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The Early Learning Nation Collective is thrilled that you have decided to embark on a journey to become or grow an Early Learning Community.

Before you start, we recommend watching this informational video to help guide you as you use the Tool. You may also want to read through some key terms before you begin the Assessment.

Goal 3.1 Examples of Communities in Action

Philadelphia, PA

Launched in 2023, Prescribe Outside is a Philadelphia nature prescription program in partnership with CHOP, Awbury Arboretum, Let’s Go Outdoors, the USDA Forest Service, and Temple University Center for Sustainable Communities. The program aims to improve children’s health and wellness by helping families find and use safe, accessible public green spaces. Supported by research showing the health benefits of nature, Prescribe Outside also provides tools for physicians and hosts public drop-in activities across the city to encourage time spent in nature.

San Juan, PR

The Proyecto ENLACE del Caño Martín Peña (the ENLACE Project) focuses on the environmental and community rehabilitation of the polluted Caño Martín Peña tidal channel and the equitable development of its eight surrounding communities. The project employs a community-driven model that unites local leaders and promotes housing initiatives, civic engagement, inclusivity, youth mentoring, education, leadership development, and programs for economic, health, and environmental justice. ENLACE also led to the creation of a Community Land Trust (CLT) for collective land ownership.

Goal 3.1 Sample Action Steps

Level 1

Hold community listening sessions to learn about families’ needs in a variety of neighborhoods in your community, including concerns they may have about the safety of parks, accessible sidewalks, availability of affordable housing, or other components of the built environment. When organizing these listening sessions, ensure the physical space is accessible to all community members, including individuals with disabilities. Ensure there are multiple means of communicating and accessing information.
Use community asset mapping to identify neighborhoods where families may have a harder time meeting their basic needs because their neighborhood is underserved by public services (like issues with transportation and infrastructure, affordable housing, or access to outdoor spaces) and/or disproportionately exposed to hazards (like water and air pollution, lead contamination, violence, or traffic that endangers pedestrians and discourages walkability).
Promote collaboration across sectors (including health and dental care, housing, business community, public safety, violence prevention, transit, community organizations, and schools) to identify hazards to children and families, and to understand potential linkages to better meet families’ needs.
Work with farmers markets and vendors to bring fresh, culturally appropriate foods to communities that lack grocery stores and/or to ensure that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) benefits are accepted at markets.

Level 2

Implement coordinated, cross-sector solutions (including sectors like housing, health care, and education) to make sure the communities where children learn and grow are safe and healthy.
Use public-private partnerships to expand access to the Internet in public spaces through broadband services or citywide Wi-Fi, or through public institutions like libraries and community centers.
Assist service providers in implementing trauma-informed and healing-centered policies and practices to improve the accessibility of services and well-being.
Work to increase tree density, access to green space, and shaded play areas for children.
Strengthen building code enforcement and housing inspection efforts to proactively address health issues rather than relying on tenant complaints for reporting. Leverage existing city inspection processes by including lead paint hazard inspections or consider how to engage health care providers to help identify when patients may be living in unsafe housing conditions.
Consider communities’ access to public “third spaces” that allow for safe convening, community building, and opportunities for residents to access resources and social support.

Level 3

Align policies and strategic plans across sectors to promote safe, healthy environments for children and families, particularly those who are currently underserved by public services and facilities, possibly by using a “health in all policies” approach.
Require that public services be trauma-informed and healing-centered and ensure that public spaces are inviting and accessible for all children and families.
Engage city, county, school, and system leaders in an exercise to assess what a family living in an underserved area would need to do in order to obtain health and dental care, buy healthy food, get their child to quality early care and education or get themselves to school for an evening event, or travel to work in various parts of the city. Try to understand the burden that families and individuals face just by virtue of where they live.
Map and analyze how resources flow into neighborhoods. If there are disparities, try to ascertain the root causes.
Ensure that service providers are consistently trained on how to best serve communities facing multiple barriers to opportunity, including immigrant and refugee families, families that include LGBTQ individuals, non-English speakers, families involved in the child welfare system, and those with disabilities.
Formalize the authentic engagement of parents and caregivers who are representative of the community in planning and zoning decisions, in the design and planning of public services like transportation, and in community health strategies.

Levels

Level 1
Level 1 describes the starting point and is the first thing a community will want to establish on their path to reaching that goal. In many cases, the first level involves assessing the current situation in order to identify strengths and areas of need.

Level 2
Level 2 describes a community that is taking proactive steps and making some progress toward the goal. This may include communities where progress has been made in pockets, but those efforts are not benefiting the whole community yet.

Level 3
Finally, Level 3 indicates that a community has invested time, energy, and resources toward reaching this goal and is integrating its efforts across the early childhood system and with other sectors.

Not Started
If you or your organization have not begun assessing or considering a goal, please mark your level as “Not Started.”