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The Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 required Governors to establish, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included funding to support, State Advisory Councils on Early Childhood Education and Care. The goal of the state councils is to help strengthen statewide coordination and collaboration among the wide range of early childhood programs and services in the state, including child care, Head Start, Early Head Start, IDEA preschool and infants and families programs, pre-kindergarten, and other early childhood care and education programs. In New York State, we have expanded the scope of our collaboration to include human service, mental health, and health care supports and services.
The notion of a statewide early childhood advisory body was not new to New York State. In 2007, New York established a Children's Cabinet chaired by the Deputy Director of State Operations. Currently, the Deputy Secretary for Education serves as the vice chair, and Cabinet Members include the commissioners and directors of 20 state agencies and several staff from the Governor’s Office. To assist the Cabinet in its efforts, a Children's Cabinet Advisory Board a small and diverse group of experts from outside New York State government, was also established.
To respond to the federal requirement to establish or designate State Advisory Councils on Early Childhood Education and Care, the Children's Cabinet decided to reorganize its Advisory Board and establish a new body— the Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) . The ECAC includes individuals with early childhood expertise who represent early care and education, health care, child welfare, and mental health programs, as well as state agencies, advocacy organizations, foundations, higher education, unions, and others involved in the provision of services to young children and their families. The Children's Cabinet's workgroups on financing and quality improvement have become a part of this new initiative. The ECAC will focus on addressing the structural issues that have impeded the development of a comprehensive system of early childhood supports and services.
While the creation of an advisory council is not unique, the opportunity for significant federal funds to support planning, data collection and other system-building efforts is quite new. New York 's federal allocation for the Early Childhood Advisory Council is $5.42 million over three years. These funds require an in-kind and/or cash state contribution of $12.65 million.
BUILD’s work and vision of comprehensive early childhood development systems are at the center of an emerging and vibrant state-based policy movement in the early childhood development field. BUILD is a national initiative created in 2002 by the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative (ECFC), a consortium of private foundations. The ECFC provides networking, information sharing, and strategic grant making opportunities to its members. Through its work, the ECFC recognized that current programs, policies, and services for young children and their families often operated in isolation, at cross purposes, or without enough resources to meet critical needs. In response, the ECFC created BUILD to invest private funds to stimulate public investments in early learning to foster greater coordination of comprehensive programs, services, and policies for young children.
BUILD helps states construct a coordinated system of programs, policies, and services that responds to the needs of young children and their families. BUILD states are leaders in a national movement to innovate effective comprehensive services to children and families. Currently, BUILD works with eight states: Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and New York. As part of its work with the states BUILD offers a combination of services including evaluation coordinated by the Child and Family Policy Center, technical assistance liaisons, and professional development opportunities.
All young children are healthy, learning and thriving in families that are supported by a full complement of services and resources essential for successful development.
The Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) provides strategic direction and advice to the State of New York on early childhood issues. By monitoring and guiding the implementation of a range of strategies, the ECAC supports New York in building a comprehensive and sustainable early childhood system that will ensure success for all young children.
The ECAC defines a comprehensive early childhood system as a unified network of public and private supports and services that together prepare young children for success in school and life. Essential components of New York's system include early care and education, physical health, social-emotional development, and family support and education.
In their efforts to develop a comprehensive early childhood system to support New York's young children and their families, the members of the ECAC are guided by the following principles: