Background
The New Haven Early Childhood Council (NHECC) was created in 1997 under state statute to increase local community involvement in decisions about early care and education. In 2002, the Council expanded its focus to include ensuring that all children from birth to age eight have the opportunities, supports, and experiences they need to reach their full potential.
The Mayor and School Superintendent appoint the Council’s members, who include parents, representatives from community organizations invested in the well-being of young children, and the Mayor and Superintendent or their designees. The Council’s monthly meetings are open to the public.
In 2008 the NHECC became a Discovery Community, one of 41 in CT. Discovery is a public-private partnership among the State of Connecticut and its Office of Early Childhood, the Children’s Fund of Connecticut, and the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund.
The NHECC's work is to IDENTIFY the community’s needs for affordable, high-quality early childhood programs and services for young children and their families; EDUCATE the community and local and state policy makers on early childhood issues and concerns, INFORM families about available services, supports, and events; CONVENE community stakeholders where needed; OVERSEE the distribution of state School Readiness funds; and partner with the New Haven Public Schools; and ADVOCATE at the state and local level for resources.
In 2007 the Council began the development of its Plan with the support of the Mayor. A task force was formed to encourage community input. Task force meetings involved more than 130 participants including parents, educators, health care providers and representatives of family support, government, and non-profit organizations.
In 2013 the NHECC began a process to revise its Plan and to work on looking at how programs and systems are conceptualized and coordinated, and leading changes that will have a long-term positive impact on young children and families.
In 2014 the NHECC developed a more specific strategic plan for the coming two years. Work on these more refined and specific strategies is underway.
Impact
The Council's (NHECC) top accomplishments this past year include our work with New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) to increase alignment between Pre-K and early elementary grades; improvements in quality in early care and education settings; and increased outreach and support for families of young children.
The Pre-K to Grade 3 Committee, a partnership of NHECC and NHPS, launched a pilot project this past year in 12 NHPS Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms to integrate play-based, developmentally appropriate learning into early grade classrooms.
The NHECC also continued efforts to improve quality of early care and education settings, including offering coaching to improve teachers' literacy and math skills, connecting classrooms to mental health consultation services, and providing books and other resources to enrich classroom environments.
The Council increased its outreach and support for families of young children by developing and distributing a new brochure (in English and Spanish) for parents of children entering Kindergarten called “Families Are Their Child’s First Teachers"; by offering weekly literacy workshops for parents whose children attend bilingual programs (receiving books and props for their home libraries); and the design and distribution of the "Kids Kit," a tool designed to assist parents to register for Kindergarten and other programs. Almost 2500 kits were distributed to families in the city.
Our goals for the current year include expansion of the Pre-K to Grade 3 pilot to include more classrooms at the Pre-K and kindergarten levels; increasing supports for parents, particularly of infants and toddlers; and streamlining the enrollment process for families into preschool/Pre-K.
Needs
Our top five most pressing needs are:
1. Securing ongoing funding in light of shrinking state budgets. The Council's work requires funding for administrative support to coordinate the work of the NHECC and its committees, including the collection of data and reporting of outcomes. The Council also needs funding to carry out the strategies in its plan.
2. Creating more opportunities for young children to access quality early care and education. Currently, 28% of incoming kindergarten students do not have a preschool experience, and there are only enough licensed early care and education spaces for 1 out of every 11 infants and toddlers in New Haven.
3. Parents of children aged 0 to 8 need to have the knowledge and skills to support their children's development. Parents also need access to to services and supports to ensure their children's emotional and mental health.
4. Continuing to improve the quality of early care and education so that children have enriching, relationship-based environments that prepare them for success in school.
5. Creating a more seamless early childhood system is needed so that all parents can be knowledgeable about the services and supports that exist in the community and how to access them.
CEO Statement
The Council is the collaborative entity working on early childhood issues in New Haven. The Council has provided leadership around the development and implementation of strategic plans to improve outcomes for young children and their families in New Haven since the development of its first strategic plan in 2002. As part of our 2009 planning process, the Council developed a "desired result" or vision statement that has guided our work since, and is used to bring together parents, community members, early care and education providers, health professionals, home visitors, parent educators, and others to find common ground and explore opportunities to work together. The Council is committed to creating an inclusive process that involves a wide range of stakeholders and reflects community voice.
The system for early childhood is fragmented in many ways as a result of funding policies and practices at the federal, state, and local levels. While there are a number of resources in New Haven for young children and their families, access to them is not always easy for families, especially those that need these resources the most. The NHECC is focused on creating a coordinated, seamless system, informed by and meeting the needs of families, so that we achieve better outcomes for our youngest residents.