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Taryn Morrissey Professor Department of Public Administration and Policy

Contact
Send email to Taryn Morrissey
(202) 885-6323 (Office)
SPA - Public Admin and Policy
Kerwin Hall - 342
By appointment
Degrees
PhD, Developmental Psychology, Cornell University, 2008

MA, Human Development and Family Studies, Cornell University, 2005

BS, Psychology and Child Development, Tufts University, 2003

Bio

Dr. Morrissey's work centers on examining and improving public policies for children and families. Ongoing research examines early care and education policy, paid family leave, family economic instability, and their implications for children and families. She is co-author of Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality (2017, 2021, Russell Sage Foundation), which offers a comprehensive, evidence-based policy approach for supporting young children. She has published more than 40 articles in journals including Pediatrics, Child Development, Developmental Psychology, Review of Economics of the Household, and the Journal of Marriage and Family, and has received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the US Dept of Health and Human Services, and USDA.



In 2020 and 2021, Dr. Morrissey was a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. Since 2017, she has served as a commissioner on the Washington, DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s Healthy Youth & Schools Commission.



Dr. Morrissey's research is informed by her experiences in policy. In spring and summer 2022, she was on leave from AU working at the Office of Child care at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2013 and 2014, she was on leave from AU serving as senior advisor for Human Services Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at DHHS. Prior to joining the AU faculty in 2010, Taryn Morrissey served as a health policy advisor on the staff of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, first for Senator Edward Kennedy and then for Senator Tom Harkin. Dr. Morrissey worked primarily on federal health reform. She began her career in policy as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) / Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Congressional Fellow.

See Also
SPA Department of Public Administration and Policy
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

Teaching

Fall 2022

  • PUAD-685 Topics in Policy Analysis/Mgmt: Child and Family Policy

  • PUAD-899 Doctoral Dissertation

  • SPA-385 Topics in Public Policy & Mgmt: Health Policy

Spring 2023

  • PUAD-604 Public Program Evaluation

  • PUAD-688 Policy Practicum

  • PUAD-899 Doctoral Dissertation

Partnerships & Affiliations

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities

Research Interests

  • Social policy and child development
  • Child care, parental employment, and work-family issues
  • Health policy and child health

Grants and Sponsored Research

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Colleen Heflin). “Building on Work to Advance Understanding of Instability in Parental Employment as a Barrier to Child Care,” 2021-2022 

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Principal Investigator (Co-PI: Scott Allard). “Barriers to Early Care and Education participation: Examining Geographic, Demographic, and Policy Characteristics Across the Country,” 2020-2021

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Colleen Heflin). “Employment Instability as a Barrier to Child Care,” 2020-2021

Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison (US Department of Health and Human Services funds). Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Scott Allard). 2019-2020

Peter G. Peterson Foundation and the Ford Foundation, US 2050 Grant, Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Katie Vinopal). “Neighborhood Disadvantage and Children’s Cognitive Skill Trajectories,” 2018-2019 

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Award. (Team members: Nina Yamanis and Catalina Sol). 2017-2020

Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison (US Department of Health and Human Services funds). Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Sharon Wolf). 2017-2018

Metropolitan Policy Center, American University. "The Effects of Universal Early Childhood Education on Parental Time Use". Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Seth Gershenson). 2016-2017

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research, National Health Interview Survey Research Program. "Using Natural Experiments to Examine the Impacts of SNAP on Adult and Child Health."  Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Daniel Miller). 2015-2016

Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement (IPA), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013-2015

Maternal and Child Health Research Program, Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Principal Investigator (Co-PI: Rada Dagher). "A Longitudinal Analysis of Maternal Depression and its Associations with Child Obesity and Health Care Use" 2012-2013

Institute for Research on Poverty RIDGE Center for National Food and Nutrition Assistance Research Grant: Food Assistance and Children's Eating Patterns, Food Insecurity, and Obesity: The Influence of Local Food Prices. Principal Investigator (Co-PI: Alison Jacknowitz). 2011-2012

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research, Research Program on Child Hunger Small Grants Program: Food Insecurity Across the First Five Years: Triggers of Onset and Exit. Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Alison Jacknowitz). 2011-2012

