Building Blocks for Kids: Creating Intervention Systems That Support Young Children s Healthy Development

Transcription

1 Building Blocks for Kids: Creating Intervention Systems That Support Young Children s Healthy Development May 6, pm ET / 12 pm CT / 11 am MT / 10 am PT

2 Speakers Patrick Boyle Youth Today Tana Ebbole Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County Elliot Regenstein EducationCounsel LLC Julie Spielberger Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago Pat Stanislaski Office of Early Childhood Services, New Jersey Department of Children and Families For detailed speaker information, please refer to the handout with panelist bios.

3 Using State Advisory Councils to Support Young Children's Healthy Development Elliot Regenstein EducationCounsel LLC May 6, 2009 Copyright 2009 EducationCounsel LLC, in affiliation with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP. All Rights Reserved.

4 Where Many States Are A mix of state and federal programs that may or may not connect (Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, IDEA, state pre-k, home visiting, infant/toddler services) General agreement among policymakers, state administrators and educators that early learning is valuable Each brings a different knowledge base and objectives to the task of system building Elliot Regenstein EducationCounsel LLC

5 What State Advisory Councils Can Provide Multiple Connections across Multiple Dimensions Inside-inside: across state agencies Inside-outside: government agencies and outside advocates Across age spans: communities of early learning, K-12, and higher education Policy/program: connecting those working at the policy level with those at the program level Education to family services to health to special needs Federal to state to local Elliot Regenstein EducationCounsel LLC

6 What State Advisory Councils Can Provide A Coherent Agenda Comprehensive birth-to-five planning that integrates multiple agencies and programs Needs assessment Choosing the right issues on which to focus Quality of service Service capacity Elliot Regenstein EducationCounsel LLC

7 What State Advisory Councils Can Provide Key Connections to Federal Law The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides limited opportunity for policy change Title I Stabilization fund commitments Race to the Top funds (state grants) Innovation funds (local grants) Data grants State challenge grants No Child Left Behind Elliot Regenstein EducationCounsel LLC

8 Questions? Follow up? Resources available at Birth-to-Five Framework Template for Creating State Advisory Councils on Early Education and Care State Early Childhood Advisory Councils Presentation Building a State Early Learning System If you have any further questions: Elliot Regenstein Elliot.Regenstein@educationcounsel.com (312) Elliot Regenstein EducationCounsel LLC

9 NJ Department of Children and Families Ingredients for Systems Change May 6, 2009 Division of Prevention & Community Partnerships Pat Stanislaski Administrator

10 Ingredients for Systems Change Start with a strong foundation: Statewide Needs Assessment Commitment for support DCF/DPCP NJ Standards for Prevention Programs Blend in partnerships at a local and state level Combine perspectives and mix until the lumps are gone Allow plenty of time for the final product to form Share the end result with those who helped create it or who need it Pat Stanislaski Administrator

11 Pat Stanislaski Administrator A Strong Foundation 1. In NJ, $100 million investment in prevention 2. NJ Standards for Prevention Programs CONCEPTUAL STANDARDS family centered community-based culturally sensitive and competent early start developmentally appropriate participant partnership strength-based approach

12 Practice Standards Flexible and responsive Partnership approaches Links with informal and formal supports Universally available and voluntary Comprehensive and integrated Easily accessible Long-term and adequate intensity Pat Stanislaski Administrator

13 Administrative Standards Sound program structure, design, and practices Committed, caring staff Data collection and documentation Measured outcomes and conducts evaluation Adequate funding and long-range plan Families, participants and community as collaborators Pat Stanislaski Administrator

14 Pat Stanislaski Administrator Combine Perspectives and Mix! Our division early childhood, school linked, family support, domestic violence and county welfare Multiple issues, multiple perspectives find the common ground

15 Pat Stanislaski Administrator Worthwhile Changes Take Time to Create What systems changes have occurred? Collaboration of state depts: Health & Senior Services, Human Services, Education Policy changes around parent involvement-parent Advisory Boards across programs Community based prevention efforts are given funding and support. Emphasis has changed from negative risk-assessment to positive, strengths-based concepts.

