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Elevating Voices Continuum, Step Up & Step Back

1. I am the caregiver of a young child (birth – age 8)

1. In my role, I interact with children and families every day.

2. In my role, I interact with children and families occasionally.

3. In my role, I do not regularly interact with children and families, but I do have a vested interest.

The intention of using this technique is not to prioritize one person’s voice over another, but rather to ensure that we are creating space for those with lived experience and include different perspectives.

Developed by Jessica Gillard, EdD

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Agenda

1. Welcome!

2. The Context Today

3. The Evolution of The Agenda

5. Breakout Rooms - Workgroup Recommendations

6. Next Steps

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The Context Today

Sustaining Progress Given Current Context in MA and US

Remember Your Why

Preserve and Protect

Strategize and Plan

Research and Data Collection

Implementation Advocacy

Regulation and Policy Change

Increased Investments

You Belong

�

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Two Years In Review

In the past two years…

We convened over 1,000 partners from across the state to identify 10 priorities for the early childhood community!

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Two Years In Review

In the past two years…

We announced our 10 priorities at the Massachusetts State House!

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Two Years In Review

In the past two years…

We launched a new website!

Visit us at www.earlychildhoodagenda.org

to learn more about the Agenda and get involved!

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Two Years In Review

In the past two years…

We celebrated the wins of our coalition partners!

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Two Years In Review

In the past two years…

We created new partnerships and stood up a new structure designed to connect policy to people! You identified potential solutions and made progress that will help us all build a stronger early childhood system:

6 workgroups

10 facilitators

10 lived experience leaders

16 monthly meetings

Countless new relationships!

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Two Years In Review

In the past two years…

We hosted our Spring Convening at Polar Park - over 130 people came from across the state to meet in person, learn from, and inspire one another.

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�So…what comes next?

�

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SFC Reflections

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Strategic Plan Focus Question

What is the central question we will explore together?

For Strategies for Children Strategic Planning with Ronda Alexander

How might SFC leverage existing resources and staff and grow capacity to create and implement a clear, abundance-centered plan and build bridges across MA’s early childhood system in order to bring about significant systemic change?

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�

Your insights will help us reflect on the past two years and assess what’s working, what isn’t, and how we can shape the future of The Early Childhood Agenda in Massachusetts.

This survey should take 10-15 minutes.

Your responses will be kept confidential. 38 responses and counting!!

�Our Survey

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�

How to structure the Agenda:

Review and recommit to mission, values and vision for The Early Childhood Agenda. �See website for more details.
Evaluate logistics for participation (meeting locations, times, Basecamp / communications, etc.)
Incorporate futurism, abundance mindset and collective impact.
Continue to use consensus-building process to identify challenges and solutions.

Potential Paths Forward

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�

Simplify structure - move from multiple meetings each month across six facilitated workgroups to less frequent recurring meeting structure.
Moving from workgroup to learning community and project teams.
Explore wheel and spoke model that connects coalitions and project teams to inter-connected overall structure.
Continue to provide support for lived experience, facilitation, development activities, advocacy, etc.

Potential Paths Forward

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�

How to partner with coalitions:

Expand contacts and relationships with coalitions across MA. Better understand opportunities to add value.
Organize focus groups, listening sessions, working groups to bring early childhood perspective to coalition conversations and activities.
Pursue joint funding opportunities. Collaborate on cross-sector / aligned policy solutions.
Build out communications capacity to support increased awareness about coalition activities, advocacy opportunities, key messages, and priorities.

Potential Paths Forward

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�

We’re working on a presentation to share recommendations and workgroup progress!
Potential Event in Spring / Summer
REMINDER: Help inform our next steps!
Take the survey: https://forms.gle/1YNLaErbrK1ufaWFA
Consider opportunities to continue the work!

