, was to make it as simple as possible, while also giving parents the ability to choose what brands they preferred. 

 鈥淔amilies have brand loyalty,鈥� Kadens said. 鈥淚 wanted to keep dignity and choice at the forefront of everything we did.鈥�

The Diaper Dollars team went through months of market research to refine the tech to work well for participants. They didn鈥檛 want coupons because there was too much in the system, and gift cards meant users could be limited on where to shop. 

Instead, they landed on a system that allowed them to build out a catalog of diapers at 6,200 retail locations in the country. The bar code on the digital card recognizes the diapers when it鈥檚 scanned and deducts the price from the total purchase. That catalog of diapers is monitored daily and updated in case brands come out with new box sizes or products. It also works for online purchases. 

The system does have some limitations. It鈥檚 not valid in Amazon or Target, two retailers that don’t yet accept that form of payment. And it also likely only covers a portion of the need: The average family spends about $100 on diapers a month, but families earning a median income can only afford to cover about $65, according to an . It鈥檚 also more expensive 鈥� parents are paying retail prices plus sales tax (, including Illinois). By contrast, products at diaper banks are donated or sold to the banks from the manufacturer at deeply discounted rates. 

To find participants, Diaper Dollars partners with organizations such as WIC clinics and local hospitals to refer people to the program, which is funded from a mix of philanthropy and financial support from those same partners. Partners establish the eligibility criteria, how long participants can be a part of the program, and whether the stipend will be higher for those with multiple babies.

A pilot program launched in 2023 with 100 people, then in 2024 the Illinois Department of Human Services dedicated $1 million to run its own pilot at a larger scale. Nearly 8,000 people have been served so far, with 10,000 projected by 2026. 

Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton told The 19th that she had been looking for solutions that could support people in the postpartum period, when is high, . Diaper need, specifically, is linked to and considered a potential risk factor for moderate to high maternal depressive symptoms.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2023, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. For White women it was 14.5 deaths. 

So when Illinois launched a birth equity initiative to address the needs of postpartum parents, from a home visiting program to better diaper access, it chose to partner with Diaper Dollars. 

鈥淕iving someone a card where they can go to the store of their choice, decide what鈥檚 best, that is what鈥檚 part of dignity,鈥� Stratton said. 鈥淓very woman deserves to bring life into this world safely and with dignity.鈥� 

Brendan Kitt, Diaper Dollars鈥� program director, said the program was able to offer an operational solution to a problem the state wanted to address but didn鈥檛 have a mechanism for. The system works similarly to a universal basic income, where people in need are given a cash stipend, but it鈥檚 more targeted. 

鈥淏oth for funders and supporters, it’s always a question when you talk to people about where the money goes,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he fact that we can limit the transactions to the specific needs that we’re trying to serve, I think, is one of the biggest things that legitimized our operation over just giving basic cash assistance.鈥� 

Parents who benefited from Diaper Dollars told the organization in testimonials that they鈥檝e had to turn to using underwear or old T-shirts when they didn鈥檛 have the money for diapers, often making decisions between paying for rent or diapers. 

After going through the program, parents reported that the funds gave them the wiggle room to buy their children other essentials or to make them better meals. 

About 90 percent of those who went through the program reported being able to better afford essentials like food, rent and other bills. Some 95 percent felt less stressed about not having enough diapers. 

Joanne Samuel Goldblum, the CEO of the National Diaper Bank Network, which has more than 240 partners nationwide, said a model like Diaper Dollars can address unmet needs, particularly in rural areas where it鈥檚 harder for diaper banks to distribute products. 

鈥淭he need is really so big, and it鈥檚 not going to be addressed through just one sort of answer or one type of program,鈥� Samuel Goldblum said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really important to have ways to reach people in all sorts of different communities.鈥� 

The Diaper Dollars program has raised about $2 million so far 鈥� 45 percent from the state of Illinois, 35 percent from philanthropic donors and 20 percent from grants from community partners. It is now also running in Ohio and expected to expand to Washington soon. 