16 Tana Ebbole CEO System Building to Help Children s Healthy Development May 6, 2009

17 Tana Ebbole CEO Children s Services Council Is An independent taxing district for Palm Beach County Leveraging up to $1 Mil in property tax Unique facts: 7 counties out of 67 in Florida have an independent CSC Florida is the only state with CSCs 38 cities in the county

18 What Is Our Target Children touched by CSC resources will be: Born healthy Child abuse free from birth to 5 Eager and ready to learn when they enter school Enrolled in quality after school programs Tana Ebbole CEO

19 All Resources Going for Same Result Tana Ebbole CEO

20 Funding Structure From Grant Model to Long Term Infrastructure Tana Ebbole CEO

21 Disparate Programs Tana Ebbole CEO

22 Tana Ebbole CEO Systems of Care Child Care Healthy Beginnings Prenatal through age 5 Early Care & Education Afterschool Professional Development and Capacity Building

23 Integrated Systems of Care Tana Ebbole CEO

24 Early Childhood System of Care Social Marketing Healthy Beginnings Prenatal Age 6 Quality Child Care ECE & Afterschool Positive Connections Mentoring Countywide Parenting Professional Development Research & Evaluation Information Systems Tana Ebbole CEO

25 Tana Ebbole CEO This Will Require Infrastructure Development Systems Thinking Workforce Capacity Collaborative and Partnership Capacity Operations Communications Fiscal Strategies Planning Public Engagement Integrate Funding Streams Single Planning and Organizing Structure at Local Level for all Funding in Early Childhood

26 The Role of Research in Building Early Childhood Systems Julie Spielberger May 6, 2009

27 Studying Systems: Research Questions How is the system working? How could it work better? How do families use the system of services? What is the impact of a system of services on families? How is the system affected by and responsive to economic and other environmental factors? How does the system change over time? Julie Spielberger Research Fellow

28 Limitations of Traditional Evaluation Methods for Studying Systems Focus on single areas of service rather than multiple services or service systems Lack of attention to ecological and cultural contexts of program implementation and service systems Program effects vary when implemented in the real world Lack of information on system performance Insufficient information on other factors influencing family functioning or child development Julie Spielberger Research Fellow

29 Methods for Studying Systems Theory of change Key informant interviews, focus groups, and surveys Network analysis of relationships Program evaluation and monitoring Tracking service users over time Results or journey mapping Fiscal and service scans to identify gaps Julie Spielberger Research Fellow

30 The Palm Beach County Family Study An 8-year study of PBC early childhood system of care in targeted low-income communities Administrative data on over 12,000 families with a child born in Annual household surveys of a baseline sample of 530 families, starting soon after child s birth In-depth, qualitative interviews with a subsample of 40 families Julie Spielberger Research Fellow

31 Selected Study Findings at Year 3 Mothers with greater needs used more services at year 1 System screens and assessments identified many but not all mothers with service needs Families used formal services for health care and food more often than other services Overall service use declined from year 1 to year 3 Use of food assistance and parenting education declined from year 1 to year 3 Use of formal child care increased from year 1 to year 3 Julie Spielberger Research Fellow

32 Selected Study Findings at Year 3 Mothers who used a wider range of services at year 3 were more likely to... Be US-born Be unemployed, Have more children, Have a special needs child Have received more services in the Healthy Beginnings system There were other, unexplained differences in service use by race, ethnicity, and nativity Service use occurs in a broader, ecocultural context Julie Spielberger Research Fellow

33 Conclusions: Challenges for Service Systems Improving screening and assessment of families Engaging hard-to-reach families Retaining families in services Communicating accurate service information Making location and timing of services convenient for families Improving service quality Providing continuity of services during family instability Strengthening connections with other systems and community organizations Improving data systems Julie Spielberger Research Fellow

34 Conclusions: Challenges for Research Availability and quality of service records and other administrative data Ability to link data from multiple systems Sample mobility and attrition Changing contexts over time Provider and programmatic changes Political and economic climates Population and demographic shifts Julie Spielberger Research Fellow

35 Further Reading Getting Ready for School: Palm Beach County's Early Childhood Cluster Initiative Ready for Prime Time: Implementing a Formal Afterschool Quality Improvement System Supporting Low-Income Parents of Young Children: The Palm Beach County Family Study All reports can be found at Julie Spielberger Research Fellow

36 Question and Answer Session Patrick Boyle Youth Today Tana Ebbole Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County Elliot Regenstein EducationCounsel LLC Julie Spielberger Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago Pat Stanislaski Office of Early Childhood Services, New Jersey Department of Children and Families Please use the Q&A window to type in your questions. Your name will appear automatically; please include your affiliation and location.

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