Child Care Bureau Research Scholar Award, U.S. Dept. of Health  and Human Services, Principal Investigator: Patchworks and  Sequences of Child Care: The Effects of Multiple Child Care Arrangements  on Child Development; 2006-2008

Congressional Testimony

Invited witness, Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, Education and Labor Committee, U.S. House of Representatives, Hearing on Solving America’s Child Care Crisis: Supporting Parents, Children, and the Economy, February 2020. https://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/solving-americas-child-care-crisis-supporting-parents-children-and-the-economy 

Honors, Awards, and Fellowships

Morton Bender Prize, American University, 2020

Center for Health, Risk and Society (CHRS) Fellow Award, American University, 2019-2020

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Research Leader Award, 2017-2020

Institute for Research on Poverty Visiting Food Assistance Scholar, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2013

Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) /American Association for the Advance of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellowship, 2008-2009

Individual National Research Service Award (NRSA), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): Child Care Chaos and Children's Social-emotional Development and Stress. Grant # F32-HD-059795-01A1, 2008-2010 (declined)

Media Appearances

Op-eds/Popular media publications:

Engel, K*., & Morrissey, T. (2023, May 22). GOP’s proposed expansion of SNAP work requirements targets many low-income people in their early 50s – but many of them already work. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/gops-proposed-expansion-of-snap-work-requirements-targets-many-low-income-people-in-their-early-50s-but-many-of-them-already-work-205960

DeMatteis, E., & Morrissey, T. (2022, October 21). Viewpoint: It takes a viallage, and supportive employer, to care for family. Washington Business Journal. https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2022/10/21/family-care-employer-support.html

Morrissey, T., & Zalkind, C. (2022, February 8). The future of infant-toddler care after COVID-19. NJ Spotlight News. Op-Ed: High-quality child care is essential | NJ Spotlight News

Weiland, C., & Morrissey, T. (2021, October 8). It’s time for a comprehensive early childhood system, not another band-aid. The Globe Post. https://theglobepost.com/2021/10/08/us-early-childhood-system/

Morrissey, T. (2021, September 23). Congress can boost economic growth with childcare investments. Inside Sources. https://insidesources.com/congress-can-boost-economic-growth-with-childcare-investments/

Morrissey, T. (2021, May 21). Stop politicizing investments in our children. The Hill. https://thehill.com/opinion/education/554746-stop-politicizing-investments-in-our-children

Morrissey, T. (2021, April 19). Biden Administration’s $39 billion child care strategy: 5 questions answered. The Conversation. Republished in The Houston Chronicle and other outlets.  https://theconversation.com/biden-administrations-39-billion-child-care-strategy-5-questions-answered-159119

Morrissey, T. (2021, April 14). It’s time to give children the education that they deserve. The Hill. https://thehill.com/opinion/education/548277-its-time-to-give-our-kids-the-education-they-deserve

Morrissey, T. (2021, April 8). The pandemic is far from over for working moms. Gender on the Ballot. https://www.genderontheballot.org/the-pandemic-is-far-from-over-for-working-moms/

Morrissey, T. (2021, February 24). The pandemic is hurting working mothers, but policy changes can help. Gender on the Ballot. https://www.genderontheballot.org/the-pandemic-is-hurting-working-mothers-but-policy-changes-can-help/

Morrissey, T. (2021, January 5). Fewer kids are enrolled in public kindergarten – that will have a lasting impact on schools and equity. The Conversation. Republished in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Yahoo News, the Houston Chronicle, and other outlets. https://theconversation.com/fewer-kids-are-enrolled-in-public-kindergarten-that-will-have-a-lasting-impact-on-schools-and-equity-151817

Morrissey, T. (2020, September 30). Our children deserve more from us. The Hill.

Morrissey, T. (2020, July 15). Kids’ school schedules have never matched parents’ work hours and the pandemic is making things worse. The Conversation. Republished in multiple news outlets including the Houston Chronicle, The Albany Times-Union, and the San Antonio Express-News.

Recent Media Coverage:

2023    Included in multiple episodes a DCTV documentary Stronger Start: Building Better Child Care. Interviewed by the New York Times about the Department of Commerce’s plan to require CHIPS grantees to make child care accessible to employees. Quoted in Business Insider about New Mexico’s plan to combat the child care crisis. Quoted in Parents magazine about the challenges of child care without community.