Kadens鈥� dream is to take the program to every state. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned and some red states instituted abortion bans, conservative lawmakers have been looking for ways to support postpartum parents. 

In Tennessee, for example, where abortion was banned in 2022, the state in 2024 that allowed families enrolled in Tennessee鈥檚 Medicaid program to receive up to a month for the first two years of life. 

Samuel Goldblum said the National Diaper Bank Network has seen more bipartisan support for addressing diaper needs this year 鈥渢han we鈥檝e ever seen before.鈥�

It should be that simple, Kadens said: 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter if you鈥檙e blue or red. Babies need diapers.鈥�

This was originally published on .

Updated, May 12

Just 10 years old at the time, it was as if Eva Torres鈥檚 world fell in when COVID claimed the life of her grandmother in April 2020.

Abuela, as the girl called her, had lived just a block from the Bronx apartment she shared with her parents and two older brothers. Grandma was the one who would pick her up from school each day and 鈥渉ear her 10,000 stories,鈥� said Eva鈥檚 mother Angela Torres, 鈥渆ven if she was repeating it for the 20th time.鈥�

After Eva鈥檚 grandmother passed, the elder Torres watched her daughter鈥檚 grades slip. Her once-bubbly girl seemed withdrawn, weighed down by anxiety.

鈥淸That kind of loss,] it鈥檚 something that you carry with you,鈥� the mother told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淚t permeates into your very soul.鈥�

The Torres children are three of the 8,649 youth in New York City believed to have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID. That鈥檚 roughly equivalent to the of Manhattan鈥檚 Battery Park/Tribeca district 鈥� or 1 out of every 200 youth in the entire city.

The U.S. reached 1 million recorded COVID deaths this week, a grim and once inconceivable milestone. President Joe Biden on Thursday on government buildings to fly at half-staff for five days.

“One million empty chairs around the dinner table,” Biden said in a statement. “Each leaving behind a family, a community, and a nation forever changed because of this pandemic. … [Americans] must not grow numb to such sorrow.”

Yet having experienced the loss of a caregiver to the virus, some parents say schools aren鈥檛 adequately reckoning with the fallout for bereaved students.

鈥淲e don’t talk about the people we’ve lost. That conversation is completely not occurring,鈥� said Brooklyn mother Melissa Keaton.

Two years after the April 2020 death of Keaton鈥檚 father who lived with the family in their Flatbush apartment, Melissa鈥檚 daughter, Melanie, still mourns the loss of her grandfather. The 9-year-old used to end each evening by calling out, 鈥淕oodnight, Papa.鈥� Now the missing ritual provides a daily reminder of his absence, said Keaton.

鈥淲ith grief, there鈥檚 no time limit,鈥� explained the mother.

Though much of the nation is eager to put the pandemic in the rearview mirror, life will never return to a pre-pandemic normal for children like Melanie who have endured the trauma of losing a loved one, said Keaton.

That鈥檚 a reality educators are now forced to contend with. On average in the U.S., each school serves .

In New York City, which became the global epicenter of the pandemic in spring 2020, the issue is even more acute. Many schools in neighborhoods that were hard hit by the virus now serve over a dozen students who lost a caregiver during the pandemic, school social workers told 蜜桃影视. Researchers said they fear the number in some schools may be of a much higher magnitude, as many as 100.

The New York City Department of Education did not provide an estimate confirming or denying those figures.

In the city鈥檚 high-poverty, predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, which suffered disproportionate COVID deaths, it became difficult to track and absorb the losses during the harshest moments of the pandemic, said Ilka Rios, a Bronx public school parent.

鈥淒aily, I would log into social media and it was 鈥楻est In Peace,鈥� 鈥楻est In Peace,鈥欌�� she said.

Racial disparities in caregiver loss have been in New York City than in the rest of the country, with Black and Hispanic children experiencing the death of a parent or caregiver at 3.3 and 2.6 times the rate of white NYC children, respectively. Nationally, Black and Hispanic children also suffered greater loss than their white peers, but the difference was less dramatic, at 2.1 times.

