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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 3.2 Examples of Communities in Action
Atlantic County, NJ
Through the South Jersey Strengthening Families Initiative, the Pascale Sykes Foundation has enhanced public transit in rural counties by launching the English Creek-Tilton Road Community Shuttle in 2012. Partnering with local and state transportation authorities, the shuttle service runs14 hours a day, six days a week, connecting apartment complexes, shopping centers, medical facilities, and a local mall. A survey conducted after two years revealed that 53 percent of passengers used the shuttle for work, 71 percent found it convenient, and 73 percent no longer viewed transportation as a problem.
Oakland, CA and Boston, MA
The Brilliant Baby College Savings Account program, led by Oakland Promise, provides $500 in a 529 college savings account for babies born into poverty, along with parenting support and financial coaching for parents. The program aims to support all families in need over the next decade. In Boston, the Boston Saves program starts in Kindergarten, giving each student a savings account with $50 for future education or career training. It has funded over 15,000 students to date. A one-year evaluation showed positive impacts on students’ social-emotional development, reading frequency, and parental satisfaction and expectations.
Goal 3.2 Sample Action Steps
Level 1
- Use community asset mapping to identify neighborhoods where economic investment is needed and areas of concentrated disadvantage (i.e., areas of concentrated unemployment, food insecurity, with high levels of unbanked households, areas with reduced access to affordable high-quality early care and education).
- Assess the availability and quality of workforce development resources, and analyze how workforce development policies and programs can be adapted to better suit the local job market and better prepare residents (particularly parents and caregivers) to succeed and earn a livable wage.
- Collect and analyze data on participation in income support programs within neighborhoods, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, and explore local options to increase participation.
Level 2
- Direct public investment toward underinvested neighborhoods to improve access to education and job training, and improve availability of stable jobs with livable wages for local families.
- Work directly with residents to determine what barriers they face to employment and economic mobility, and design solutions accordingly.
- Reduce barriers to employment for parents and caregivers by improving access to high-quality, affordable child care and strengthening public transportation systems.
- Partner with workforce development agencies, businesses and education, and training institutions to develop career pathways for high needs jobs in the region, including retraining for people who are currently unemployed and underemployed.
- Hire a consultant with experience working within the community, to map identified systemic barriers and how they are intertwined with ongoing disparities (across race, disability status, zip code, and more). Ensure the consultants findings’ are intentionally integrated in and used to identify solutions that are responsive to families’ experiences and present disparities.
Level 3
- Apply a two-generation approach to workforce development programs by aligning workforce development policies with policies governing child care subsidies to remove barriers for caregivers seeking further education or training.
- Adopt a living wage that allows families to provide for their children, and index it to inflation to reduce income inequality.
- Incentivize private investment in underinvested communities through tax incentives and subsidies to businesses that will provide needed services, stable employment and critical benefits like paid family, medical, and sick leave to local families.
- Collaborate with residents to prioritize investments in public transit equity and identify current issues, including access to reliable transportation, clean and sustainable mobility options, and safe, walkable infrastructure.
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.”