Title: Massachusetts Birth to SchoolAge Task Force Phase 1: Pre Birth to Age Three
1Massachusetts Birth to School-Age Task
ForcePhase 1 Pre Birth to Age Three
1
2Agenda for October Forums
- I. Panel Discussion (530-620)
- EEC Commissioner, Sherri Killins
- Introduction to the first phase of work of the
Birth to School Age - Task Force.
- Early Education and Care Providers
- Discuss their experiences/successes/challenges
working with - children and their families, pre-birth to three,
in their - programs/communities.
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- II. Facilitated Q/A with Audience (620-700pm)
- In order to support the pre-birth to three year
old children and their families - Are there specific evidence based, promising
practices or programmatic strategies that we
should be aware of? - What are the top challenges in your community?
- How will we know we are successful? Is there
specific data that we should consider? - How can we support families and these entities to
be family friendly and to strengthen their
interactions with infants and their families - early educators
- pediatricians
3Task Force Charge
- To put forth recommendations to the Department
of Early Education and Care (EEC) and the
Executive Office of Education (EOE) to strengthen
supports and services to effectively meet the
needs of children birth to school-age, their
families, and other significant caregivers to
ensure continuously improving development and
learning outcomes for children in the earliest
years. - The work will be accomplished in two phases
- Phase I began in March 2009 and will focus on
children pre-natal to three years. - Phase II will build on the work of Phase I and
will focus on linkages across the broader age
range of birth to school entry and beyond the
time period and membership will be determined as
Phase I concludes.
4
4Task Force Charge
- Advise EEC in articulating a statewide vision a
framework for the positive development early
learning of children pre-natally to age three in
MA - Serve in an advisory capacity to EEC EOE on the
development of short, mid- long- term goals
strategies for achieving the vision
institutionalizing the framework - Gather, analyze, report on current
data/research resources - Identify strengths of the current system
unaddressed needs gaps in infrastructure,
programs, services - Identify build on research-based practices,
promising practices, what works
5
5Task Force Charge
- Provide a basis for continuous improvement by
articulating desired outcomes for children
prenatally to age 3 their families, identifying
indicators to track measure progress where
possible, tools to measure the success impact
of strategies interventions - Inform EEC of ready-now opportunities within the
scope of the agencys ongoing work
responsibilities - Provide expert feedback/ refinement on proposals
developed in partnership by EEC EOE and - Identify areas for interagency inter-initiative
collaboration.
6
6Task Force Values
- We value respect all children, parents
families. - Learning starts before birth.
- All children can succeed adults have the
responsibility to ensure they do. - Parents are childrens 1st teachers. Nurturing
interactions that build consistent responsive
relationships for children with parents,
families, caregivers- as well as among these
significant caregivers- are integral to
childrens healthy development learning are
of particular importance for children pre-birth
to 3. - Parents, families caregivers are integral to
the healthy development of children must be
engaged as equal partners. Family choice is
honored respected. - Providing culturally appropriate services is
critical to being effective in the lives of
children, their parents their
families.
7
7Task Force Values
- Our system must provide services to meet the
individual needs of children, their parents
their families. - We support the continuum continuity of every
childs education care. Transitions between
systems for children, parents, families
professionals should be smooth seamless. - Promotion, Prevention Intervention are integral
components of our service delivery system. - Children families live within communities
must be reached supported in ways that maximize
accessibility. - Community disparities, including geographic,
demographic, environmental, access to services
outreach, should be recognized addressed. - We believe priority in access to delivery of
services should be given to children with the
greatest educational care needs multiple risk
factors.
8
8Task Force Values
- All practitioners who provide services to young
children are the backbone of our system we value
support their diversity, ongoing PD, fair
compensation. - Systems should be adaptable responsive to
changing times. - Accountability at all levels is important we
will work together to measure, recognize needs
develop the assets of the field. We are
committed to promoting evidence-based programs,
the use of evaluation informed use of best
practices. - We are committed to working proactively across
systems that service the pre-birth to 3 age group
their parents families- including the
pediatric community- in order to integrate
coordinate services leverage opportunities. - Sustainability is a key consideration for any
program, service or initiative in which we feel
it is worthwhile to invest. - Our advocacy efforts messages should be
coherent coordinated.