The 8,649-youth total itself is likely an undercount, said University of Pennsylvania researcher Dan Treglia. The , for whom Treglia did the work, provided the tally of COVID-bereaved children to 蜜桃影视, derived, he said, by combining the city鈥檚 coronavirus death numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with household-level data from the 2019 American Community Survey.

鈥淭hese estimates are a lower bound,鈥� said Teglia. 鈥淏ecause New York City was hit so early, we were still figuring out how to recognize and code COVID-19 deaths.鈥�

鈥楽lipping through the cracks鈥�

But as the city continues to grapple with the fallout, advocates fear that governmental systems are ill-equipped to identify the young people left behind.

鈥淲e don’t know who these children are,鈥� said Catherine Jaynes of the COVID Collaborative. 鈥淭here’s no systematic way to identify them.鈥�

The nation鈥檚 largest school district has no internal mechanism letting them know when a student experiences the death of a loved one. Death certificates do not list whether deceased individuals were a parent or guardian and no agency, as far as representatives for the Department of Health were aware, cross-checks records to identify bereaved children. Instead, the onus to let teachers and school leaders know of a recent loss falls on the grieving family.

鈥淲e are alerted to a death in the family by other family members or people who are close to the family,鈥� said DOE Press Secretary Nathaniel Styer in an email.

Teachers ought to be aware of the circumstances students are going through, said Nkomo Morris, a counselor at Harvest Collegiate High School in Manhattan.

If you know a student has recently experienced the death of a family member, 鈥測ou’re not going to be like, 鈥榃hy are you late to class?鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淵ou’re gonna pay more attention to them, you’re going to be a little sweeter to them.鈥�

When students at her school experience trauma in their outside lives, it gets recorded in an internal system called , which automatically sends an email notifying the student鈥檚 teachers and counselors, said Morris.

But on other campuses, the response is less streamlined. Danielle Shapiro-Nussen works as a special education teacher at a District 75 school in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx and suspects there may be students who have experienced the death of a caregiver without the school becoming aware.

鈥淚t鈥檚 possible that some of these families have gone through a tremendous loss 鈥� and we don鈥檛 know,鈥� she told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淯nless a family member said, 鈥榊es, we lost a [loved one],’ there鈥檚 probably no way we would have known.鈥�

鈥淚 think there are thousands of children who are slipping through the cracks,鈥� said Ayana Bartholomew, a former program officer overseeing efforts to support COVID-bereaved children at the who left the organization in mid-April.

A introduced mid-April in the City Council seeks a more complete accounting, requiring the Administration for Children鈥檚 Services to produce quarterly reports on the impact of the death of parents or caregivers dating back to January 2020.

The country as a whole has not done enough to account for the 鈥渄ownstream consequences鈥� of caregiver loss through the pandemic, said the Collaborative鈥檚 Treglia.

Bereaved youth have than those who have not lost parents, he pointed out. They are more than twice as likely to show impairments in functioning at school and at home, even seven years later, meaning these children need both immediate and long-term counseling and support to deal with such a traumatic loss.

President Joe Biden used memo to draw attention to the long-term effects of COVID, including the fallout for young people who lost caregivers, but the announcement 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 outline any plan or commitment,鈥� Rachel Kidman, a social epidemiologist at Stony Brook University, says in a recent in The Atlantic. Although the administration has disbursed some funds to grieving families, including to defray funeral costs and for mental health supports, 鈥渘o law or executive order has provided any resources specifically for pandemic orphans,鈥� the story points out.

Supporting COVID-bereaved families

The COVID Collaborative鈥檚 report calls for a more robust nationwide response.

鈥淲e recommend a White House Executive Order to provide for screening (for COVID-related caregiver loss) in public and publicly subsidized schools, early childhood education and healthcare settings, along with public-private partnerships to facilitate screenings in other circumstances,鈥� the authors write.

