What We Work For

The Early Childhood Learning and Innovation Network for Communities (EC-LINC) is a network of partners with a shared goal—to support families and improve results for young children in communities across the country.

CSSP defines an early childhood system as an aligned set of multi-sector services, supports, programs, and policies that—in partnership with families—focuses on improving population outcomes for young children and families at a city, county, or regional level. EC-LINC communities recognize the importance of early childhood system building. Through their work, they apply a growing body of knowledge and are developing an emerging evidence base to support its efficacy. EC-LINC is designed to elevate the work of communities and other networks committed to improving equitable outcomes for young children.

How We Do It

Our Approach

EC-LINC is a vibrant learning and innovation network of local communities, dedicated to bringing together a mix of services, supports, policies, and practices that help all young children and their families thrive—locally and across the nation. EC-LINC communities focus on young children and their families, ages birth to eight, with a growing number of activities beginning prenatally.

EC-LINC members have a shared goal: to improve opportunities and outcomes for children in their own communities and to share learning, resources, and strategies. Through collaboration, members come together for learning and problem solving in order to build strong early childhood systems nationwide. EC-LINC also contributes to the development of early childhood systems nationwide by working with other organizations and networks to exchange and share innovations and apply knowledge to advance best practices in systems-building.

Resources

Additional Resources

Fourteen exemplary communities with long histories of building effective early childhood systems are members of EC-LINC. Their perspectives and experiences are invaluable to guiding the work and solving common challenges faced by communities together. Member communities and their leading organizations include:

EC-LINC Current Activities

Building Blocks for Early Learning Communities. In partnership with the National League of Cities, three EC-LINC communities piloted and tested an Early Learning Community Action Guide and Progress Rating Tool.

DULCE: Pediatric Care and Social Determinants of Health. Five EC-LINC communities are in their third year of piloting the implementation of DULCE, a pediatric innovation embedded in early childhood systems, building the evidence for what it takes to adopt and adapt this approach in varying locations across the country.

Outcomes and Metrics for Early Childhood Systems. We are working with partners to define and measure how children and families are better off when we work to build well-functioning local early childhood systems, including how the early childhood system operates to influence those outcomes.

Parent Leader Network. Nine EC-LINC communities have joined together in a Community of Practice to advance family engagement in early childhood as a core strategy to advance equity and community empowerment.

Prenatal – Three: National Collaborative for Infants and Toddlers. Ten EC-LINC communities are participating in a set of activities designed to increase the number of children developmentally on track for Kindergarten by addressing women’s prenatal needs and supporting child development from birth to age three.

The New Neighborhood Podcast logo.Welcome to the New Neighborhood, a limited series podcast that explores some of the dramatic changes taking place across the country as people work to reinforce a sense of community, support young children and families, and work to build equity within communities. Each episode features emerging innovations that will create a society where all children and their families can thrive.

 

 

Season 4

Season 3

Season 2

Season 1

The New Neighborhood Hub features tools, resources, and frameworks focused on the impact, innovation, and progress of communities making change on behalf of young children and their families. Using the Building Blocks for an Early Learning Community as a guide (developed in partnership with EC-LINC communities), the resources featured under each building block are designed to foster learning and innovation across communities.

Explore the New Neighborhood Hub here.

Featured Resources

  • Building Blocks for an Early Learning Community
    • This brief describes four essential “building blocks” that promote early learning communities and create a broader framework of support for families with young children.
  • Early Relational Health: Community Mapping Tool
    • The Early Relational Health Community Mapping Tool allows community leaders to (1) reflect on the ways in which their community currently supports and promotes the development of ERH, and (2) identify action steps to improve and expand upon those efforts.
  • Early Childhood System Performance Assessment Toolkit
    • This toolkit includes guidance and tools to use to assess how well a local early childhood system is working to improve the reach of early childhood services, promote coordination among those services, increase the community’s commitment to early childhood, and advance equity and parent engagement.
  • Early Learning Community Action Guide and Progress Rating Tool
    • The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) and the National League of Cities (NLC) have developed an Early Learning Community Action Guide designed to help communities focus their efforts around four key building blocks.
  • Manifesto for Race Equity & Parent Leadership in Early Childhood Systems
    • Manifesto 2.0: The Parent Edition and its 5 Commitments for Change is a “Bill of Rights’’ for parents. Together with other parents and allies, you can use it as a platform to call on leaders in early childhood systems to support more opportunities for parent voice and leadership and equitable outcomes for children and families. El manifiesto también está disponible en español.
  • New Neighborhood Podcast Series
    This podcast explores some of the dramatic changes taking place across the country as people work to reinforce a sense of community, support young children and families, and work to build equity within communities.
  • Ripples of Transformation: Families Leading Change in Early Childhood Systems
    • This report is a toolkit designed to inspire, challenge, and support leaders in early childhood to embrace a vision of families as agents of change in their children’s lives, communities, and early childhood systems.
  • Supporting the First 1,000 Days of a Child’s Life: An Anti-Racist Blueprint for Early Childhood Well-Being and Child Welfare Prevention
    • To support the health and well-being of children and families of color, we must implement comprehensive strategies that address systemic and institutional racism. This report offers a blueprint for creating equity-centered, anti-racist policies that support the health and well-being of children and families of color.
  • What We Owe Young Children: An Anti-Racist Policy Platform for Early Childhood
    • Early childhood is a crucial period of growth and learning that can influence children’s opportunities well into adulthood and can shape the future of families and communities. This resource urges policymakers to enact policies that root out systemic racism and ensure all children can have a happy and healthy start to life.
  • From Story to Power, A Guide
    • Let’s create change with our stories! This storytelling guide for parents and agencies partnering with parent leaders will inspire parents, communities, and systems change with powerful storytelling. Co-designed by EC-LINC agency partners and PLN parent leaders, this guide was developed by Health + Communications. Download the guide in English and Spanish.
 

The Team

Our Experts

  • Shadi Houshyar

    Director of Health Justice Policy

  • Arthur Fidel Argomaniz

    Senior Program Analyst