�Next Steps

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The Early Childhood Agenda

Recommendations

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1LPyNLwVN5VbB4zRhmJ5HPF-jXH3TMRb9/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=107659832533997055973&rtpof=true&sd=true

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Breakout Room Instructions

Room 1 - EEC Workforce Compensation (#2) and Quality Improvement Infrastructure (#5) GREEN

Room 2 - Local Infrastructure (#6) and Public Awareness (#8) BLUE

Room 3 - Developmental Monitoring, Screening and Referrals (#4) and Linking Health and Early Childhood (#9) ORANGE

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Breakout Room Instructions

1. SFC staff will facilitate the conversation.

2. Select one notetaker in your breakout room.

3. Please join a breakout room. The facilitators in each room will share thought-provoking questions that fall under one of the key themes below. �You will hear from workgroup members on latest thinking and be asked to brainstorm/discuss potential next steps.

What have you learned?
Given what your group has learned, what recommendations do you have moving forward?
How can we continue to build on your progress?

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Room 1

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	How & Resources/Tools
Create a roadmap for compensation increases for EEC staff in MA –Take into consideration a scale that recognizes and compensates professional qualifications(ie, AA, BA/ BS, MEd; years experience) –need a glossary for all our acronyms and terms	Common Start Coalition, FCCs, educators, Center Directors, Center Owners, families, Department of Early Education and Care, Education Committee, Ways and Means Committee	Shared Vision, Timeline (multi-year), Key Messages, Advocacy Strategy, Community Engagement, Collective Action, Revenue (funding sources), Investment Schedule, Cost Modeling, Data Collection, Compensation Improvement Mechanisms (Program Design and Program Implementation)
Example: convene public-private group to support planning effort
Example: implementation advocacy with EEC on credential, salary scale, cost modeling, C3 and other programs that may impact compensation. Data on current landscape, creating new and supporting existing FCCs, EC programs, and plan for expansion
Action Step 3

WORKGROUP #2: Advance EEC Workforce Compensation
Planning and Shared Vision

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Room 1

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	How & Resources/Tools
Identify additional professionals in early childhood with compensation improvement needs (i.e home visiting)
Action Step 1: Comp without burdening families–find other funding sources
Gain a better understanding of EEC workforce access to benefits and opportunities for improvement
Action Step

WORKGROUP #2: Advance EEC Workforce Compensation
Request More Information

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Room 1

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	How & Resources/Tools
Create a quick resource document for educators on infrastructure support
Action Step
A fully comprehensive statewide study on all existing infrastructure
Action Step

WORKGROUP #5: Quality Improvement Infrastructure

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Room 1

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	How & Resources/Tools
A centralized interactive website with all resources
Action Step
A shared definition of high-quality and metrics to access
Action Step

WORKGROUP #5: Quality Improvement Infrastructure

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Build Awareness & Make the Case

RECOMMENDATION:
Raise awareness for the importance of and investment in local infrastructure and share what we are learning along the way.

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	How & Resources/Tools
Promote Connecting the Dots: Infrastructure to Help Massachusetts Families with Young Children Connect to Services and other workgroup materials / national examples	Go back to the State’s Family Engagement Plan. Broadening stakeholders - critical audiences CFCE advisory council CPPI advisory council Chambers of commerce, ECFC, Business Community Faith based organizations - connections to families, cultural competency Target:	Social media/blog(s) 9:30 Call - guest speakers Connecting the Dots (report) Local Family Navigation Survey (findings) Reference the infrastructure that exists for elder services - Council on Aging
Advocacy with state legislature and state and local government including Governor’s Task Force Advocating itself		Panel discussions/present/testimony Submit reports with cover points?
Create a suite of resources to support communities in planning efforts State agencies take responsibility for creating the collaborative infrastructure	The FED - working cities challenge (inclusive economies) Unit of Measure - large city / small city / regional rural structure (urban/suburban/rural)	Develop a community self assessment tool that local communities could use to evaluate and strengthen current early childhood system. Case Studies - Boston, Chelsea, Worcester, Somerville (compressed) Infrastructure Components Overview Community Map tool Promising Features (inc nc examples, visuals & links) Communication Tools/Mechanisms

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Family Connection & Support Structures