No such program yet exists, but on a smaller scale, efforts have cropped up to identify and provide aid to those who lost a caregiver to the virus. Montefiore Health System launched its 鈥溾�� in 2020, combing through medical records to identify New York City and Lower Hudson Valley households with children that lost a parent to COVID. By filtering COVID deaths by age and cross-checking the notes recorded by health care workers, such as whether nurses helped the patient FaceTime loved ones, the initiative reached 475 families.

鈥淚t was a heavy lift,鈥� admitted Deirdre Sekulic, assistant director of social work at the Bronx hospital, who personally made many of the phone calls to eligible households.

鈥淟ots of these were families that were kind of OK before the pandemic. They might have been paycheck to paycheck, but they were going along surviving,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he unexpected death of somebody just destabilized them.鈥�

Through the program, each household received $2,000 in cash assistance and were connected with social programs such as disability benefits or food stamps. A measure under consideration by the California legislature would create , with as much as $8,000 available to eligible youth when they turn 18.

And though not COVID related, experts point to an effort in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania as a stand-out example of local government systematically identifying youth who lost caregivers. A hotbed of the opioid epidemic with an overdose rate triple the national average, the county鈥檚 Department of Human Services matched death records to birth certificates and identified 18 or younger who had lost a parent to an overdose.

鈥淎 first step [for localities looking to support grieving youth] could be 鈥� understanding where these bereaved children are located,鈥� said Treglia. 鈥淭hen you can develop a more targeted approach to finding them and you can tailor interventions to their needs.鈥�

鈥楽o much pain鈥�

Even without a systematized method for identifying COVID-bereaved youth, New York City schools have implemented other measures to help students in mourning. In spring 2021, the city announced it would hire .

鈥淭here was a clear understanding that they would need more of us,鈥� said April Gurley, a 10-year veteran who this year stepped into the role of supervisor of North Queens school social workers. 鈥淲e were [responding to] this massive amount of trauma and grief that was happening in our city.鈥�

The Department of Education has also invested in professional development for teachers, with trained in grief sensitivity by David Schonfeld, founder of the .

One positive result that has come of the pandemic, said the expert, is that far more educators have become attuned to the needs of grieving students. conducted by the New York Life Foundation and the American Federation of Teachers, three-quarters of educators reported that COVID has opened their eyes to the immense impact of grief and loss.

Teachers serving children who have experienced the death of a loved one should acknowledge the loss rather than ignore it, Schonfeld advises.

鈥淭here’s a tendency to avoid talking with children who have been through a crisis or dealing with a death because you don’t want to upset them,鈥� he said. 鈥淪aying nothing is exactly the wrong thing to say because it communicates either that you’re unaware or you’re unwilling to provide support.鈥�

But professional development is only a first step, said Morris, of Harvest Collegiate.

鈥淏eing trained in this and actually doing it with a real teen are two very, very different things,鈥� the counselor said.

Last year, in a college advising session, a student disclosed to Morris that they had lost a grandparent. The student was not close with their parents and 鈥渢heir sense of themselves as a person came from that grandparent,鈥� Morris recalled.

鈥淚 was shocked,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey were experiencing so much pain.鈥�

On the fly, she had to figure out how to support the teen, who she said had largely checked out of their academics. She referred them to the social work team, but touched base periodically over email and text. 鈥淗ey, how are you doing?鈥� she would ask. 鈥淲hat can I do to help?鈥�

Unfortunately, many NYC students dealing with grief aren鈥檛 lucky enough to receive support from a counselor like Morris. When Melissa Keaton, the Flatbush mother whose father passed away, sought out mental health support for her daughter, the therapists she contacted were at capacity, she said, and the school mental health services did not reach out to the family.

Meanwhile, a book the class read called features a young protagonist whose parent has just died. The reading triggered painful memories for Melanie.

鈥淚 did email the teacher to let her know that it’s a sensitive topic,鈥� recalled Keaton. 鈥淎nd she just said, 鈥極K, well, I’ll keep that in mind,鈥欌�� but provided no accommodations.

Such instances, said the DOE, are outliers.

