June 2, 2026 – The American Cleft Palate Craniofacial Association (ACPA) joined a coalition of national health, research, and patient advocacy organizations in signing letters to both the U.S. House and Senate Appropriations Committees urging continued support for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. The coalition is requesting $180 million in Fiscal Year 2027 funding to sustain this vital child health research initiative.
Read the letters:
The ECHO Program seeks to understand how a broad range of early-life environmental influences—including socioeconomic factors, family support, nutrition, biological factors, and physical and chemical exposures—affect children’s health and development. ECHO research focuses on five key areas of child health: pregnancy and birth outcomes, breathing, body weight, brain development, and overall well-being.
Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, ECHO has become a critical national resource for understanding the root causes of childhood chronic disease and identifying opportunities to improve lifelong health outcomes. The program’s cohort is the largest longitudinal child health study in the United States, involving more than 170,000 participants and supporting research activities across 44 states.
In addition to advancing groundbreaking research, ECHO helps expand access to clinical trials for children living in rural and medically underserved communities through its IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network (ISPCTN), the only NIH clinical trial network specifically focused on children in these areas.
ACPA is proud to support continued federal investment in research that advances child health and well-being. Sustained funding for the ECHO Program will ensure researchers can continue to generate evidence that informs prevention strategies, improves care, and helps children and families thrive. Research that improves our understanding of how early-life factors influence child health and development is essential to advancing outcomes for children with cleft and craniofacial conditions and countless other pediatric populations.
