1 Massachusetts Birth to School-Age Task Force Phase 1: Pre Birth to Age Three October 2010.

1

Massachusetts Birth to School-Age Task ForcePhase 1: Pre Birth to Age Three

October 2010

Background

Governor Patrick’s Education Agenda, Ready for 21st Century Success (June 2008), called for:

“ the immediate creation of “a Task Force to establish a statewide birth-to-school-age strategy to ensure the healthy development of children, particularly those from low-income families. This strategy should include various service agencies, link multiple funding streams, and align preschool and school-age care.”

2

33

Task 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 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.

Phase I: began in March 2009, focused on children pre-natal to three years old, and will result in a report to be approved by the Board of Early Education and Care for submission to EOE/Governor’s Office (November 2010).

4

Alignment with Ready for Lifelong Success Report

Ready for Lifelong SuccessA Call for Collaborative Action On Behalf of Massachusetts’ Children and

Youth

Submitted to Governor Deval Patrick and the Patrick Administration Readiness Cabinet

byThe Massachusetts Action Planning Team

June 29, 2009

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.  

55

Unified Task Force Vision

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.

Science Offers Insight and Opportunity

6

 What happens in early childhood can matter for a lifetime.

Early experiences influence the developing brain.

Chronic stress can be toxic to developing brains.

Significant early adversity can lead to lifelong problems.

Early interventions can prevent the consequences of early adversity.

Stable, caring relationships are essential for healthy development.

Center on the Developing Child:

Center on the Developing Child: Risk Factors

7

.

Infants and Toddlers in MA

Approximately 224,973 Children Under the Age of 3 Live in Massachusetts1

26% of Massachusetts children under 6 experienced 1 or 2 demographic risk factors for poor educational and health outcomes 2 (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 32

1 National Infant and Toddler Child Care Initiative 2 National Center for Children in Poverty

8

9

In order to create an actionable plan focused on ensuring the healthy development of all children, pre-birth to age three in the Commonwealth, the following frameworks were used to structure the work of the Task Force.

ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK

10

Subcommittees

The Zero to Three’s [1] “Infant-Toddler Policy Agenda framework was adapted by the Task Force . As a result, four committees were formed to focus on the following areas:

Good Health Strong Families/Communities Positive Early Learning Experiences Strong Systems

In addition the Task Force added a Diversity Subcommittee as they felt diversity was an essential component of any framework given the current national and state demographic trends.

[1] ZERO TO THREE is a national nonprofit organization that informs, trains, and supports professionals, policymakers and parents in their efforts to improve the lives of infants and toddlers. http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller  

10

11

Target Beneficiaries

When we think about early education and care, particularly for infantsand toddlers in the first three years of life, there are three primary target interconnected beneficiaries that policies, programs and services must reach:

1) Children (Infants and Toddlers) Within the context of their families, children must have their

fundamental needs met before they can progress toward a more sophisticated level of development that allows them to actualize their full capabilities.

 2) Families Most children live within the context of a family structure and that

system requires basic supports in order for each member to fully thrive and reach their full potential in all domains of life.

 3) Communities and Programs Families and children live within communities and many are served

by early education and family programs; both can provide supports to advance the abilities of infants and toddlers, and their families, to progress toward meeting their desired achievements.

11

12

Areas of Focus 1) Basic NeedsFocus on fundamental levels of :

safety nutrition economic security / adequate and affordable housing health care

2) Health and Well-Being Focus on:

access to health care nurturing relationships (across settings) physical and mental health promotion prevention and intervention

3) Positive RelationshipsFocus on:

caring, culturally and linguistically responsive relationships in safe, language-rich environments that promote exploratory learning.

  4) Development and Learning Focus on:

optimal development through family access to community support networks, high quality affordable early education and care programming, and communities with the capacity to strengthen families and support the healthy growth of all children.

12

13

12 OUTCOMES DEVELOPED BY TASKFORCE

For each of the target beneficiaries in each area of focus, the Task Force delineated the results -- the OUTCOMES – to be achieved

14

Outcomes

BASIC NEEDS OUTCOME STATEMENTS1. Infants and toddlers are safe from physical harm in their homes; safe in

their early education and care and community settings.

