Events & Resources

• Cross-systems resource for early childhood stakeholders and communities in Illinois

• Find and connect with other collaborations using our Collaboration Directory (updated July 2022)
• Illinois map showcasing the early childhood collaborations throughout the state (updated July 2020)
• To report a new collaboration or update a listed collaboration's information, please contact us

2. Early Childhood System

• Pieces of the Puzzle: 2-Minute Videos about the Early Childhood System (2016)
  • View two-minute videos about eight key pieces of the early childhood programs/system.
  • Available in Spanish and English.
  • Includes a fact sheet for each video topic and tips for how to use the videos. 
• What is Systems Building?
  
  • Two-minute video describing early learning systems building from Build Initiative.
• Pathways to Early School Success
  • Developed by the National Center for Children in Poverty.

  • Toolkit includes guides for engaging stakeholders, programs and services mapping, demographic and community data, and strategic planning.  

3. Family Engagement in Your Collaboration

• No Decisions About Us, Without Us: The Impact of Parent Leaders on Early Learning Collaborations

  • Report and case studies. Published in 2018 partnership with COFI Community Organizing and Family Issues.

5. Illinois Policy Resources

• 2017 Preschool Suspension and Expulsion Legislation and Implementation
  
  • Learn more about “The Early Childhood Expulsion Legislation: From Passage And Implementation To Best Practice" (June, 2018 Presentation at Partner, Plan, Act Conference)

  • OECD Suspension and Expulsion Resources.  

6. Data

• Priority Population Data Scan and Guide
The Priority Population Data Scan and Guide document is designed to connect early childhood service providers and advocates working with data resources, statewide service information, and suggestions for how to form local partnerships to better serve our most vulnerable children and families.

• Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map (IECAM) 
  
  • “Providing a comprehensive picture of early childhood services in Illinois.” Check out their easily accessible data, standard reports, or make a special data request.

  • Email: dthomas3@illinois.edu or call toll free:  877-275-3227.

7. Advocacy and Your Collaboration

• Best Practices: Integrating Policy & Advocacy Strategies in Local Collaboration Efforts (IAFC, 2017)
  
  • Want to include advocacy in your collaboration work plan? This one-pager is a good place to start.
• Independent Sector
  
  • The Independent Sector is a trusted source for more information about nonprofit advocacy and lobbying.
  • Federal regulations permit non-profit organizations to advocate for issues important to them.
    
• Advocacy Toolkit
  
  • The Advocacy Toolkit is IAFC’s how-to guide for traditional advocacy, online advocacy, messaging strategies, and more. (Spanish/English)

8. Learn More – Stay Current

• ABLe Change Framework
  
  • “The ABLe Change Framework is a systems change approach designed to help communities more effectively address significant social issues affecting children, youth, and families.” Based at Michigan State University.
• Asset-Based Community Development Institute
  
  • “The Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCD) is at the center of a large and growing movement that considers local assets as the primary building blocks of sustainable community development.” Based at DePaul University.
• Build Initiative 
  
  • Build Initiative helps states, including Illinois, build better comprehensive systems to support early childhood development.
  • Check out Build's paper, The Nuts and Bolts of Building Early Childhood Systems through State/Local Initiatives
• Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development 
  
  • The Governor’s Office (OECD) was created in 2009 to support the ELC and to maximize the state’s early learning investment.”
  • Sign up for the OECD newsletter.
• Illinois Early Learning Council
  
  • Created in 2006, the Early Learning Council is a public/private partnership focused on coordinating efforts for children and families birth to five. 
• Erikson Institute 
  
  • Erikson Institute is an organization that provides graduate programs, research, and policy knowledge to early childhood leaders. Erikson is currently piloting the Early Development Instrument EDI in Illinois.

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