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

2. Charge Governor Patricks Education Agenda, Ready for 21 st 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. The Task Force was charged with: Putting forth recommendations 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. 3

3. Diverse Composition of the Task Force While EEC established by and convened the Task Force: Membership represents the work of more than 50 practitioners, policymakers, educators and advocates from myriad disciplines and service sectors throughout the state. Based on the diverse expertise of this coalition, this report lays the foundation for an integrated system of early care and lifelong learning that begins pre-birth. 4

4. 55 Alignment of the Work The work will be accomplished in phases: Phase I: began in March 2009 Focused on children pre-natal to three years old Will result in a report to be voted on for approval by the Board of Early Education and Care (November 2010) Alignment with Existing Report from the Massachusetts Action Planning Team Ready for Lifelong Success: A Call for Collaborative Action On Behalf of Massachusetts Children and Youth Focuses on desired outcomes for all children and youth, ages five to twenty one, and their families Submitted to Governor Patrick and the Readiness Cabinet in June 2009 Phase II: will build on the existing bodies of work and will focus on children between age three and five

5. 66 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.

6. Science Offers Insight and Opportunity 7 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:

7. Center on the Developing Child: Risk Factors 8.

8. Profile of Infants and Toddlers in MA Almost 225,000 Children Under the Age of 3 Live in Massachusetts 1 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 3 2 1 National Infant and Toddler Child Care Initiative 2 National Center for Children in Poverty 9

9. 10 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. 11 Subcommittees The Zero to Threes [1] Infant-Toddler Policy Agenda framework [1] 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] [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_infanttodllerhttp://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_pub_infanttodller 11

11. 12 Target Beneficiaries When we think about early education and care, particularly for infants and 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. 12

12. 13 Areas of Focus The Task Forces work across subcommittees was organized by the following focus areas: 1) Basic Needs 2) Health and Well-Being 3) Positive Relationships 4) Development and Learning 13

13. 14 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. 15 Outcomes BASIC NEEDS OUTCOME STATEMENTS 1. 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 STATEMENTS 4. 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. 16 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 toddlers 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. 17 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. 18 GOALS DEVELOPED BY TASKFORCE Based on the desired outcomes, the Task Force developed the following twelve corollary GOALS for all infants/toddlers, families and community/programs in the Commonwealth

18. Goals Basic Needs Ensure childrens 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. 19

19. Goals Development and Learning Continue efforts to build a diverse, stable, competent workforce to meet the needs of infants, toddlers, and their families. Expand the number of high-quality child care slots for infants and toddlers, especially those impacted by poverty or other risk factors. Support families in their role as their infant and toddlers 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. 20

20. 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 toddlers 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. 21

21. 22 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. 23 Indicators of Progress - Examples 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. 24 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. 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 1: Strengthen the EEC workforce through intentional strategies that provide meaningful increases in compensation, linked to education and competency. Task Force Identified Action: Assure that vouchers for infants and toddlers support the real cost of high quality care 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.

25. 26 Other Work in Progress Aligned with Task Force Recommendations EEC prioritized ARRA funding to: Develop the Infant and Toddler Early Childhood Guidelines Provide 2,000 early education and care staff with training focused on the social emotional development of young children Provide early literacy training for family child care educators statewide focusing on relationship-based care and development in the first three years of life Develop a multi-pronged communications campaign with a focus on the importance of the earliest years The Department of Public Health (DPH) has received funding to implement the Home Visiting Grant Program focused on improving coordination of services for at risk communities etc. EEC has also worked with the Childrens Trust Fund on training Coordinated Family and Community Engagement grantees on the Strengthening Families model and embedded the model within procurements.

26. 27 Next Steps 27 November 2010: Continued Committee discussion Board vote to send Report to Governors Office via EOE