“Every one of our schools is a caring and supportive environment where our students can connect with one another, communicate with a caring adult, and access the resources they need to heal as we emerge from the pandemic,鈥� said spokesperson Suzan Sumer.

But despite educators鈥� best efforts, pandemic circumstances continually put teachers in emotionally charged situations that they don鈥檛 always know how to best navigate, said Shapiro-Nussen.

Recently, a first-grader who had lost a parent in September was exiting the classroom when she turned and asked whether the Bronx special education teacher planned to see her mother after school. Shapiro-Nussen was unsure of what to say; she herself had lost her mom to COVID.

鈥淣o, sweetie, I’m not gonna see my mom for a really, really long time,鈥� the educator responded. 鈥淢y mom is on a really, really long vacation.鈥�

鈥淲as it the right choice?鈥� wondered Shapiro-Nussen. She asked the school counselor. Next time, be honest, the counselor advised.

Angela Torres, for her part, turned to those around her for support processing the loss of her mother. She created a COVID bereavement group that met regularly over Zoom in 2020 and grew to about 20 members through word of mouth, Facebook posts and circulating information at her church. Those conversations allowed her to finally begin to heal, she said.

Schools can take a page out of that book, she said, and facilitate conversations between peers and caring adults to help grieving students like her daughter recover.

鈥淐ommunity,鈥� said Torres. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 our ticket out of this.鈥�

Illustration by Marianna McMurdock for 蜜桃影视.

The good news: most caregivers in that moment take a deep breath and dive in to do what鈥檚 needed to meet the baby鈥檚 needs, decipher the meaning of each type of cry and provide the infant with what鈥檚 needed to flourish and grow.

Fascinating new research now tells us that the baby isn鈥檛 the only one growing and changing in this scenario. The very act of this intense caregiving causes observable changes in the brain of the caregiver 鈥� developing 鈥減arenting brain.鈥� Those changes aren鈥檛 limited to the biologic mother or even the birth father but occur in the brains of everyone intimately involved in caring for the baby.

Changes in the brain of those transitioning to a parenting role are less shaped by biological relationships and more shaped by the degree of caregiver involvement, researchers say. Rather than some people being hardwired 鈥渂y nature鈥� to be a parent, people become parents by how 鈥� and the degree to which 鈥� they respond to the child: The act of caregiving, not simply the act of giving birth, calibrates the brain.

Drs. Pilyoung Kim and Sarah Watamura of the University of Denver call this transition to parenting a co-occurring sensitive period, 鈥渢wo open windows,鈥� a time in which both infant and parent are especially receptive to being shaped by their environments and mutual interactions. Kim and Watamura (who is a fellow with ), are co-authors of 鈥�,鈥� a report that highlights research into this exceptionally sensitive period and its critical implications for effecting changes that can improve outcomes for children and parents alike. Co-authors Tiffany Phu and Andrew Erhart, graduate researchers at the University of Denver, led this report.

鈥淗umans have these massive learning machines,鈥� Watamura says. 鈥淲e adapt to our circumstances; we can live anywhere in the world, learn any language 鈥� there are so many ways that we adapt, yet we seem repeatedly surprised when our brains support us in what we鈥檙e trying to do.

鈥淚n this situation where a person is learning to parent, engaging and using all their resources to do that, it鈥檚 not surprising that their brain would show changes as they face that challenge.鈥�

Many parts of the brain that adapt to stressful situations are also those that help direct parenting behavior. The parent hears a loud cry and in the context of the fight-or-flight response, they have to learn to redirect and listen for whether that sound is a hungry cry or an urgent request for a diaper change. When a parent is tired and feeling overwhelmed, they have to manage their own emotions so that they don鈥檛 feel so constantly 鈥渙n鈥� that they exhaust themselves, while staying engaged enough to respond appropriately to their child. All of these actions tune their brain, their brilliant on-board computer that instantly processes these lessons for the next encounter.

