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Coming Together During COVID-19: Early Childhood Systems Supporting Families.
McCarthy, Kyle.
O'Connor, Cailin.
Cohen, Steve.
Center for the Study of Social Policy (Washington, D.C.)
Briefing Materials
12 p.
Public Domain
Published: October 2020
Center for the Study of Social Policy
1575 Eye Street N.W., Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: 202-371-1565
Fax: 202-371-1472
http://www.cssp.org/contact_us.html
Available From:http://www.cssp.org/
View: https://cssp.org/resource/coming-together-during-covid-19/
Download: https://cssp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EC-LINC_brief_October2020-1.pdf
This brief outlines the ways that local early childhood systems enabled communities to respond creatively and efficiently to the COVID-19 pandemic, based on interviews with members of the Early Childhood Learning and Innovation Network for Communities (EC-LINC). It begins by explaining EC-LINC is a network of partners working to support families and improve results for young children in communities across the country. It then describes the four Building Blocks of an Early Learning Community: community leadership, commitment, and public will; quality services that work for all young children and their families; neighborhoods where families can thrive; and policies that support and are responsive to families. The response of EC-LINC communities to the COVID-19 pandemic is reviewed and structures supporting a coordinated response are highlighted. The importance of flexibility made possible by trusting relationships is then emphasized, and strategies used by EC-LINC communities to assess community needs are explained. The brief concludes with information on the efforts to address racial inequities and build a better, more just early childhood systems.
Keywords:
early childhood education; COVID-19; early intervention programs; community based services; disaster response; remote service delivery; policy formation; interagency collaboration; family support systems