9
9Unified Task Force Vision
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- All Massachusetts infants and toddlers will be
emotionally and physically healthy and will have
optimal opportunities to experience consistent,
nurturing care-giving and learning in the context
of strong families living in supportive
communities with culturally competent systems
that deliver high-quality, comprehensive services
focused on promotion, prevention, intervention,
and evaluation.
10
10Infants and Toddlers in MA
- The National Center for Children in Poverty
reported that - Massachusetts is home to approximately 230,000
infants and toddlers (2009) - In 2007
- 26 of Massachusetts children under 6
experienced 1 or 2 demographic risk factors for
poor educational and health outcomes - (e.g. living in poverty, linguistically
isolated, parents have less than a high school
education, parents have no paid employment etc.) - 7 experienced at least 3
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11Setting the Stage Review of the ScienceCenter
of the Developing Child
- http//developingchild.harvard.edu/library/briefs/
inbrief_series/
12Birth to School Age Task Force, Phase I Pre
Birth to Age Three
- 5 TASKFORCE SUBCOMMITTEES
13Good Health Subcommittee
- Physical Health
- Including adequate health care coverage
- Mental Health (Social and Emotional)
- Parental Health/Mental Health
- Developmental Screening
- Premature infants
- Early intervention for abused and neglected
children - Environmental (including facilities)
14
14Strong Families/Communities Subcommittee
- Basic Needs
- Income Security
- Home Visiting/ Family Access
- Child Welfare
- Preventing child abuse and neglect
- Ensuring safety and permanency
- Infant-toddler court teams
- Paid Family Leave
- Parent Education
- Child Care
- Healthy and safe environments
- Access to quality options
- Nurturing responsive providers and caregivers
- Parents, providers and caregivers linked to
community resources - Safe and Nurturing Families
- Economic and parenting support
15
15Positive Early Learning Experiences Subcommittee
- Child Care
- Access to quality
- Birth to Three (e.g. Early Head Start)
- Expand access
- Early Intervention/ Special Needs
- Early identification, assessment, and appropriate
services for children with special health care
needs, disabilities, or developmental delays - Safe and Nurturing Environments
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- Family and Community
16
16Strong Systems Subcommittee
- Governance/ Leadership
- Set the policy direction for comprehensive system
- Quality Improvement
- Standards that reflect effective practices,
programs, and practitioners and are aligned
across the system - Accountability and Evaluation
- Monitoring and tracking program performance and
results based on standards - Financing
- Sufficient to ensure comprehensive quality
services based on standards - Public Engagement and Political Will Building
- Communication to inform and engage families,
providers, and the public - Regulations and Standards
17
17Diversity Subcommittee
- Responsiveness to issues of diversity, including
- Cultural and ethnic
- Geographic
- Diverse learning needs
- Works across the other 4 subcommittees, with
representation from each, to inform the
recommendations of the other subcommittees - Mapping of settlement patterns across the State.
18
18Birth to School Age Task Force, Phase I Pre
Birth to Age Three
- PRELIMINARY OUTCOMES DEVELOPED BY TASKFORCE
19- PRELIMINARY OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN
20Summary of Outcomes Developed by the Taskforce -
Children
- Basic Needs
- Infants and toddlers are safe in their home,
care, and community setting. - Infants and toddlers are receiving adequate
nutrition. - Health and Well-Being
- Infants and toddlers are physically and mentally
healthy. - Infants and toddlers have quality primary care.
- Infants and toddlers have access to quality
health and dental care coverage. - Development and Learning
- Infants and toddlers are on track for their
optimal development. - Infants and Toddlers are entering school ready
to learn and are performing well by the third
grade. - Infant and Toddlers have access to high- quality,
affordable Early Education and Care - Infants and toddlers have high-quality learning
experiences with their families/ primary
caregivers. - Relationships
- Infants and toddlers have consistent, stable,
responsive, and nurturing relationships in their
out of home care settings that are culturally
responsive. - Infants and toddlers have consistent, stable,
responsive, and nurturing relationships in their
family settings.
