The Next Steps in Systems Building

Today, preschool and other services for young children are delivered through what is widely recognized as a non-system, with programs like child care, pre-kindergarten, special education services and Head Start operating in separate policy silos, each with differing objectives and different funding streams. This uneven and uncoordinated character of early childhood policy can impede access, quality, and return on investment to these programs. Indeed, stories of avoidable dysfunction-of low-income parents who are unaware that their child is eligible for Head Start or Medicaid, of duplicative paperwork that child care providers must complete to receive reimbursements, of kindergarten teachers knowing nothing about the educational background of their incoming students-are too common to be ignored.

Read more online at: http://www.newamerica.net/publications/policy/next_step_system_building_0