An Assessment of Help Me Grow Western New York's Progress Toward Strengthening Early Childhood Systems

Monitoring progress in early childhood development can help ensure that a child's cognitive, social, behavioral, and physical development are on track and guide interventions if they are not. Because early childhood development has a large influence on healthy lifespan development, such interventions can have effects for decades.

One effort to transform child-serving systems is the Help Me Grow (HMG) initiative, which is both national and state-based. Help Me Grow Western New York (HMG WNY), a regional effort, aims to build and strengthen a comprehensive and coordinated system of early childhood development and care to support the development and well-being of children in this region. HMG WNY serves eight counties in New York state and collaborates with early childhood centers, school districts, medical providers, and community-based organizations on early childhood developmental screenings and monitoring.

In 2021, HMG WNY refocused its orientation to operate as a system-builder in the region and to serve as a catalyst for creating a unified vision and data-driven action plan. By leveraging the collective strength of the early childhood system, HMG WNY also advocates for necessary policy changes. HMG WNY's strategic approach focuses on the following four system-building goals (Help Me Grow Western New York, 2021):

1. Support “action tables” working collaboratively to build a seamless system of supports responding to the needs of young children and families.
2. Supply data to inform action and measure progress.
3. Identify and collectively address gaps in resources and supports to ensure a well-functioning and responsive system of care and support.
4. Engage in policy advocacy for long-term sustainability of the system.

In this study, we review the efforts of HMG WNY since adopting these system-building goals in 2021. We document the progress that HMG WNY has made in such areas as building the early childhood network of system partners, addressing gaps in resources, and advocating for policy change.

Issue

In this study, we assess how HMG WNY addresses the local need for better coordination and provision of early childhood services. The eight counties of western New York form a diverse community whose socioeconomic composition varies but which all share at least some level of need for better coordination and provision of early childhood services. We focus on how HMG WNY is working to strengthen and expand the early childhood system of western New York. In doing so, we provide insights that will inform the next steps for HMG WNY.

Approach

We used a mixed methods evaluation that drew on multiple data sources. Our data sources included documents on HMG WNY's implementation; interviews with HMG WNY staff, key partners, and policymakers to understand implementation activities, as well as progress, challenges, and successes; and a network survey of organizations in the early childhood network convened by HMG WNY to understand what new connections have been made, how strong the relationships in the network are, what changes at the organization and system levels are happening as a result of network involvement, and what the facilitators and barriers to network involvement are.

Key Findings

HMG WNY's network includes partners from a variety of sectors, including early education and child care, local and county government, family or human services, mental or behavioral health, and K–12 education. The network partners are concentrated in the more populous counties of Erie and Niagara but also have representation in the rural counties in the region. Since 2021, HMG WNY has focused on strengthening and expanding its network to develop a coordinated early childhood development and care system that is aimed at improving child development and well-being. The key efforts for each system-building goal are provided in the following sections.

Building the Early Childhood Network of System Partners

• HMG WNY's work to form or strengthen partnerships has effectively facilitated the development of a coordinated early childhood system that is responsive to the needs of young children and families.
• Key achievements include enhancing partner knowledge, increasing community engagement, broadening partner diversity, establishing strategic rural partnerships, and efficiently coordinating resources to prevent service duplication.
• According to the network partners whom we interviewed, HMG WNY's “footprint in the community has stretched” and its “passionate people recruit passionate partners.” Additionally, according to our discussions with network partners, HMG WNY is “showing up more in the community,” “is more public facing and oriented toward community awareness,” and “has a more regional flair.”

Addressing Gaps in Resources

• HMG WNY has improved the network's capability to identify and address gaps in resources and supports, which demonstrates the value of a flexible and responsive early childhood care system.
• Progress includes developing strategies for early childhood developmental screenings, building provider capacities, expanding access to screenings, and establishing a Centralized Access Point (CAP) to streamline access to resources.
• Despite HMG WNY's success in increasing early childhood screenings, partners knew relatively little about the CAP and emphasized the need for better communication and understanding of its operation and usage.

Supporting Network Partners with Data

• HMG WNY's implementation of a data dashboard has been pivotal in enabling providers to use data effectively and enhancing the accuracy and timeliness of developmental screenings and referrals.
• Progress includes establishing data-sharing agreements, producing county-level data profiles, and facilitating the use of data for outreach and advocacy by network partners.
• System partners recognized the utility of the data dashboard and its high quality. At the same time, some noted a need for training to use the dashboard and the challenges posed by duplication of records between the HMG WNY dashboard and other data collection efforts.

Advocating for Policy Change

• HMG WNY has sought to leverage data and other pertinent information to advocate for increased investments in early childhood programs. In one such effort, HMG WNY successfully collaborated with early childhood system partners to advocate for a significant increase in the state-level HMG budget.
• HMG WNY efforts have resulted in relationships with more than a dozen regional or state-level entities that span different sectors, including early childhood education and social services.
• Partners recognized the success of HMG WNY in meeting its system-building goals.

Strength of the Early Childhood Network

• Nearly all organizations in the early childhood network reported relationships with each other. Organizations with the most connections to others were primarily those that worked across the region. Organizations working in a county tended to report connections in that county or adjacent ones.
• Relationships were primarily built through active participation in various coalitions and committees. The most frequently cited results of these relationships were an exchange of resources and improved services or supports for young children and families.
• Partners in the network perceived high value from their connections, and most partners rated the network highly for power and influence, level of involvement, and resource contributions. Organizations also rated their partners highly for their reliability, mission alignment, and openness to discussion.
• Among the successes that partners noted were improving knowledge and awareness of early childhood issues and community resources across sectors; increasing focus on physical, social-emotional, and mental health issues for young children; increasing collaboration among partners across sectors; and developing effective strategies to support high-quality, accessible services to support young children and their families. The most important outcomes that partners identified were guiding the early childhood network of system partners and addressing gaps in resources and supports.
• The most prominent challenges in the network are funding, addressing leadership or staff turnover, and effectively bringing groups together.

Overall, these learnings underline the effectiveness of HMG WNY's approach in building a robust early childhood development and care system.

Opportunities

HMG WNY has been successful in building a strong early childhood network of system providers, addressing gaps in resources, supporting network partners with data, and advocating for policy change. At the same time, there are opportunities for continued growth or improvement, including the following:

• Partnership development and engagement. More-robust communication strategies might help ensure that all partners are better informed and engaged in the network's activities and goals. Communications should focus on system-building activities that are clear and targeted.
• Developmental screenings. HMG WNY should continue efforts to increase the number of screening partners and ensure consistent access to screenings for young children and their families.
• Data capabilities. Further development of data capabilities can enhance the ability to monitor, evaluate, and respond to the needs of the early childhood network's partners. HMG WNY should also increase awareness and engagement with data among all partners, such as by providing training on using the data dashboard.
• Advocacy efforts. HMG WNY should expand its relationships with policymakers and leverage data to support advocacy efforts for increased public investments in early childhood programs. It should also intensify efforts to familiarize partners with ongoing advocacy work.
• Early childhood network strength. Our network survey serves as a baseline for measuring the strength of the early childhood network system of partners. Observing the evolution of the network over time will require an annual administration of the survey. HMG WNY could also convene members to increase the number and strength of relationships in the network, facilitate partnerships among members in different counties, and evaluate the contributions of members in maintaining high levels of trust and value in the network.