In this report, the authors assess how Help Me Grow Western New York (HMG WNY) addresses the regional need for a comprehensive and coordinated system of early childhood development services and care to support the development and well-being of children in the region. The authors focus on how HMG WNY is working to strengthen and expand the early childhood system in western New York and provide insights to inform HMG WNY's next steps.

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

Dana Schultz, Andrea Phillips, Anita Chandra, Emma Bianculli

ResearchPublished Aug 29, 2024

Healthy child development is a key driver for better health and well-being throughout a person's life, and the early years set that important foundation. Early childhood development programs play a critical role in mitigating risks to the cognitive, social, behavioral, and physical development of children. Increasingly, there is recognition that early intervention to support child development requires more than separate programs and services. Instead, a full system transformation, such as the national Help Me Grow initiative, is necessary.

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 services and care to support the development and well-being of children in this region. HMG WNY serves eight counties in western New York that 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 development programs and services. In this report, the authors assess how HMG WNY addresses this regional need. The authors focus on how HMG WNY is working to strengthen and expand the early childhood network in western New York and provide insights that will inform the next steps for HMG WNY.

Key Findings

HMG WNY has successfully built a coordinated and responsive early childhood development system

  • Network partners identified this improvement as HMG WNY’s most important outcome.
  • Key achievements include increasing community engagement, broadening partner diversity, establishing strategic rural partnerships, and efficiently coordinating resources.

HMG WNY has enhanced the network’s ability to identify and collaboratively address gaps

  • Progress includes developing strategies for early childhood developmental screenings and building provider capacities.
  • However, partners were less familiar with the Centralized Access Point for streamlined access to services.

HMG WNY has implemented a data dashboard pivotal for ensuring accurate and timely screenings and referrals

  • Progress includes establishing data-sharing agreements, producing county-level data profiles, and facilitating data use for outreach and advocacy.
  • Although this data dashboard sets a regional standard, there is a need for training on its use and addressing redundancy with other data collection efforts.

HMG WNY has engaged in policy advocacy to ensure long-term sustainability

  • HMG WNY successfully collaborated with partners to advocate for a significant increase in the state-level HMG budget.
  • HMG WNY has built relationships with more than 12 regional or state-level entities.

Nearly all organizations in the network reported relationships with each other

  • Highly connected organizations mostly had a regional or statewide focus, while those focusing on one county primarily reported connections within that county or adjacent ones.
  • Network partners examine trust and value in early relationship-building, and there is already a high level of both in the network.
  • The main challenges are funding, addressing leadership turnover, and bringing groups together.

Recommendations

  • More-robust communication strategies might help ensure that all network 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.
  • HMG WNY should continue efforts to increase the number of screening partners and ensure consistent access to developmental screenings for young children and their families.
  • Further development of data capabilities can enhance partners’ abilities to monitor, evaluate, and respond to the needs of the early childhood network. HMG WNY should also increase awareness and engagement with data among all partners, particularly through training on using the data dashboard.
  • HMG WNY should expand its relationships with policymakers and leverage data to support advocacy efforts for increased public investments in early childhood programs. HMG WNY should also intensify efforts to familiarize partners with ongoing advocacy work.
  • The Program to Analyze, Record, and Track Networks to Enhance Relationships 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 should 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.

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Schultz, Dana, Andrea Phillips, Anita Chandra, and Emma Bianculli, An Assessment of Help Me Grow Western New York’s Progress Toward Strengthening Early Childhood Systems, RAND Corporation, RR-A3341-1, 2024. As of September 11, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3341-1.html
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Schultz, Dana, Andrea Phillips, Anita Chandra, and Emma Bianculli, An Assessment of Help Me Grow Western New York’s Progress Toward Strengthening Early Childhood Systems. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2024. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3341-1.html.
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This research was sponsored by the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation and conducted in the Social and Behavioral Policy Program within RAND Social and Economic Well-Being.

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