ECCS Action Plan Process Communication Report Year 3

ECCS Project Update – July 2016

The terms of this ECCS planning grant end July 31, 2016, and we are planning to make the initial works of CT ECCS a foundation for the future work to continue as an ongoing process. Thank you for your participation and support – sharing your feedback, ideas and opinions. We really could not have accomplished what we did without you. Keep coming back to this site for updates as the work carries on. From our last update in May until now, here are our concluding works:

• Creation of a Developmental Screening Toolkit for Early Childhood professionals. Even though the original audience was Health Consultants, it was expanded to other consultants, as well as ECE program staff and administrators. The toolkit, with narrated PowerPoint presentation, provides excellent resources for developing a comprehensive system of screening, monitoring, and connecting to services. Toolkit content contains state, federal and national resources designed to equip early childhood professionals, including handouts and web-based resources they can give to parents. It is electronically formatted with hyperlinks for all resources. The types of resources incorporate web-based supports that portray screening tool information, developmental milestones, videos and training for staff, organizations that provide developmental screening supports, including referral information, and the like. Its accompanying presentation outlines a continuum of information in the areas of: developmental awareness and promotion, screening, steps to take where there is a concern, connecting to services, and ongoing monitoring.
• ECCS Progress Matrix: Based on data collection from the statewide needs assessment conducted in 2014-15, the Advisory Committee has developed a Progress Matrix (action plan), which includes planning objectives, action steps, and subgroups. A combination of Advisory Committee members and OEC staff comprise each subgroup that has designed specific strategies, action steps and timelines for each objective. Subgroups completed pre-work and have begun the most immediate steps for progression of the objectives. The Advisory Committee approved this action plan at the March 13th Advisory Committee meeting, and is completing the most foundational work.
• Community Discussions with Early Childhood Stakeholder Survey and Results: We held Community Discussions the week of May 9th to present the needs assessment findings and action plan summary that was developed as a result of these findings. Since not all interested individuals could attend, shared the brief opinion survey presented during the discussions electronically to the community (parents/guardians, administrators, infant/toddler/preschool teachers, consultants, family child care providers, family resource center staff, and all other early childhood stakeholders). After receiving a total of 195 responses, our evaluator wrote the ECCS Action Plan Process Communication Report Year 3. Child Health Development Institute (CHDI) is in the process of creating a 2-page Issue Brief summarizing this report. It will be posted on their website, as well as on the websites of ECCS and the OEC.