2022    Interviewed for One on One with Steve Adubato on child care and early childhood spending in New Jersey.

2021    Quoted in Marketplace about longer child care waitlists for child care programs. Quoted in Good Morning America about the lack of child care slowing women’s return to work. Interviewed and quoted by NPR’s Marketplace about the costs of child care. Quoted in the Deseret News about President Biden’s American Families Plan.

2020    Quoted about Congressional testimony at child are hearing in the Hill. Quoted in stories on the effects of coronavirus on child care in Vox and Consumer Reports. Quoted on Vice President Biden’s child care plan in the New York Times and separately for its implications for the economy in the New York Times. Interviewed on the mismatch between kids’ school and parents’ work schedules on WNHN public radio. Research on COVID-19 and mothers’ work covered in CNBC, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, and Working Mother. Quoted on story about pandemic parenting in Washington Associated French Press. Quoted on stories about Vice President Biden’s family policy plan and the Trump Administration’s effects on families in the Deseret News. Interviewed about child care during the pandemic for NPR. Quoted about Vice President Biden’s caregiving plan for care.com. Participated in a panel discussion on then President-Elect Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Education that was aired on C-SPAN. Quoted about President-Elect Biden’s education agenda in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Selected Publications

Book:

Chaudry, A., Morrissey, T., Weiland, C., & Yoshikawa, H. (2017, 2021). Cradle to Kindergarten: A new plan to combat inequality. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. https://www.russellsage.org/publications/cradle-kindergarten-2ndEdition  

Selected journal articles:

*indicates former or current student.

Heflin, C., & Morrissey, T. W. (2023). Patterns of earnings and employment by worker sex, race, and ethnicity: Results from a sample of workers connected to public assistance programs. Race and Social Problems, 15, 166-186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-022-09371-6

Morrissey, T. W. (2023). The minimum wage and parent time use. Review of Economics of the Household. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11150-022-09638-2

Morrissey, T. W. (2023). The Earned Income Tax Credit and short-term changes in parents’ time investments in children. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 44(2), 412-433. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-022-09830-7

Morrissey, T.W., & Engel, K.* (2023). Adolescents’ time use during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from the American Time Use Survey. Journal of Adolescent Health, 72, 295-299. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X22006085?dgcid=author

Morrissey, T. W., Heflin, C., & Fannin, W. C.* (2023). Room to grow: Examining participation and stability in child care subsidies using state administrative data. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 62, 150-162. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885200622000825?dgcid=author

Morrissey, T. W., Allard, S. W., & Pelletier, E*. (2022). Access to early care and education in rural communities: Implications for children’s school readiness. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 8(3), 100-123. https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/8/3/100.abstract

Soni, A., & Morrissey, T. W. (2022). Effects of Medicaid expansion on home production and childcare: Evidence from time use data. Southern Economic Journal, 88(3), 931-950. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/soej.12554

Miller, D. P., & Morrissey, T. W. (2021). The effects of SNAP on child and adult health: An instrumental variables approach. Public Health Nutrition, 24(18), 6543-6554. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34482850/

Morrissey, T.W., Cha, Y.*, Wolf, S., & Khan, M.* (2020). Household economic instability: Constructs, measurement, and implications. Children and Youth Services Review, 118, 10552-10564. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740920306691?via%3Dihub

Vinopal, K.*,  & Morrissey, T. W. (2020). Neighborhood disadvantage and children’s cognitive skill trajectories. Children and Youth Services Revie, 116, 105231-105242. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740920300669?via%3Dihub

Morrissey, T. W., & Miller, D. P. (2020). SNAP participation improves children’s healthcare use: An analysis of ARRA’s a natural experiment. Academic Pediatrics, 20(6), 863-870. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1876285919304619

Yamanis, N., Morrissey, T. W., Bochey, L.*, Cañas, N.*, & Sol, C. (2020). “Hay que seguir en la lucha”: A community health action approach to promoting individual and community resilience among Central American migrants in Washington, DC. Behavioral Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1080/08964289.2020.1738320

Morrissey, T. W. (2019). The effects of early care and education on children’s health. Invited research brief. Health Affairs. https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hpb20190325.519221/full/

