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All infants and toddlers need access to high-quality, affordable early care and education, health and mental health, and family support services. Programs and services that address these areas are critical; however, they are only as strong as the infrastructure that supports them. These resources will help you to promote comprehensive, coordinated systems of high-quality, prenatal-to-five services in your state.
The Early Experiences Matter Policy Guide includes an issue brief on building early childhood systems. To access the brief and the complete toolkit, click here.
Baby Matters: A Gateway to State Policies and Initiatives is a searchable database that contains information on state policies and initiatives that impact infants, toddlers and their families. To search Baby Matters for information on building early childhood systems, click here.
Babies and Toddlers in the Policy Picture: A Self-Assessment Checklist for States and Communities
A self-assessment checklist based on research about effective policies and best practices in states. The questions are intended to spark discussion about the needs of infants, toddlers and their families and to lay the foundation for building an early childhood development system in a state.
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Early Learning Guidelines for Infants and Toddlers: Recommendations for States
This report by ZERO TO THREE, drawing on the expertise of national and state leaders, offers recommendations and examples to states as they embark on an inclusive process to develop or refine research-based early learning guidelines for infants and toddlers. This report focuses on the unique and foundational nature of the infant and toddler period and addresses issues related to both process and content. It is offered as a road map for states as they develop policies and programs that lay a strong foundation for child development and future learning through responsive, appropriate, and high-quality early experiences.
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Common Vision, Different Paths: Five States’ Journeys toward Comprehensive Prenatal-to-Five Systems
A joint report from ZERO TO THREE and Pre-K Now articulates a common vision for early childhood systems in which programs work effectively with each other to provide high-quality early learning and comprehensive services. The report reveals lessons learned from five states’ unique journeys toward such prenatal-to-five systems and identifies four cornerstones that have helped states succeed in this work. Advocates and policymakers will also find guidance on building on the momentum around individual programs for the larger push toward a system that works for all young children and families. To request printed copies, e-mail Kimberly Lagomarsino.
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Prenatal through PreK: Building Bright Futures
Explores how policymakers can include infant and toddler policies in prekindergarten initiatives.
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Birth to 5 and Beyond: A Growing Movement in Early Education
An abridged version of the article Birth to 5 and Beyond: A Growing Movement in Early Education, published in the July 2006 issue of the Zero to Three Journal.
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RELATED RESOURCES
State Early Childhood Development System Powerpoint
A set of powerpoint slides developed by the Early Childhood Systems Working Group, a collaborative group of national organizations including ZERO TO THREE. The Slides are visual representations of the parts and core elements of an early childhood development system.
Inside the Content of Infant-Toddler Early Learning Guidelines: Results from Analyses, Issues to Consider, and Recommendations
--Catherine Scott-Little, Sharon Lynn Kagan, Victoria Stebbins Frelow, and Jeanne Reid (2008)
Provides a content analysis of 21 states’ infant-toddler Early Learning Guidelines, as well as recommendations to improve content.
Foundations: How States Can Plan and Fund Program for Babies and Toddlers
--Ounce of Prevention Fund (2006)
Addresses the importance of healthy development in the earliest years and how states can structure funding and invest in programs to ensure that babies and toddlers are ready to learn.
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