About Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems

Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems: Health Integration Prenatal-to-Three Initiative

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Early Childhood Developmental Health Systems: Evidence to Impact 

The first three years of life lay the foundation for social, emotional, and physical development throughout the life course. Early childhood development is impacted by the systems that children, parents, and families find themselves in. These systems can facilitate coordination across sectors, promote equity, and amplify the voices of families and communities. Comprehensive early childhood systems bring together health, early care and education, child welfare, and other human services and community supports to create a seamless continuum of care for thriving children and families.

With funding support from the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Washington State Department of Health and partners are implementing the Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems: Health Integration Prenatal-to-Three (ECCS) and the Early Childhood Developmental Health Systems: Evidence to Impact (ECDHS) initiatives. These initiatives strengthen systems and improve early childhood developmental health and family well-being outcomes beginning prenatally.

What we are working on:

Strengthening the Help Me Grow Washington system to improve families access to the services and supports they need.

Collaborating with Washington Communities for Children to identify local, culturally relevant family services and advance local and state partners to promote early childhood developmental health and family well-being.

Coordinating with the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to identify opportunities to strengthen care coordination and integration of health services with other early childhood supports.

Aligning ECCS activities with the Early Learning Coordination Plan to support statewide implementation.

Identifying opportunities to partner with existing family leadership groups and initiatives to amplify family voice and promote equity in decision-making.

Supporting the implementation of the universal developmental screening system Strong Start to increase access to developmental screenings and supportive services for families, healthcare providers, and early learning partners.

Partnering with pilot communities to co-design, implement, and evaluate strategies that increase coordination among navigators and coordinators (e.g., Community Health Workers, Home Visitors, Family Resource Navigators) who work in early childhood                                  developmental health systems to improve how                                        families access and experience care coordination.

Collecting and analyzing social, economic, and child health data to identify and address social and structural barriers affecting access to early childhood developmental health services and supports.