ZERO TO THREE and Cuyahoga County, Ohio’s Invest in Children co-hosted a national policy summit on early childhood system building in communities.  The summit, entitled “In Our Own Backyards:  Local Initiatives that Change Young Children’s Lives,” was held on June 6 8, 2007 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Representatives of 50 community initiatives from 25 states, advocacy organizations, foundations, parent groups, and federal, state and local government participated.  They learned together about community system building efforts and developed consensus recommendations for local, state, and national action.

To plan the summit, a Request for Information was released in May 2006.  Communities were invited to submit examples of stakeholders working together, and with the state, to support a comprehensive system of services and policies for young children.  The examples submitted were reviewed to determine whether they met the following criteria:

• Two or more of the following agencies/departments are involved:   health, child care, child welfare, TANF/income security, education, special education/early intervention, mental health.
• A comprehensive strategic plan has been or will be adopted.
• The system focuses on young children (prenatal through age five or a more specific age cohort within that range).
• There are identifiable and replicable ingredients to the success.
  

Click here to read profiles of the communities that met the criteria.
Click here to see the agenda and notes from the sessions at the summit. 

Characteristics of Early Childhood System Building Initiatives in Communities

Summarizes characteristics of early childhood system building initiatives in the communities featured at the national policy summit.
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Recommendations:  National Policy Summit on Early Childhood System Building in Communities

Describes consensus recommendations for the local, state, and national levels that resulted from the summit and issues a call to action.
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