Racial inequities embedded in our current health care system make prenatal and maternal health care less accessible and less responsive to Black mothers regardless of their socio-economic status.

In a recent Block Club Chicago article exploring how doulas can help even the playing field in maternal health for women of color, Denise Cain — a mother in Start Early’s (formerly known as the Ounce) Healthy Parents & Babies program — spoke about how she benefitted from having a doula guide her through her second pregnancy and postpartum care.

“Support from a doula — who is trained to advise and offer emotional and physical support to mothers before and after birth — can make a big difference in the unequal health outcomes women of color face,” Diana McClarien, vice president of Start Early’s Early Head Start & Head Start Network shared in the piece.

In the piece, Start Early doula Patricia Ceja-Muhsen explains how doulas help inform women about all the different choices they can make, empowering them to have more control over their pregnancy and birthing process. She also adds that doulas can make sure doctors listen, address all of an expecting mom’s concerns and fully inform women about their options and the care they are receiving.

Start Early’s direct-service programs provide critical supports to young parents for building strong relationships with their baby and creating a safe and stimulating home environment. It is programs like these that can ensure all new moms and babies, including Black moms and babies, receive the quality physical and emotional care they need and deserve.

Read the full article at Block Club Chicago.

Quality early learning and care can help our country address so many of the issues raised during this week’s confirmation hearing for President Biden’s nominee for education secretary, Miguel Cardona, including addressing the opportunity gap, providing social and emotional supports, and providing learning opportunities that are culturally and linguistically responsive and honor students’ unique needs and abilities.

Learning begins at birth and our education system should begin then as well. We can’t expect the K-12 system to remediate opportunity gaps that open before a child’s first birthday.

Cardona shared a desire to not only meet the immediate needs of students and their families amidst the pandemic, but to think beyond the present to design for building back better. This will require new ways of thinking and working. While today’s hearing focused on K-12 and higher education, we hope Cardona will address our education system as a single, interconnected journey that begins at birth (and before) and that must provide equitably and adequately for our students at every step. Of course, this will require aligning and coordinating early childhood work across the federal government, as strengthening early childhood programs and supports won’t be the work of the Education Department (ED) alone. We hope Cardona will champion these investments, even if they might happen outside of the Education Department, and partner closely with his peer leaders at other federal agencies that deeply impact young children, particularly the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, the collaboration between ED and HHS departments would send a message to system leaders at all levels to do the same — creating an opportunity to use ED’s bully pulpit to drive radical collaboration that benefits all children.

We appreciate the focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion and addressing the opportunity gap in the vision that Cardona has laid out. Additionally, we appreciate his commitment to examining school discipline issues and inequities, which have serious implications for all children, including our youngest learners and children of color.

Sens. Kaine and Cassidy also raised issues around supports for learners who have disabilities. Appropriate screening and early intervention are critical to ensuring their success, as is increasing funding the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act. We agree with Cardona that this would be a “game-changer” for learners.

Finally, it is important that all educators be offered the opportunity to be vaccinated as quickly as possible, a task that is so much harder in early childhood given the fragmentation of programs and providers. Given the vaccine roll out has varied at the local level, we encourage federal guidance that all educators be prioritized—whether they teach toddlers or 12th graders.

We encourage Commissioner Cardona, as well as the President and Congress, to continue to move quickly on delivering COVID-19 relief to children, families, and those who serve them, including ensuring that educators — beginning with those who teach our youngest learners — are included in priority groups for vaccine access.

Empowering parents in their role as their child’s first and most important teacher is an essential component of quality early learning and care.

A recent piece in “Early Learning Nation” looks at the benefits of intensive family engagement, a key component of the Educare model featured in a new documentary, “Tomorrow’s Hope.” One of the educators featured in the film is Brenda Eiland-Williford, director of early childhood quality and impact at Start Early. She shares how partnering with parents — building a foundation of support, bonding and relationships — can help communities undergoing transitions and give children and families “the problem-solving, conflict-management and self-regulation skills to thrive.”

Family engagement will also be critical to the success of cities, states and communities as they reckon with how to rebuild early childhood systems back better in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents and caregivers have the clearest perspective of what their family needs, and family voices — like those featured in “Tomorrow’s Hope” — must be included in the planning, implementation, oversight and evaluation of all programs serving children from birth to age 5 and their families.