21- PRELIMINARY OUTCOMES FOR PARENTS / FAMILIES
22Summary of Outcomes Developed by the Taskforce -
Parents/Families
- Basic Needs
- Parents/Families have adequate, stable and
affordable housing options. - Infants and toddler have adequate and stable
housing. - Parents/Families of Infants and Toddlers are
economically secure. - All parents/families of infants and toddlers have
stable work that generates a livable wage to
provide for their infants and toddlers. - All parents/caregivers of infants and toddlers
receive sufficient paid leave to care for sick
children. / All parents/caregivers receive
adequate paid family leave to care for newborn or
adopted infants and toddlers. - Health and Well-Being
- Families have access to are informed consumers
of health care receive consistent, coordinated
health, dental mental health services. - Pregnant women, receive comprehensive pre and
postnatal health care and support. - Pregnant women are physically and mentally
healthy during and after pregnancy. - Development and Learning
- Parents/Families are competent in their role as
their infant and toddlers first teacher. - Parents/families of infants and toddlers have the
knowledge and resources (or capacity?) to support
the optimal development of their infants and
toddlers. - Parents/families have meaningful choices in
services for infants and toddlers and are
supported in accessing services and supports. - Relationships
- All families of infants and toddlers have
informal and formal support networks.
23- PRELIMINARY OUTCOMES FOR COMMUNITIES / PROGRAMS
24Summary of Outcomes Developed by the Taskforce
Communities/Programs
- Basic Needs
- Infant/toddler caregivers/ educators receive
respect, support, and adequate compensation for
their work. - Relationships
- Parents/families of infants and toddlers are
actively involved in leadership, advocacy and
governance. - Programs work to foster consistent, stable,
responsive, and nurturing relationships in the
families they serve and in their care-giving
settings. - Infant and toddler caregivers/ educators see and
treat parents as the childrens primary teachers
and partner with them in their childrens care
and learning - Families of infants/ toddlers at risk for out of
home placement have 1) access to strength-based
family support services that work together to
prevent disruption, provide permanency if needed,
2) access to pre post-permanency supports 3)
access to a coordinated system for visits b/w
children, placement, families as often as
possible. - Development and Learning
- Programs ensure that Infant/Toddler educators are
competent, knowledgeable, and confident in
supporting the optimal development of children in
their care and have a commitment to ongoing high
quality professional development opportunities. - All communities have the capacity to strengthen
families and support the healthy growth and
development of its infant/ toddlers - All communities have a coordinated network of
high-quality, accessible services and resources.
25- PRELIMINARY OUTCOMES FOR STRONG SYSTEMS
26Summary of Outcomes Developed by the Taskforce
Strong Systems
- Systems Outcomes fall into the following
categories - (see handout for full list of Outcomes)
- Governance and Leadership
- Quality
- Family Support and Leadership
- Regulations and Standards
- Accountability and Evaluation
- Financing
- Public Engagement and Political Will Building
- Workforce
27Example of a Strategy and Potential Next Action
Step to Achieve an Outcome
28
28Example of a Strategy and Potential Next Action
Step to Achieve an Outcome
29
29Birth to School Age Task Force, Phase I Pre
Birth to Age Three
- OUTLINE OF THE FINAL REPORT
30Preliminary Outline of Final Report Alignment
with Ready for Lifelong Success Report
The end product/report of the Taskforce will
align as a companion document with the report
below, Ready for Lifelong Success A Call for
Collaborative Action On Behalf of Massachusetts
Children and Youth, which focuses on defining
desired outcomes for all children, youth and
families, was submitted to Governor Patrick and
the Patrick Administration Readiness Cabinet by
The Massachusetts Action Planning Team on June
29, 2009.
- Ready for Lifelong Success
- A Call for Collaborative Action On Behalf of
Massachusetts Children and Youth - Submitted to Governor Deval Patrick and the
Patrick Administration Readiness Cabinet - by
- The Massachusetts Action Planning Team
- June 29, 2009
31Task Force Timeline
32
32Questions for FeedbackFacilitated by United Way
- In order to support the pre-birth to three
year old children and their families - Are there specific evidence based, promising
practices or programmatic strategies that we
should be aware of? - What are the top challenges in your community?
- How will we know we are successful? Is there
specific data that we should consider? - How can we support families and these entities to
be family friendly and to strengthen their
interactions with infants and their families - early educators
- pediatricians
- local resources (e.g. public libraries)
-
33If you have additional questions or feedback,
please send to
- Nicole Lessard
- nicole.lessard_at_state.ma.us
- 617-988-7822
-