Human services for families and children have been moving toward approaches that are informed by the robust and expanding research on human development across the life course. OPRE developed foundational resources on self-regulation and toxic stress to support the understanding and application of a self-regulation framework grounded in theory and evidence for use in ACF programs. Currently, OPRE’s work in this space emphasizes incorporation of co-regulation principles and strategies into human services programs and supports. Co-regulation is the interactive process by which caring adults (1) provide warm, supportive relationships, (2) promote self-regulation through coaching, modeling, and feedback, and (3) structure supportive environments.
A comprehensive review of self-regulation interventions from birth through young adulthood revealed that, unlike interventions for very young and elementary school-aged children, co-regulation is virtually absent from self-regulation interventions for adolescents and young adults.
To address this gap, and in consultation with ACF program offices, OPRE has focused on developing a co-regulation approach and strategies that can enhance existing evidence-based interventions for adolescents and young adults. These strategies are often not a new curriculum or packaged intervention that program providers have to learn and implement. Rather, these co-regulation strategies build upon the daily interactions program staff have with their program participants and offer tools to enhance positive connections, warm relationships, and supportive environments. The beauty and unique value of a co-regulation approach is that by elevating, strengthening, and building upon what many program providers already do with children, youth, and adults--much of which may already align with the co-regulation concepts--the approach is inherently strengths-based and centers lived experiences. All program services and curricula are delivered and experienced in the context of human relationships. Anchoring supports in a supportive, relationship-based foundation offers a key opportunity to improve outcomes. For example, across a wide range of evidence-based strategies, participant engagement and program facilitation have been shown to either impede or enhance program implementation. Therefore, a focus on co-regulation that builds supportive, warm, relationship-based contexts may lead to better intervention uptake and program outcomes.
Experts and partners that OPRE has engaged in this work have consistently talked about co-regulation as an opportunity to provide structure and supports to honor, validate, and strengthen what many practitioners are already doing. In one recent article , Junlei Li, Saul Zaentz Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, discusses the critical nature of positive and supportive relationships for resilience and healthy human development and describes what he calls a practice-based practice. Complementing research-based practice frameworks which translate knowledge gained from research for application to practice, this frame asks us to search for the wisdom in everyday practice that may represent an overlooked opportunity for innovation. By doing this, we are likely to uncover powerful and collaborative implementation support paradigms that validate, affirm, and strengthen what practitioners already do in their relationships and everyday interactions. One way OPRE has embraced Junlei’s approach is through the collaborative development with researchers and experts with lived experience on the Guides for How to Incorporate Co-regulation with Older Youth in Foster Care. The guides begin by engaging the reader—caring adults, child welfare professionals, foster families, and kinship caregivers—to think about what they are already doing that aligns with the co-regulation framework and sharing what it is and why it’s important. The readers are provided conversation starters, tips to remember, and a comic strip that depicts how a co-regulation conversation might look in person or via text message.
Embracing practice supports that are grounded in the science of co-regulation and human connection has transformative potential. Due to the ability to adopt such approaches across service settings and interventions, co-regulation practices that have been developed and tested with programs support broad capacity-building and may enhance the effectiveness of individual curricula or interventions. Perhaps more importantly, valuing the inherent wisdom and life experiences of practitioners and caregivers supports diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. And while work is underway to explore ways to better measure effective co-regulation practices, placing the power and voice in the hands of service providers and caregivers is likely to support sustainability and spread because it builds upon their strengths and current practices.
While we’ve come a long way, more work remains. Some future directions for research and implementation include 1) improving ways to better measure co-regulation among adolescents and young adults and how it relates to outcomes, and 2) developing an enhanced approach to technical assistance that identifies the kinds of supports, tools, and resources that are needed to help programs and practitioners adopt co-regulation approaches.
The previous decade of work leads to the basics of human connection and resilience, and the journey has reminded us that our best assets are the people working hard every day to improve the lives of children and families. The research is providing us with the tools and perspective to transform practice, not by filling people with new, complicated skills, but by honoring and elevating the inherent value service providers, and the children and families our programs serve, already bring to the table.
This blog is part of a larger series of posts focused on the development of a learning agenda. The OPRE Self-Regulation Learning Agenda Team includes: Sarita Barton, Caryn Blitz, Selma Caal, Erin Cannon, Kathleen Dwyer, Calonie Gray, Nancy Margie, Kelly Jedd McKenzie, Aleta Meyer, Katie Pahigiannis, Emily Ross, and Neda Senehi.