Rebecca Berlin, chief learning officer at Start Early and principal investigator of the National Center for Parent, Family and Community Engagement (NCPFCE) why lifting up family voices is so important in another “Early Learning Nation” piece: “We know this will lead to early learning programs that truly support family well-being, effective family and community engagement and children’s school readiness so that every child has the opportunity to thrive.”

We are excited to share our annual Start Early 2020 Year In Review report, which showcases the incredible work achieved throughout last fiscal year (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020). The last half of the year proved to be challenging and uncertain – yet, the unyielding resilience of families and the early learning and care field during a devastating global pandemic has been inspiring.

The highlights from this past fiscal year demonstrate how our work and our longstanding goals for transformation have been accelerated by the crises that face our country. The report also showcases the innovative solutions that early learning champions developed and deployed to address the unprecedented challenges impacting families.

2020 Year in Review

As we look forward, Start Early recommits to strengthening and deepening our role as an anti-racist organization that works in true partnership with communities to ensure the voices of families are represented, heard and valued. We are grateful for the ongoing support of our partners and donors, and together, we can advance better, more equitable early learning opportunities for our youngest children.

Amid the challenging and ever-changing circumstances of 2020, Start Early continued to expand its reach and rapidly responded to the changing needs of children and their families across the country. Our work would not be possible without you – our generous and dedicated donors.

I am excited to share with you Start Early’s annual Year In Review. The fiscal year 2020 edition highlights the unyielding resilience of children, families and early learning and care professionals during a devastating global pandemic. It also includes the innovative solutions and supports that early learning champions developed and deployed to address the unprecedented challenges impacting families. I am most humbled by the inspirational stories of strength from the field, especially those of parents and our youngest learners.

2020 Year in Review

I look forward to connecting with you soon and wish you and your family a wonderful and safe holiday season.

All the best,
Diana

Start Early is pleased to announce it has been awarded the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (NCPFCE) by the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start, in partnership with the Office of Child Care. The NCPFCE is one of four National Centers that develop evidence-based best practices for Early Head Start and Head Start programs across the country, as part of a comprehensive Office of Head Start Training and Technical Assistance System.

This award provides up to $5.9 million annually ($29.5 million over 5 years) to Start Early and a consortium of partners — Child Trends, LIFT, Early Learning Lab, Fred Rogers Center, and the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute — to support family well-being, effective family and community engagement, and children’s school readiness, including transitions to kindergarten. These partnerships will integrate the research-practice knowledge of family and community engagement, human services, early childhood, social work, mental health, parenting, leadership, and family economic mobility into the NCPFCE content and activities. Start Early will focus on creating high-quality responsive training and technical assistance, rooted in equity and cultural and linguistic responsiveness, to support staff, families and communities nationwide.

“We are honored to work with an incredible group of partners as we continue building upon Head Start’s commitment to parents as their child’s first teachers,” said Start Early president Diana Rauner. “Together we will further bring family engagement, parent voice and community engagement to the forefront of early childhood education over the next five years.”

The NCPFCE identifies, develops and disseminates evidence-based best practices to support the growth and development of young children and strengthen families and communities. Its work includes providing training and technical assistance on staff-family relationship building practices that are culturally and linguistically responsive; integrated and systemic family engagement strategies that are outcomes-based; and consumer education, family leadership, family economic stability, and individualized support for families facing adversity.

The NCPFCE will have a strong equity focus and will partner with schools in the Educare Learning Network and other Early Head Start/Head Start (EHS/HS) grantees across the country to create, pilot and field test innovations in parent, family and community engagement. This will ensure that training and technical assistance (TTA) activities result in high-quality comprehensive services that bring diverse family, community and program voices to the center of the work.

Start Early brings nearly 40 years of expertise delivering best-in-class doula, home visiting and Early Head Start and Head Start programs and advocating for thoughtful policies and adequate funding at the local, state, and federal levels. From roots directly serving families and children on Chicago’s South Side and in rural Illinois, Start Early has expanded to impact early childhood programs and policies nationwide, with partnerships in 25 states.

Dr. Rebecca Berlin, senior vice president of quality, solutions and impact and Dr. Mallary Swartz, director of family engagement research at Start Early will serve as principal investigators for the NCPFCE. Berlin has more than 25 years of experience in strategic visioning in the early childhood field, including assessment and professional development initiatives. Swartz brings 20 years of experience as an applied researcher in family engagement and relationships-based professional development in early childhood education, particularly EHS/HS programs.

