Contact

Reaching the right resource matters, especially when the question involves a child's development, a family concern, or a professional inquiry that deserves a thoughtful response rather than an automated form letter. This page outlines how to get in touch with this office, what geographic scope the service covers, and how to structure a message so it reaches the right person without unnecessary back-and-forth.

Additional contact options

Not every question fits neatly into a single channel, and not everyone prefers the same method. This office maintains contact capacity through 3 primary pathways:

1. General inquiry form — For broad questions about human development topics, resource recommendations, or editorial feedback on site content. Responses to general inquiries are typically handled within 3 to 5 business days.

2. Professional and research inquiries — Researchers, clinicians, educators, and policy professionals with specific questions about developmental screening tools, early intervention programs, or human development policy in the US can direct messages through the professional inquiry pathway for more detailed responses.

3. Press and editorial — Journalists, podcast producers, and educators seeking accurate background on topics such as attachment theory and bonding, adverse childhood experiences, or developmental delays and disorders are welcome to reach out through the press pathway for source guidance and factual reference support.

What this office does not provide: clinical diagnosis, legal advice, or crisis intervention services. Anyone facing an immediate mental health crisis should contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) or local emergency services.

How to reach this office

The primary contact channel is the inquiry form embedded in this page's template. For those who prefer written correspondence or need documentation of their outreach, a direct email pathway is also available — the address appears in the site footer.

A few things worth knowing about response timelines:

• General content questions: 3–5 business days
• Professional and research inquiries: 5–10 business days, depending on specificity
• Press and editorial requests: 2–3 business days for time-sensitive media inquiries, flagged accordingly in the subject line

Messages sent on Fridays after noon Eastern Time are typically processed the following Monday. Holiday periods may extend response windows by 2 to 3 additional business days.

This office does not maintain a public telephone line. That is a deliberate choice — written correspondence creates a record, allows for careful and accurate responses, and avoids the kind of off-the-cuff answer that a topic as consequential as child and family development genuinely does not deserve.

Service area covered

This is a nationally scoped reference resource covering the United States. Content draws on federal frameworks including those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and peer-reviewed developmental science literature.

The site is not a regional or state-specific service, which means it does not maintain referral networks for local providers, county agencies, or state-funded programs. For state-level resources — such as Part C early intervention contacts administered under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) — the CDC's Act Early State Resource Guide and the IDEA Infant and Toddler Coordinators Association (ITCA) maintain state-by-state directories that are more appropriate for localized referrals.

International visitors are welcome to use the site's reference content, with the understanding that policy pages — particularly human development policy in the US and community programs for human development — reflect United States frameworks specifically.

What to include in your message

A well-structured message gets a better answer faster. The most useful inquiries tend to share 4 characteristics:

1. A specific topic or page reference — Rather than "I have a question about development," something like "I was reading the page on self-regulation and executive function and had a question about the distinction between inhibitory control and working memory as separate constructs."

2. Context about the reason for asking — A parent asking about physical development milestones for a 14-month-old, a graduate student researching nature vs. nurture in development, and a pediatric occupational therapist asking about developmental screening and assessment all deserve different responses. Knowing which conversation to have saves time on both sides.

3. A clear statement of what kind of response is needed — A source citation, a plain-language explanation, a pointer to a specific professional field, or editorial feedback on content accuracy are all different requests with different response paths.

4. An accurate return email address — Obvious, but worth saying: mistyped email addresses are the single most common reason messages go unanswered, not a lack of intent to reply.

Messages that arrive as a single undifferentiated paragraph with no context tend to generate a clarifying question in return, which adds time to the exchange. A few extra sentences upfront saves a round trip.