2. Parents/families caring for infants and toddlers: have adequate, stable and affordable housing options; are economically secure and have stable work that generates a livable wage; and receive sufficient paid leave to care for sick children, newborn or adopted infants/ toddlers.

3. Infant and toddler caregivers/educators receive respect, support, and adequate compensation for their work.

  HEALTH AND WELL BEING OUTCOME STATEMENTS4. Infants and toddlers are born, and remain, physically and mentally healthy,

have quality primary care (continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, and culturally effective), and with their families have access to and are informed consumers of health care and receive consistent, coordinated health, dental and mental health services.

5. Pregnant women receive comprehensive pre and postnatal health care and support.

15

Outcomes

DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING OUTCOME STATEMENTS

6. Infants and toddlers: are on track for their optimal development, receive adequate nutrition,

have access to high- quality, affordable early education and care and have high-quality learning experiences with their families/ primary caregivers; and  

enter school confident across all developmental domains ( physical, social, emotional, cognitive, language, and approaches to learning), and are performing well across those domains by the third grade.

7. Parents/families are competent in their role as their infant and toddler’s first teacher and have the knowledge and resources to support the optimal development of their infants and toddlers.

8. Parents/families have meaningful choices in services for infants and toddlers and are supported in accessing services and have informal and formal support networks.

9. All communities have the capacity to strengthen families and support the healthy growth and development of its infant/ toddlers and have a coordinated network of high-quality, accessible services and resources.

16

Outcomes

POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS OUTCOME STATEMENTS

10. Infants/ toddlers have consistent, stable, responsive, nurturing & culturally responsive relationships in their out of home care settings and have predictable, responsive and nurturing relationships in their family settings.

11. Families have access to community-based parent/family support groups that will include information on resources and supports for families with infants and toddlers, strategies are consistently promoted to strengthen maternal/paternal/familial- infant attachment and families have access to early, hands-on pre and post partum support for new caregivers/parents.

12. 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 and post-permanency supports and 3) access to a coordinated system for visits between children, placement and families as appropriate.

17

12 GOALS DEVELOPED BY TASKFORCE

Based on the desired outcomes, the Task Force developed the following twelve complementary GOALS for all infants/toddlers, families and community/programs in the Commonwealth

Goals

Basic Needs Ensure children’s homes and early education and care programs are safe.

Decrease the rate of poverty of young child and mitigate its pernicious impact on infants and toddlers.

Health and Well Being Ensure pregnant women receive comprehensive pre

and postnatal health care.

Provide infants and toddlers with quality primary care and ensure their families are informed consumers of health care.

18

Goals Development and Learning Continue efforts to build a diverse, stable, competent

workforce to meet the needs of infants, toddlers, and their families.

Support families in their role as their infant and toddler’s first teacher and encourage high quality learning experiences between infants and toddlers and their families/ primary caregivers.

Strengthen supports to ensure infants and toddlers are on track for optimal development and have access to high- quality, affordable early education and care and related resources to facilitate learning so that they enter school performing well across all developmental domains.

Build capacity to allow families with infants and toddlers to have meaningful early education and care choices and support in accessing informal and formal services/networks.

19

Goals Positive Relationships Support all communities in developing the capacity to strengthen

families and support the healthy growth and development of its infants/ toddlers and have a coordinated network of high-quality, accessible services and resources.

Support consistent, stable, responsive, nurturing and culturally and linguistically responsive relationships in infant and toddler’s out of home settings, including early education and care and family service programs, and family settings.

Ensure access to community-based parent support groups and disseminate strategies to promote maternal/familial- infant attachment and hands-on pre and post partum support for new mothers/fathers/families. .

Provide families of infants/ toddlers at risk for out of home placement with access to: strength-based family support services, pre and post-permanency supports and to a coordinated system for visits.