Start Early has also hired Brandi Black Thacker, director of TTA and integrated services and Manda Lopez Klein, director of the NCPFCE to lead the NCPFCE. Together, the two early childhood professionals bring a combined 40 years of experience as Head Start leaders and advocates to the work.

Throughout her career, Thacker has served communities as an educator, case manager, advocate, Head Start director, TTA specialist and served as the director of TTA for the NCPFCE for the past nine years. Klein is a former Head Start director and the founding executive director of the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association (MSHS), and is an expert in curriculum development, family engagement material development, and professional development, including services for monolingual and bilingual families.

“As national Head Start leaders and advocates, Brandi and Manda bring decades of experience collaborating with families and community partners to the new NCPFCE,” said Rebecca Berlin, senior vice president of quality, solutions and impact. “Under their leadership, the NCPFCE will continue to elevate diverse voices that strengthen the work and ensure better outcomes for children and families across the country.”

As a first step, Start Early will sign the cooperative agreement later this month and launch the center by the end of November.

About Start Early

Start Early (formerly known as the Ounce of Prevention) is a nonprofit public-private partnership advancing quality early learning and care for families with children, before birth through their earliest years, to help close the opportunity gap. For nearly 40 years, Start Early has delivered best-in-class doula, home visiting, and Early Head Start and Head Start programs. Bringing expertise in program delivery, research and evaluation, professional development, and policy and advocacy, Start Early works in partnership with communities and other experts to drive systemic change so millions more children, families and educators can thrive.

Maia Connors, director of research and policy initiatives at Start Early recently spoke to WTTW about findings from “Closer to Home,” a report by education researchers at Start Early, NORC at the University of Chicago and the UChicago Consortium on School Research.

Overall, the report found policy changes launched in 2013 enabled greater equity in both access to and enrollment in Chicago Public Schools’ full-day, school-based pre-K.

“After these policy changes, these full-day opportunities were expanded greatly and Black students and students living in the lowest-income neighborhoods were the most likely to enroll in full-day pre-K,” Maia Connors, director of research and policy initiatives at Start Early, told WTTW News. “So I think that’s really a drastic change that shows that Chicago really was able to achieve greater equity.”

Connors also spoke to how this additional access to pre-K education can have a lasting impact on students’ lives.

“Prior research really shows that enrolling in high-quality pre-K is really critical for young children’s learning and that children really benefit a lot,” she said. “It can set them on a trajectory to greater academic achievement (and) longer-term positive outcomes as adults.”

Read the full story.

Diana Rauner, president of Start Early and Dr. James Heckman, the Nobel prize-winning professor of economics at the University of Chicago kicked off last month’s ASU-GSV Digital Summit with a discussion on the state of innovation in early childhood.

Their discussion ranged from Heckman’s work on long-term impacts of early childhood investments, new ways of measuring social and emotional outcomes, and the importance of investing in parents during these unprecedented times. A video of the discussion and key takeaways are below.

This October, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Every Child Ready Chicago, a new collective initiative to build the systems infrastructure needed to ensure all of the city’s children enter kindergarten ready to learn and thrive. Start Early is proud to support Mayor Lightfoot and the City of Chicago, providing strategic and logistical support to the initiative.

In support of the public launch of the initiative, Start Early president Diana Rauner and senior vice president of advocacy and policy Kristin Bernhard spoke with local media about the state of early learning in the city and what the initiative means for Chicago’s families and children.

In an appearance on WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight,” Diana Rauner shared the importance focusing on children before birth through age 5. “We know the first five years of life, beginning before birth, are a critical time to build attachment relationships, to build and lay the foundation in the brain to manage frustration, handle communication, build social and emotional skills and the critical language skills that help children enter kindergarten as curious, competent and independent learners.”

She continued, “We need to ensure the settings where children find themselves, child care settings, Head Start programs, pre-K settings, that those are high-quality, stimulating environments that are staffed by people who are well-trained and well-compensated.”

The aim is to develop a multiyear strategic plan to create a strong and equitable system where all parents and children, particularly those in under-resourced communities, have access to quality services.

Watch the full interview and complementary article.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the ground beneath us. It has illuminated the injustices that have existed in our communities for generations, from access to health care to affordable housing. And it has magnified stressors for our youngest children and families — disproportionately families of color — who are experiencing homelessness, food insecurity, lack of child care or financial instability.