The Early Childhood Learning & Development team at SRI Education held a four-part Early Childhood State Systems Building Webinar Series. We hosted one webinar each month from March through June 2023. The first webinar was presented in partnership with ICF. Each webinar focused on a different topic in early childhood state systems building such as needs assessment and strategic planning, coordinated eligibility and enrollment, engaging partners in planning for data systems, and family engagement.
This webinar series was available to the open public to attend and at no cost. Please find more information regarding each webinar below. Contact earlylearning@sri.com for any additional questions and inquiries.
Download the following webinar descriptions as a PDF.
Part 1: Needs Assessment and Strategic Planning for Early Childhood: What’s Data Got To Do With It?
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Many U.S. states and territories are working on a comprehensive early childhood care and education (ECCE) needs assessment and related strategic plan. Data provide the foundation for the needs assessment and inform the strategic plan. Join us to learn about the “what” and “why” of data for each step of the path from designing an initial needs assessment to updating an existing strategic plan and everything in between. Topics will include engaging stakeholders, selecting data elements, and aligning initiatives and programs to outcomes.
Download the Part 1 presentation slides as a PDF.
Meet the Presenters:
Mandy Reeve is an expert in managing, planning, and coordinating the development of state policies and initiatives to improve the quality of early care and education programs. She has extensive experience guiding community members, staff, and leaders in collecting data, needs assessment, and strategic planning efforts for ECCE system change. Connect with Mandy on LinkedIn.
Debra Andersen (ICF) is an expert in ECCE system coordination and collaboration at the national, state, and local level. She provides leadership for public health and ECCE state systems implementation, strategic planning, ECIDS, infant and early childhood mental health consultations and interventions, developmental screening and interventions, and community-based early childhood initiatives, effectively navigating change in state systems. Connect with Debra on LinkedIn.
Grace Kelley has extensive experience in conducting needs assessment and facilitating and implementing strategic planning for organizations ranging from local community organizations, associations, and state agencies to national organizations. She is currently working with states on data quality, and data collection, analysis, and use for program improvement and systems change. Learn more about Grace.
Part 2: Let’s Work Together (to Make Families’ Lives Easier)! How to Coordinate Eligibility and Enrollment to Increase Equitable Access to Services
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Coordinated eligibility and enrollment (CEE) is an exciting systems-building strategy that can improve family access to early childhood care and education programs. Improved and more equitable access occurs when services are more coordinated, the system is easily navigated, and enrollment processes are transparent. CEE has incredible promise as a strategy for achieving these goals but state and local leaders often don’t know where to start. What does it take to standardize intake and referral processes, create a common application, or fully coordinate enrollment into a defined set of programs? In other words, how do you “do” CEE? Join us to find out! We will present three critical action steps for implementing CEE, including examples of local and state successes.
Download the Part 2 presentation slides as a PDF.
Meet the Presenters:
Wei-Bing Chen is a leading expert in early childhood coordinated eligibility and enrollment and has supported numerous states in launching and refining their CEE efforts. She has presented on this topic in multiple national forums and recently published a brief on this topic. Connect with Wei-Bing on LinkedIn.
Denise Mauzy has extensive experience with state early childhood systems and quality initiatives, data governance and management, and communications and outreach at the federal, state, and local levels. She currently works with state and federal partners on a variety of topics, including early childhood workforce development, early childhood program quality, state systems building, data governance and management, and use of data for program improvement and systems change. Connect with Denise on LinkedIn.
Part 3: Don’t Do It Alone! Engage the Right Partners to Plan for Your ECIDS
Thursday, May 4, 2023; 2-3 PM ET
Creating an early childhood integrated data system (ECIDS) is a collaborative, multi-step, multi-year process. Getting input from those who will be impacted by the ECIDS as data contributors and data users is critical to success in the later steps. One proven strategy for gathering input is the co-development of data use cases. Join us as we share tools states can use to effectively engage ECCE data partners and constituencies to develop data use cases to drive data system planning efforts. Hear examples of how other states have used these tools to successfully plan for an ECIDS.
Download the Part 3 presentation slides as a PDF.
Meet the Presenters:
Howard Morrison is a leading expert on use case-driven data systems planning and has supported numerous states in planning and implementing their ECIDS. He has extensive experience in interagency data integration and use, data governance, data sharing agreements, constituency engagement, and state systems. Connect with Howard on LinkedIn and Twitter @howardamorrison.
Rebecca Valenchis is a seasoned technical assistance specialist with extensive expertise in early childhood, special education, data governance and management, and communications and outreach at the federal, state, and local levels. Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn.
Part 4: Information is Key: Engaging Families by Supporting Decision-Making
Thursday, June 8, 2023; 3-4 PM ET
Families have a lot to consider in choosing an early childhood care and education (ECCE) program, such as program location, cost, eligibility criteria, and availability. States and communities can help families engage with the ECCE system by providing them with information they need for their decision-making. Join us to learn about how states can compile data to develop a landscape of the ECCE offerings around the state and share that information with families in easily accessible and useable ways so they can select the early care and education program that best meet their needs.
Download the Part 4 presentation slides as a PDF.
Meet the Presenters:
Mandy Reeve is an expert in managing, planning, and coordinating the development of state policies and initiatives to improve the quality of early childhood care and education programs. She has particular interest and expertise in access to early childhood care and education programs. Connect with Mandy on LinkedIn.
Kathy Hebbeler has been supporting state and local communities in building better early childhood care and education systems for over 30 years. Her expertise includes systems building, policy analysis, program evaluation, and using data for program improvement. Connect with Kathy on LinkedIn.