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	How & Resources/Tools
Fund at least one at least one FT person to coordinate the work in each community. Sell it and build relationship - define value proposition	EEC (CFCES) Department of Children and Families (FRC)	Funding Define the role to ensure the sole focus is on cross-sector collaboration Consider the agency/entity that this person works for
Identify brick & mortar doors & create virtual hub. (regionally or in each locality)	Boston (Kristin McSwain); East Boston Social Centers (Katie White); Parents, parents, parents Technical Assistance / Phone Call / Website MA 211 - established network website Hubs Libraries CFCE resource list State website / search tools CCR&Rs FindHelp website	Identify existing catalysts Design resources that incorporate as much as possible (may not always be possible) Healthcare / newborn stage - baby passport in Worcester Baby pop ups - networking for providers
Create statewide family-friendly name, branding and marketing campaign.		Done creatively, by experts in branding and marketing campaigns, for the state but not by the state
Establish guidelines and allow for community-led decisions for implementation in community context.		Funding, Call to Action to Convene, Family Engagement Strategy
Establish shared, cross-sector data system	Friends of Longitudinal Data Systems (FoLDS)

RECOMMENDATION:
Establish local entity to lead navigation, outreach and cross-sector collaboration.

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Family Voice & Lived Experience

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	How & Resources/Tools
Identify strategies, models and frameworks to authentically engage families and those with lived experience	Families First, Groupings / Councils Landscape - collective
Develop Principles & Values document for authentic inclusion of family voice & lived experience
Elevate bright spots and examples of this work in MA communities and other states. Create best practices summary document (in progress)
Create opportunities for training and professional development. This work needs to be done well to be effective.	Elaine Zimmerman, ACF - expertise Family Engagement Framework - EEC/DPH/DESE	Professional development for communities Hold communities accountable Data collection

RECOMMENDATION:
Ensure that local infrastructure is driven by a consortium in each locality that brings together providers, families, and others with a vested interest.

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Funding

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	How & Resources/Tools
Develop & maintain state-level fiscal map for children’s funding	SFC, EEC & DESE, DPH & other state agencies MA Taxpayers Foundation	TA from Children’s Funding Project
Establish cross-sector, interdisciplinary Children’s Funding Advisory Council/Panel to support project
Establish state-level Children’s Funding Coordinator position via public-private partnership		Consider which public/private entities get to hold this position Ensuring all EC agencies in local communities know about and have access to this person/information
Pilot 6-8 local/community Children’s Funding Coordinators - MA chort		Create MA CFC Cohort with Children’s Funding Project Create “Readiness Criteria” building off of CFP Secure philanthropic funding for proof of concept.

RECOMMENDATION:
Build an understanding of funding (for children) and actively support expanded investment via braided, blended, and new funding sources

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Coalitions & Governance

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	Resources/Tools
Support collaborative efforts on needs assessment and strategic planning at the local level, identify needed technical assistance	The entities that are doing this work, establish a group that can provide support, TA, exchange ideas etc.
Identify bright spots, pitfalls and opportunities around governance and convening for MA early community efforts	Mutual exchange that can happen with the others in our recommendations (Funding Coordinator, Portal etc.)
Identify data needs and gaps in information for local planning
Establish membership and regional catchment areas
Create opportunities for cross-sector collaboration focused on birth - five within state government	Governor’s Task Force, Children’s Trust (board?), Child and Adolescent Health Iniitiative	Advocacy / Coalition work to establish a vision and strategy Local governance structures funded opportunities to work collaboratively

RECOMMENDATION:
TBD: Elevate promising models and mechanisms for cross-sector municipal leadership for early childhood systems.