Multiple studies have found that this strengthening of parenting-relevant brain circuitry takes place in both male and female caregivers and shows no difference between biological and non-biological parents. What the research does show, however, is stronger response to infant cues among primary versus secondary parents (as identified by the parents) regardless of their sex or biological relatedness鈥攊nformation that鈥檚 highly relevant for developing policy in adoption and foster-care systems.

Stress Complicates the Learning Curve

Parents who are dealing with high levels of stress in their own lives may not show changes to the parenting-relevant brain circuits thought to support sensitive interactions with their baby鈥檚 needs. If they lack access to shelter, food and healthcare and/or have a history of childhood adversity, the caregiver鈥檚 own stress responses can make it difficult for them to attend to their child鈥檚 needs. Their brains can be so involved in responding to survival threats that they process their infant鈥檚 cries as just one more stressful element鈥攅ven the hormones that generally support parenting behavior can work differently for parents who have a history of adversity.

Despite the complex of challenges and stressors that can accompany poverty, it isn鈥檛 the determining factor here: Even parents who experience chronic poverty can and often do demonstrate sensitive caregiving and interact warmly with their infants.

鈥淏rains adapt to environments,鈥� says Phu. 鈥淲e respond to the responsibilities that are put in front of us 鈥� which can be a beautiful thing. But if the environments themselves are unhealthy, riddled with inequalities and other stressors, brains will adapt to that as well [by] responding to threats in the environment. Babies鈥� cries are meant to be distressing so they can elicit response. It can be hard for a person to respond appropriately if the crying just adds to the distress.鈥�

Substance abuse can also disrupt the brain-reward systems relevant to parenting, the researchers say. Studies have shown that using substances in pregnancy is associated with reduced brain activation to infant faces and cries. Substance abuse in the transition to parenthood not only risks passing along the substance in utero or in breast milk, but may disrupt important brain changes in both generations, research shows.

Watamura stresses that poverty, substance abuse, postpartum depression and other stressors don鈥檛 have to determine the future of either parent or child. What the researchers have discovered is that parents in various adverse circumstances are more sensitive to external inputs as they鈥檙e transitioning to parenting. They want help and they want to change. The logical approach from both a policy and practical perspective would be to create and deliver interventions that serve the whole family during this critical window when caregivers are interfacing with health and support systems and are motivated to change, and that鈥檚 precisely what Ascend鈥檚 approach provides. By working intentionally and simultaneously with children and the adults in their lives or reducing environmental stressors, it combines the best of both worlds to improve outcomes for both.

The research detailed in 鈥淭wo Open Windows: Part II鈥� shows that this big-picture approach isn鈥檛 just a good idea, its interventions have an observable, biologic effect on both caregiver and child.

鈥淧eople know in their gut that (this approach) is the right thing to do,鈥� Watamura says, 鈥渂ut being able to see the neurologic underpinnings and importance of supporting and intervening not only with the child but with the adults in their lives helps us understand the need to invest appropriately. It adds further depth to the understanding that it鈥檚 about the caregiving, not whether you鈥檙e male or female, heterosexual or homosexual. None of those is the driver. The caregiving is.鈥�

Attachment-based interventions to help parents and children build their relationships can take a variety of forms, from one-on-one counseling to small-group sessions or providing practice and modeling of core parenting skills. Equally important, improving material conditions of families living in poverty has been proven to have lasting beneficial effects.

Helping caregivers develop parenting brain is less often a knowledge gap for those experiencing poverty and more a 鈥渕aterial resources and mental energy鈥� gap, the researchers say.

鈥淥ne of the pieces of this research that is really important is the fact that parental brain systems are also stress systems,鈥� says Erhart. 鈥淛ust addressing some of the stress that parents are experiencing, either through stress-reduction programs or by reducing the stressful environment itself, also function as an intervention.鈥�

These types of interventions have been around for a while: the new body of research tracking caregiver brain changes provides unmistakable evidence of the impact of such interventions and points to the need to 鈥渢hink bigger,鈥� the researchers say, about crafting policy that supports all caregivers regardless of sex or biologic connection to the baby.