Thomas, M.M.C.*, Miller, D. P., & Morrissey, T. W. (2019). Food insecurity and child health. Pediatrics, e20190397. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2019/09/05/peds.2019-0397

Morrissey, T. W., & Vinopal, A. (2018). Center-based early care and education and children's school readiness: Do impacts vary by neighborhood poverty? Developmental Psychology, 54(4), 757-771. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29154645

Morrissey, T. W., & Vinopal, A. (2018). Neighborhood poverty and children’s elementary school outcomes. Journal of Marriage and Family, 801(1), 182-197.  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jomf.12430/abstract 

Wolf, S., & Morrissey, T. W. (2017). Economic instability, food insecurity, and child health during and after the Great Recession. Social Service Review, 91(3), 534-570. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/694111

Morrissey, T. W. (2017). Active shooter incidents and gun ownership and storage among families with young children in the United States. Preventive Medicine, 100, 50-55. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743517301214?via%3Dihub

Morrissey, T. W. (2017). Child care and parental labor force participation: A review of the research. Review of Economics of the Household, 15(1), 1 24.  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11150-016-9331-3

Selected Policy Reports:

Chaudry, A., & Morrissey, T. (2022, January). Pennies to the Dollar: The investment gap for New Jersey’s earliest learners. Advocates for Children of New Jersey: Newark, NJ. https://acnj.org/new-report-details-investment-gap-in-new-jerseys-youngest-learners/

Morrissey, T. W., Heflin, C. M., & Fannin, W. C. (2021, October). The United States child care subsidy system is underused but well-positioned to promote racial equity.  Lerner Center for Public Health Promotin Health Research Briefs Series. Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs: Syracuse, NY. https://surface.syr.edu/lerner/154/

Morrissey, T. W., Heflin, C. M., & Fannin, W. C. (2021, October). The U.S. must invest more in the child care subsidy program. Lerner Center for Public Health Promotin Health Research Brief Series. Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs: Syracuse, NY. https://surface.syr.edu/lerner/155/

Morrissey, T. W., Yamanis, N., & Sol, C. (2020, December). Local health policies and safety net programs affect resilience and health of Latinx immigrants. Research Brief, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Research Leaders. https://2jywg813w195318ee51g9iti-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/IRL-Issue-Brief-Prince-Georges-County.pdf

Novoa, C., & Morrissey, T. W. (2020, August). Adversity in early childhood: The role of policy in creating and addressing adverse childhood experiences. Center for American Progress: Washington, DC. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/reports/2020/08/27/489805/adversity-early-childhood/

Malik, R., & Morrissey, T. W. (2020, August). The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing millennial mothers out of the workforce. Center for American Progress: Washington, DC. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/news/2020/08/12/489178/covid-19-pandemic-forcing-millennial-mothers-workforce/

Morrissey, T. W., & Workman, S. (2020, August). Grants and contracts: A strategy for building the supply of subsidized infant and toddler child care. Center for American Progress: Washington, DC. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/reports/2020/08/04/488633/grants-contracts-strategy-building-supply-subsidized-infant-toddler-child-care/

Morrissey, T. W. (2020, February). Addressing the need for affordable, high-quality early childhood care and education for all in the United States. Equitable Growth 2020. Washington, DC: Washington Center for Equitable Growth. https://equitablegrowth.org/addressing-the-need-for-affordable-high-quality-early-childhood-care-and-education-for-all-in-the-united-states/

AU Experts

Area of Expertise

Impacts of public policy on child development; the impacts of public-and employer-supported child care on work/family balance; child care stability and children's development

Additional Information

Taryn Morrissey's research focuses on the impacts of public policy on child development. She examines socioeconomic, geographic, racial, and ethnic disparities in early opportunity and how early care and education, nutrition, income, and health programs and policies promote children’s short- and long-term outcomes and family well-being. Morrissey is a co-author of Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality (2017 and 2021). She served as senior adviser on early childhood policy in the office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services and as a health policy advisor for the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, for Sen. Edward Kennedy and Sen. Tom Harkin. Her opinion articles have appeared in The Hill, CNBC, and other media outlets, and she is frequently interviewed by NPR, The New York Times, Vox, and other media outlets.

For the Media

To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

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