Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care

Promote Access to Comprehensive Services

Online Resources

Resources about comprehensive services in child care may also refer to these issues as "whole child" development, socio-emotional development, infant/toddler mental health, or school readiness.

Information on comprehensive services and Early Head Start:

The requirements for comprehensive services throughout the Head Start Program Performance Standards (which govern federally funded Early Head Start programs) provide examples of services that vulnerable infants and toddlers need.
Head Start's Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center provides information on child development, family and community partnerships, and Early Head Start programs.
The report Building on the Promise: State Initiatives to Expand Access to Early Head Start for Young Children and their Families, by CLASP and ZERO TO THREE, provides state models for expanding Early Head Start. Detailed profiles of ten state initiatives are also available.
The Early Head Start National Resource Center has published a technical assistance paper entitled, Developmental Screening, Assessment, and Evaluation: Key Elements for Individualizing Curricula in Early Head Start Programs. This paper is also available in Spanish.

Information on coordinating state systems to connect elements of comprehensive services with child care:

Improving the Odds, a project of the National Center on Children in Poverty state profiles on comprehensive indicators of early childhood development. See what your state is doing in the areas of health and nutrition, early care and learning, and parenting and economic supports, that could offer opportunities to bring comprehensive services to child care. (NCCP), provides national, regional, and
The Maternal and Child Health Bureau has awarded grants to 48 states under its Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) Initiative, to help states build systems for young children with five components: access to health care and medical homes, socio-emotional and mental health, early care and education, parenting education, and family support. Project THRIVE at the National Center on Children in Poverty (NCCP) provides additional resources to these state grantees on comprehensive systems, including ECCS state summaries.
The Early Childhood Systems Working Group has created a visual tool of a State Early Childhood Development System, linking early learning; special needs/early intervention; health, mental health, and nutrition; and family support.
Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires states to identify and serve infants and toddlers with disabilities and developmental delays. The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC) provides further information on states' IDEA Part C policies, contacts, and other resources.
The Strengthening Families project, developed by the Center for the Study of Social Policy and currently operating in at least seven states, aims to reduce child abuse and neglect by offering family supports and services through child care and early education programs to build "protective factors" for vulnerable families.
The Food Research and Action Center has materials explaining the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and how state administrators can use the program to provide nutritious meals and snacks and training/monitoring in all child care settings, including family, friend, and neighbor settings. Geraldine Henchy is the director of nutrition policy and early childhood programs.
The Child Care Bureau's National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC) runs the PACT Initiative-Partnerships, Alliances, and Coordination Techniques-on building comprehensive early care and education systems. NCCIC has several other resources available on other portions of their website, such as a table of state governance structures for early child care and education programs.
The Urban Institute's 2008 paper, Designing Subsidy Systems to Meet the Needs of Families, recommends strategies for states seeking to align their child care subsidy systems with other state support systems that low-income families access.

Information on providing comprehensive services in a culturally competent way:

The Annie E. Casey Foundation's toolkit, Building Culturally and Linguistically Competent Services to Support Young Children, Their Families, and School Readiness, includes information on planning and implementation, family-friendly communication, provider training, and other resources.
The National Center for Cultural Competence at Georgetown University's Center for Child and Human Development provides resources and tools, research and evidence, and promising practices for developing linguistic and cultural competence in services.
CLAS, the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services Early Childhood Research Institute, has several online resources, such as materials for early childhood professionals on Working with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families and Review Guidelines. These online resources help child care providers evaluate the appropriateness of their activities and materials on topics including emotional/social development, child assessments, and family support networks.

Information on infant/toddler specialists and child care consultants:

The National Infant and Toddler Child Care Initiative at ZERO TO THREE has catalogued states with infant/toddler specialists and specialist networks.
The Healthy Child Care Consultant Network Support Center has state profiles on how states are using consultants to promote children's healthy development in child care settings. Information can also be compared across states.

Information on "making the case" for investments in comprehensive services:

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University has written several publications, such as A Science-Based Framework for Early Childhood Policy, which reviews research from neuroscience, behavioral science, developmental science, economics, and early childhood program evaluations to inform a wide array of policies that invest in children.
The Birth to Five Policy Alliance works to shift the odds for the nation's most vulnerable children and has collected a set of materials to make the case for investing in young children's comprehensive development.
A toolkit by the State Early Childhood Policy Technical Assistance Network (SECPTAN), entitled Seven Things Policy Makers Need to Know about School Readiness, emphasizes the importance of comprehensive services in early care and education. For example, see the briefing papers within the toolkit entitled "Nurture as well as Nature Matters," "Quality Matters," and "Investments Pay Off."
Docs for Tots has a series of resources relating to advocacy for comprehensive services, such as talking points and presentations that include resources focused on infants and toddlers.

Visit page: http://www.clasp.org/babiesinchildcare/recommendations?id=0012