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Initiatives

Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (ECCS CoIIN)

A multiyear initiative to improve early childhood service systems in 12 states to increase age-appropriate developmental skills among 3-year-old children and reduce developmental disparities.

Keep scrolling, or use these quick links, to learn more.

Participating States | Project Aim | Health Equity Lens | Virtual Community | Helpful Resources | Webinars | Project Articles | Related Early Childhood Projects 

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Status:

August 2016 - August 2021

  • Who: Twelve states and their respective communities (see map), which will be comprised of community leaders, researchers, healthcare providers and family partners.
  • Funder: Health Resources and Services Administration Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Partners on the project include: ZERO to THREE (ZTT), Applied Engineering Management Corporation (AEM), the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).
  • Our Role: Lead the NICHQ Coordinating Center for ECCS CoIIN to support state teams through quality improvement and innovation, using collaboration and rapid cycle testing to create new approaches that will enhance early childhood systems.

If you are interested in learning more about this project, check out our project flyer, driver diagram or email us at [email protected]

Participating States

Participating States

Teams are provided technical assistance and an online collaborative workplace (NICHQ's Collaboratory) to promote continuous communication, and a data dashboard to capture shared measures and track progress toward the common agenda. Click on the map below to see a list of participating communities in the 12 "Impact Grantee" states.

US-AK,US-DE,US-FL,US-HI,US-IN,US-UT,US-KS,US-OK,US-LA,US-NY,US-NJ,US-MA
 
 
 
 

Final Evaluation Report

Lessons Learned from the ECCS CoIIN Coordinating Center’s Evaluative Efforts

In our final report, we provide key takeaways and recommendations from the multiyear initiative to improve early childhood service systems in 12 states to increase age-appropriate developmental skills among 3-year-old children and reduce developmental disparities.

The learnings in this report stem from a set of priority questions that the ECCS CoIIN coordinating center sought to address. The areas included in this evaluation report are as follows:

  • Building connections between state and local level Early Childhood Systems  
  • Expand ECS by building capacity through infrastructure, services, and personnel 
  • Policy implementation through programmatic, regulatory, and legislative changes in support of ECS 
  • Developing and strengthening partnerships to support ECS activities 

Toolkits and Guides

Assess and improve your early childhood systems using our helpful guides and toolkits.

State Profiles Page 1

State Profiles

View the unique profiles of our 12 participating states. 

Healthy Children clapping

Webinar

Webinars

Engaging Families from Diverse Backgrounds with Developmental Screening and Child Well-Being

Early childhood screenings, starting at 9 months, give children with disabilities the opportunity to thrive. At NICHQ, we're committed to helping improve access for all children. View our recent webinar to find out how to engage families from diverse backgrounds and improve screenings in your state. 

 

Early Childhood and Medicaid 101

Medicaid covers many of the children who could most benefit from better supports in early childhood, making it a vital resource for developmental health. Innovative changes in Medicaid payment mechanisms can help more children get the care they need. View our recent webinar to learn how Medicaid can be used to improve early childhood health and address disparities.

Helpful Resources

Helpful Resources

We've curated several resources for those working to improve early childhood systems:

  • The Integration of Early Childhood Data
    State profiles and a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education
  • Implementation of Young Child Wellness Strategies in a Unique Cohort of Local Communities
    report of lessons learned from Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health.
  • The Guide to Community Preventive Services
    A collection of evidence-based findings from the Community Preventive Services Task Force to improve health and prevent disease.
  • Achieving the Promise of a Bright Future
    policy brief from ZERO to THREE outlining recommended developmental screening of infants and toddlers.
  • From the Ground Up: Establishing Strong Core Policies for Infants, Toddlers and Families
    This resource describes the rationale for investing in programs that support children’s development in the earliest years of life.
  • Infant-Toddler State Self-Assessment Toolkit
    This toolkit is intended to help state policy leaders and advocates assess the current status of services for infants, toddlers and their families, and to set priorities for improvement.
  • Recommendations on Developmental Screening Follow-up Practices and Policies for Federal, State, and Community Level Stakeholders
    paper developed jointly with ZERO to THREE to support participating states and their respective communities in strengthening developmental screening and referral systems and practices.
  • Early Childhood Developmental Screening and Title V: Building Better Systems Issue Brief
    An issue brief developed by the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) to help build better early childhood systems.
  • Roadmap
    roadmap created by the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) for collaboration among Title V, home visiting, and early childhood systems programs.

               

Related Content

Project Articles

View all archive articles here