*Future Direction*

For children to realize their developmental potential, there is a priority to ensure equitable access to appropriate screening, assessment, and intervention. As countries vary in terms of environmental, societal, and economic challenges, it is important to consider country contexts when developing and evaluating assessment and intervention initiatives. Considering low cost and sustainable options for assessment and intervention can reduce financial barriers. Incorporating technology into early intervention and assessment practices can decrease barriers imposed by distance and increase access to trained professionals. Incorporating mechanisms for identifying culturally appropriate assessment practices increases accuracy of identification of need while reducing the potential for overidentification of delays. Capitalizing on the expertise of interdisciplinary teams can also support stakeholders across sectors to ensure continuity and proper administration of interventions. Adoption of a common language to report outcomes can facilitate comparison of outcomes and interventions across sectors, programs, and countries. Continued work is needed globally to support children's developmental trajectories toward positive outcomes. This is especially true as countries adapt assessment and intervention practices in the face of

evolving environmental impacts of poverty, natural disasters, pandemics, societal and economic changes to prevent the loss of developmental potential of all children.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization and methodology, V.S. and R.J.S.; writing—original draft preparation, K.H., R.J.S. and V.S.; search, summary, and interpretation of resources, K.H., R.J.S. and V.S.; review and editing, K.H., R.J.S. and V.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** This narrative review did not require ethics review.

**Informed Consent Statement:** This narrative review did not require informed consent.

**Data Availability Statement:** Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created in this study. The data supporting our proposed framework are available within the article.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **References**


International Journal of *Environmental Research and Public Health*
