Session: INVITED SYMPOSIUM: Philanthropic Investments in Reducing Inequality Via Prevention Science (Society for Prevention Research 26th Annual Meeting)

Organized by the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives, this panel will present the impactful work of four national foundations devoted to reducing inequalities and disparities in our most vulnerable children, youth and families. It is imperative that, as a society, we first and foremost address structural policies (such as Zero Tolerance, mandatory minimums, discriminatory housing regulations, foster care protocols) in our social institutions that inadvertently lead to negative outcomes, placing children at risk for mental, emotional and behavioral (MEB) disorders. Presentations will be based on the growing recognition that the prevention scientific community has a responsibility to work with disadvantaged communities, bringing research methods and findings to bear in developing integrated systems of evidence-based practices to address educational and MEB problems. Appropriate research-based solutions also need to recognize and actively address the impact of exposure to the chronic stress and trauma stemming from concentrated urban and rural poverty, child maltreatment, parental substance addiction, and many other interrelated influences. A systems change approach—marrying schools, community organizations, government agencies, researchers, and policy-makers—will increase the chances for success in vulnerable children and youth prior to entrenchment of problems. Improving intercollaborations among all child-serving systems, and empowering them with prevention research-infused methods, promises to enhance lifelong pathways and fundamentally reduce inequality on a population level. The panelists will present initiatives and particularly impactful funded projects of their foundations in the educational, civic, child welfare, mental health and juvenile justice domains. They will also discuss metrics used to measure key outcomes of their philanthropic efforts to uplift those most in need. The relevance and role of prevention scientists in this transformative work will be highlighted.