20

21

INDICATORS OF PROGRESS DEVELOPED BY TASKFORCE

INDICATORS OF PROGRESS are baseline data points that will enable policymakers, practitioners, program leaders and parents/families to see how well our collective efforts are working on behalf of our children, our communities and our state.

22

Indicators of Progress - Examples

Outcome Statement: Infants and toddlers are safe from physical harm in their homes; safe in their early education and care and community settings.

Indicator: Number of substantiated 51 A reports 3% of Massachusetts’ children, age zero to five, are involved in

substantiated cases (DCF, 2008) Outcome Statement: Pregnant women receive comprehensive pre and postnatal health care and support.

Indicator: Percent of mothers indicating smoking and/or drinking while pregnant 6.9% (DPH, 2008)

 Outcome Statement: All communities have the capacity to strengthen families and support the healthy growth and development of its infant/ toddlers and have a coordinated network of high-quality, accessible services and resources. Indicators: MA EEC programs accredited by NAEYC and NAFCC

897 programs, serving 69,146 children (NAEYC, 9/2010) 92 programs (NAFCC, 9/2010)

23

STRATEGIES, IDENTIFIED ACTIONS AND LEAD CONVENERS DEVELOPED BY TASKFORCE

The Task Force (TF) offered a series of STRATEGIES and IDENTIFIED ACTIONS for each goal above, as well as the LEAD CONVENER for each strategy that is committed to enacting the work outlined below with other community and state partners.

24

Strategies, Identified Actions and Lead Conveners – Example of Work in Progress

GOAL # 5: Continue efforts to build a diverse, stable, competent workforce to meet the needs of infants, toddlers, and their families.

Strategy 1: Strengthen the EEC workforce through intentional strategies that provide meaningful increases in compensation, linked to education and competency.

Task Force Identified Actions:•Assure that vouchers for infants and toddlers support the real cost of high quality care;

•Mandate that Orientation training and annual required training for early education and care providers include promotion of social/emotional well-being and growth, language, literacy and numeracy, partnering with diverse families and awareness of local resources for infants, toddlers, families, and educators.

Lead Convener: Department of Early Education and Care

Action Taken: (Fall 2010)•EEC is proposing a 3% rate increase for programs serving EEC supported infants and toddlers.

•EEC is launching the new 5 hour pre-service Orientation for Family Child Care Educators. Additionally, a new 5 hour post service Family Child Care Educator Orientation, will be required within 6 months of receiving a Family Child Care license.

25

Strategies, Identified Actions and Lead Conveners - Example of Work in Progress

GOAL # 5: Continue efforts to build a diverse, stable, competent workforce to meet the needs of infants, toddlers, and their families.

Strategy 2: Provide evidence-based training and mentorship/reflective supervision for early care and education educators on caring for infants and toddlers.

Task Force Identified Actions:

•Develop Infant/Toddler Early Learning Guidelines to inform professional development and family outreach activities;

•Expand current training initiatives; Set aside a significant portion of Early Childhood Educator’s scholarship and training funds to support infant/toddler educators;

Lead Convener: Department of Early Education and CareAction Taken: (Fall 2010)•EEC prioritized up to $50,000 of ARRA funding to invest in the design and development of Infant and Toddler Early Childhood Program Standards and Guidelines for Learning Experiences

26

Birth to School Age Task Force, Phase I: Pre Birth to Age Three

OUTLINE OF THE FINAL REPORT

Introduction and Overview 

Task Force Vision, Values and Beliefs

Toward a Better FutureStart with ScienceNew Science Offers Insight and OpportunityThe Achievement Gap Opens as Early as Fifteen Months Early Childhood Risk Factors Can Have Long Reaching EffectsInvesting in Early Education Benefits All

Share Responsibility and Accountability: A Framework for ActionTarget BeneficiariesAreas of FocusOutcomes and Indicators of ProgressGoals and Strategies

Strengthen the SystemAcknowledgementsAppendices (Indicators of Progress / Strategies, Identified Actions and Lead Convener)

27

28

Next Steps

28

November 2010:

Board Vote to Adopt Report and Send to EOE/ Governor’s Office