1. Statewide, Comprehensive Early Childhood Plan
Spark NH
Early Childhood Advisory Council
July 26, 2012
Presented by:
Martha Diefendorf
Mary Peters
Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

2. Build Infrastructure
All NH children
and their families
are
healthy, learning, and thriving now, and in the future!
Statewide, Comprehensive
Early Childhood Plan
Program quality
Effective practices
Ensure Implementation
THE CHARGE
Develop a state-wide plan to build infrastructure and ensure fidelity and sustainability of implementation processes that support
program quality and effective practices that positively impact child and family outcomes
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

3. Roles and Responsibilities Thinking, Doing, Approving
Governor
Commissioner
Spark NH
Full Council
Executive Committee
Spark NH Committees (Data, Quality, etc.)
Spark NH Policy Committee
Spark NH Core Planning Team
Spark NH Staff
Larger Stakeholder Group
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

4. Core Planning Team Membership Ellen Wheatley, Council Chair
Erika Argersinger, Council Vice Chair
Laura Milliken, Council Director
Jeanne Agri, Policy Committee Co-Chair
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

5. Core Planning Team Role and Activities
Conference calls (~1 per month for 90 minutes)
Communicate with TA providers about progress and next steps
Review/revise notes and distribute to Policy Committee
Set pace for meetings and product development
Jointly design process agendas for webinars and on-site meetings
Arrange logistics for onsite meetings
Contribute content for calls and meetings using web space for electronic management and storage of files--Basecamp
Steer workgroups of Policy Committee
Provide input into methods for stakeholder input and review of draft products (e.g., web-based surveys, focus groups)
Provide input into the written plan (design, organization and content)

6. Proposed Timeline Major Milestones June 2012 – September 2013
Basecamp – July 2012
Onsite meetings (fall, winter, spring)
Draft plan – May 2013
Final plan – August 2013
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

7. Basecamp https://tadnet.basecamphq.com
Web-based application for project management
Account: TA & D Network
Company: Spark NH
Project: Strategic Planning
People: Access with Permission
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

8. Early Childhood System
Comprehensive
Early Childhood System
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

9. ALIGNMENT ACROSS LEVELS OF THE SYSTEM
State Infrastructure/Administration
Professional Development Level
Local Infrastructure/ Program Administration
Practice/Provider Level
Family Level
Child Level
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

10. INTEGRATION ACROSS PROGRAMS
Home Visiting
Early Head Start
Early Intervention
IDEA Part C
Child Care
Head Start
Preschool Special Ed
IDEA B 619
State Pre-K
Kinder-garten
Elem
School
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

11. ALIGNMENT ACROSS AGE GROUPS
Prenatal
Birth - Two
Three Year Olds
Four Year Olds
Five Year Olds
Six Year Olds
Six – Eight Year Olds
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

12. ALIGNMENT OF SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Governance
2. Policy and Planning
3. Funding and Sustainability
4. Quality EC Programs and Services
5. Workforce and Professional Development
6. Communications &
Public Awareness
7. Early Childhood Data Systems
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

