Dr. Rebecca Distefano

October 21, 2021

Rebecca Distefano is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the National Center for Children and Families. Her research focuses on risk and protective processes in the lives of families experiencing homelessness and high mobility. She is particularly interested in the implications of instability on children’s development and the ways that housing policies can best support highly mobile families. In her current position, Rebecca works closely with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development to examine the impacts of affordable housing on child and family well-being. She is also involved in the most recent implementation of the NYC Housing and Vacancy Survey, a representative survey that characterizes the housing stock and population of NYC. Rebecca received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in 2019.