The Buffering Toxic Stress Consortium was created by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families to test preventive interventions for Early Head Start families facing toxic stress, as conceptualized by Shonkoff, Boyce, and McEwen in their influential 2009 article. Because relationships between children and their primary caregivers are believed to be the most important buffer for children facing high stress, each promising preventive intervention targets parenting. Consortium projects aim to validate empirical assessments of toxic stress, test the value added of supplemental parenting services, and assess implementation and long-term sustainability of these services.