13. What Results Should a Comprehensive Early Childhood System Deliver?
Early Learning and Development
Health and Mental Health
Family Leadership and Support
Comprehensive services that promote children’s physical, developmental, and mental health
Nurturing relationships, safe environments, and enriching experiences that foster learning and development
Resources, experiences, and relationships that strengthen families, engage them as leaders, and enhance their capacity to support children’s well being
Thriving
Children
and Families
The new “ovals” graphic -- developed by the Early Childhood Systems Work Group (ECSWG) -- includes:
Health: Comprehensive services that promote children’s physical, developmental, and mental health.
Early Learning and Development: Nurturing relationships, safe environments, and enriching experiences that foster learning and development.
Family Leadership and Support: Resources, experiences, and relationships that strengthen families, engage them as leaders, and enhance their capacity to support children’s well-being.
As mentioned, the dotted line oval was removed for two reasons:
Expand the understanding of “special needs.” There were concerns that the phrase “early intervention/special needs” was too narrow; it was being interpreted as meaning the services associated with certain funding streams, such as Part B or Part C services for infants and toddlers with delays or disabilities. Members of the ECSWG want to see the pressing needs of other “special populations” included – for example, children who are in families facing multiple challenges, children with parents who are English Language Learners, children experiencing homelessness, and children in the child welfare system, in addition to those who have developmental delays or disabilities.
Acknowledge that special populations are present throughout the early learning and development, health, and family leadership and support systems. The ECSWG wanted to articulate a vision of early childhood systems in which support services for children and families in these “special populations” would be systematically integrated in all service areas. Members also recognized that children and families experiencing multiple risks to health, family strength, and early learning and development will need intentional system-wide planning across systems. Therefore, we included this concept in the fundamental values and principles and removed the fourth oval from the visual.
Values and Principles Optimally, a comprehensive early childhood system will:
Reach all children and families, and as early as possible, with needed services and supports
Genuinely include and effectively accommodate children with special needs
Reflect and respect the strengths, needs, values, languages, cultures and communities of children and families
Ensure stability and continuity of services along a continuum from prenatal into school entry and beyond
Ease access for families and transitions for children
Value parents as decision makers and leaders
Catalyze and maximize investment and foster innovation

14. These are the main functions that the ECSWG identified for a comprehensive EC system.

15. New Hampshire Comprehensive Early Childhood System
Leadership and Governance
Evaluation, Monitoring and Accountability
Workforce and Professional Development
Early Learning and Development
safe, enriching environments & relationships
Communications &
Public Awareness
Family Leadership and Support
nurturing & financially stable families
Comprehensive Health Care
prenatal,
medical, dental, mental health
THRIVING CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Funding and Sustainability
Planning and Policy Development
These are the infrastructure functions as they aligned with the Spark NH committee structure.
The yellow highlight, Evaluation, Monitoring, and Accountability refers to a function that is not specifically articulated as a task of one of the committees. This topic will be discussed further by the Policy Committee.
Quality EC Programs and Services
Early Childhood Data System Alignment
Draft, 7/20/12

16. ALIGNMENT OF SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Governance
provide and coordinate leadership, monitoring and accountability
2. Policy and Planning
statewide comprehensive strategic planning
3. Funding and Sustainability
funding, sustainability, investment, strategic financing
4. Quality EC Programs and Services
enhance and align federal/state program quality standards, access, collaboration & coordination, comprehensive assessment systems
5. Workforce and Professional Development
education/training, credentialing, personnel standards, recruitment and support
6. Communications &
Public Awareness
public awareness, website, information loop, community engagement, family engagement and leadership
7. Early Childhood Data Systems
data linkages and alignment, data gaps/needs; data sharing
Spark NH Committees
Focus of Committee Work
Yellow text = additional concepts from the ECSWG definition of infrastructure components.
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

17. Conceptual Framework for
System Improvement
State
Infrastructure
Improved Practices
Results are improved for
Children and Families
Local
THEN
Workforce/
Professional
Development IF
SUPPORT AND
ENCOURAGE
This is the logic behind our framework.
Why – results
What – Improved practices
How – Interdependent system components
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

18. Levels of the Service System
State Infrastructure
policy, funding, support and collaboration at the state level
Professional Development
higher education and state’s capacity for training & TA across the state
Community Infrastructure
policy, funding, support and collaboration at community and local agency level
Service Provider/Practice
provider knowledge and skills
Children/family
positive outcomes for children and family
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

19. Stages of Planning for Systems Change
1. DESIRED OUTCOMES Deciding where we want to go 2. CHALLENGES Understanding where we are 3. STRATEGIES Planning how to get there 4. EVALUATION & BENCHMARKS Knowing if we are getting there 19