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Room 2

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	How & Resources/Tools
Organize opportunities for community dialogue centered on the importance of early childhood
Action Step
Design early childhood focused surveys or city census questionnaires for communities to better understand resident’s needs
Action Step

WORKGROUP #8: Public Awareness

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Room 2

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	How & Resources/Tools
Partner with EC101 to further develop glossary of terms and increase language awareness		Here's something else around simplifying language: https://earlylearningnation.com/2024/10/simplicity-visibility-and-tangible-child-care-solutions-qa-with-bainum-family-foundations-marica-cox-mitchell/ Here is a resource around message framing that I have recently heard about: https://www.frameworksinstitute.org/resources/what-does-caring-mean-a-new-framing-strategy-to-shift-thinking-about-kids-and-families/
Action Step
Increase public awareness about the importance of early childhood
Action Step

WORKGROUP #8: Public Awareness

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Room 3

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	How & Resources/Tools
Draft legislation to create a common identifier to monitor children’s progress within all government agencies from birth through the public school system.	WIC, EI, Department of Early Education and Care
Improve research in the area and show current successes		ECIDS is a data resource that already exists Show the gains made with having the right child-teacher ratio
Find measures that can be used a light-touch screening tool		There are existing tools (sensory screening tools, but not free); we need some that pick up the socio-emotional piece Screening tool through Tufts How do we identify kids who sit at the fringes of the screening tool? There are preventative screening tools, but they are not used across the board (newer) Organize conversation around recognizable/observable behaviors (not just “thresholds”) Better assessment for 3-5 year olds (no longer qualify for EI)

WORKGROUP #4: Developmental Monitoring, Screening, and Referral
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JL50h5Jk4gSYTlowc8TLmJpdoOtMUOaK/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105185036444485112713&rtpof=true&sd=true

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Room 3

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	How & Resources/Tools
Draft legislation to recommend steps toward the early relational health model/medical home model that includes a closed loop referral and community screeners (as well as connections to state agencies)
Document compliance failures, gaps in service delivery, and issues with timelines		City-wide screen every child program Identify gaps and explanation for WHY these gaps exist (lack of knowledge, staffing shortages, etc.)
Strengthen talent pipeline to decrease turnover/burnout	Forge partnerships with higher ed institutions who are already making that part of their curriculum	The Behavioral Health Workforce Challenge Add “reflective supervision” to training/onboarding - can help prevent burnout Encourage funding towards prevention focused work and training

WORKGROUP #4: Developmental Monitoring, Screening, and Referral
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JL50h5Jk4gSYTlowc8TLmJpdoOtMUOaK/edit#slide=id.g31bb283afd9_4_178

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Room 3

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	How & Resources/Tools
Increase awareness about how each sector works and why they need to be connected		Elevate existing resources (e.g., Mass 211 system, 413 cares, etc.)
Create incentives for people in each sector to learn about other sectors	Medical practitioners, ECE providers Boston Opportunity Agenda	Creating accredited trainings and inclusion of this information in medical education Requirement for EEC grant awards Training hub available throughout the greater Boston area (culturally-competent, trauma-informed, family engagement skill sets, family leadership pipelines)
Facilitate data sharing between sectors
Have family navigators to help families transition between different sectors	EI case managers, resource navigators, educational navigators	Sustainable funding for coach-to-coach model Offer solutions that are not dependent on specific staff and instead utilize a common identifier

WORKGROUP #9: Linking Health and Early Childhood

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Room 3

Action Steps	Who Needs to be Involved?	How & Resources/Tools
Support positions / models / coalitions that create linkages
Offer another tier of support for children that don’t meet the requirements to qualify for more intensive services Promote wider adoption of coordinated care models Optimize the use of Childcare Health Consultants Support other positions that promote sector linkages	Community Health Links, Together for Kids	Diagnostics can help us understand what children need, and we can tie it to intervention strategies for how to upskill the appropriate staff
Alter the payer environment to encourage delivery of holistic services
Action StepLeverage and align existing payment approaches, federal law and practice innovations to establish an enhanced well-child care services model to promote healthy development that is guideline-based, personalized and systems-oriented� Advocate for payment strategies that integrate ACEs, healthy parenting and positive health development topics into federal and state standards, policies and initiatives in alignment with Bright Futures guidelines and EPSDT – across clinical settings.� Promote alternative payment models (APMs) with quality metrics focused on early detection and prevention, primary care, and special considerations for children with complex healthcare needs.

WORKGROUP #9: Linking Health and Early Childhood