20. Long-Term Systems Improvement Plan
Timeline
Multi-level Challenges
State
Professional
Development
Regional/ local/agency
Providers practices
Children and families
Multi-level Outcomes
State
Personnel Development
Regional/ local/agency
Providers practices
Children
and families
Strategies
Activity 1
Activity 4
Activity 2
Benchmarks
Benchmarks
Benchmarks
Feedback loops between levels - Regular feedback loops for monitoring implementation and improving alignment of policies, procedures, regulatory and funding mechanisms. This may be one of the most important steps toward sustainability.
Assessment of performance - data for continuous improvement
Evaluation of impact
Activity 3
Benchmarks
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

21. Sample Visual Depiction of Plan
Road map.
Once the plan is developed, it is a living document that guides the implementation of each strategy, and is amended as needed to fit changes in context or to be responsive to feedback and evaluation data.
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

22. Strategic Planning
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

23. NH Strategic Plans Plans Provided to Date
Child Care Advisory Council
Head Start
Early Supports and Services
Preschool Special Education
Early Childhood Comprehensive System
ECAC Strategic Report
Home Visiting
Hunger Solutions
Healthy Eating and Active Living
Prevention of Obesity
Infant Mental Health
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Special Medical Services
Legislative Committee Report (HB86)

24. Summary of Current NH Plans
Landscaping
Summary of Current NH Plans
Develop a complete list of existing plans
and other suitable materials 
Review plans
Using a mapping framework for comprehensive system.
child and family service sectors
infrastructure functions
Using a system level framework
Summarizing common goals & intended outcomes
Identify strengths & opportunities
Identify gaps & challenges
Create a “visual map” of service system
ACTIONS
Deliverables
List of exiting plans
Visual map of system

25. Strategically Conceptualize NH’s Service System
Plan Development
Strategically Conceptualize NH’s Service System
Communicate with Spark NH committees for input
Produce written report
Strengths of the system, gaps, duplication, commonalities
Opportunities for collaboration
Analysis of contribution of existing plans to the statewide comprehensive system
Communicate with Spark NH committees
for feedback and validation
ACTIONS
Deliverables
Summary report

26. Studying Successes Summary of RTT-Early Learning Challenge Grants
Review winning states’ RTT-ELC grants
Summarize highlights RTT-ELC plans
Identify commonalities with NH needs and priorities
Produce summary report with findings
ACTIONS
Deliverables
Written report
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

27. Strategically Conceptualize NH’s Service System
Plan Development
Strategically Conceptualize NH’s Service System
Develop agreed-upon intended outcomes at all systems levels
Brainstorm strategies for reaching the intended outcomes
Prioritize level of impact and effort for each strategy
Determine the timeline and flow
of strategies
Develop action plans for each
strategy
Determine benchmarks for
accountability
ACTIONS
Deliverables
Written overview
Visual depiction of system development
Compendium of action plans

28. Proposed Role and Activities
Spark NH
Proposed Role and Activities
NH Comprehensive EC Service System:
Conceptualization and Development
Validate “map” of existing service system
Articulate agreed-upon intended outcomes at all levels of the system
Determine major strategies or activities to be undertaken for reaching the intended outcomes
Determine the flow of activities in a timeline and their relationship to each other
Determine data elements for monitoring and evaluating implementation of plan
Provide conceptualizations (Building framework or ECCS petals)
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

29. Proposed Role and Activities, con’t.
Spark NH
Proposed Role and Activities, con’t.
Oversee Plan Development
Decide on workgroup structure for creating specific action plans for system development
Communicate with other Spark NH Council, Committees, and identified stakeholders
Participate in development of specific action plans with steps, timelines, benchmarks for accountability, and TA needs with key stakeholders
Approve strategy for soliciting stakeholder input
Review and approve deliverables

30. Proposed Role and Activities, con’t.
Spark NH
Proposed Role and Activities, con’t.
Oversee Plan Implementation
Disseminate the plan to relevant stakeholders
Promote public awareness about the plan
Host summit to launch implementation
Monitor implementation

31. Shifting Sands A system is not
a structure or something fixed. Systems are complex, ever evolving and dynamic.
A plan is not something fixed in stone. It provides direction but is a living document, meant to be changed as needed to fit current realities.
NECTAC, Diefendorf & Peters, Jan. 2012

32. Questions?
Advice?