Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Impact Initiative (ECCS Impact)

The NYS Council on Children and Families and grantees in 11 other states have been awarded the Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) Impact grant. This 5 year grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau seeks to enhance early childhood systems building and demonstrate improved outcomes in population-based children’s developmental health and family well-being using a Collaborative Innovation and Improvement Network (CoIIN) approach. The overall 5 year aim of this project is to demonstrate a 25% increase from baseline in age appropriate developmental skills among 3-year-old children in selected NYS communities. 

Aims of ECCS Impact

Strengthen NYS leadership expertise in continuous quality improvement and program innovation using quality improvement science.

Achieve greater collective impact in NYS early childhood systems, develop common aims, share statewide measurement systems and coordinate strategies at the state and local levels. 

Create two-generational approaches to integrate early childhood services.

Develop indicators to measure early childhood system processes and performance indicators that measure developmental health and health equity.

Collaborate with statewide and local leaders to adopt new early childhood system policies to ensure sustainability of the project.

Project Goals of Cohort A

The Council has partnered with the NYS Department of Health and other state and local public and private agencies to implement the following goals for the first 18 months of the project: 

• Increase awareness, coaching and training about child development, monitoring, screening and follow-up among early childhood professionals, pediatric and family care practitioners and family members.
• Use the CoIIN approach to identify, test and operationalize strategies to increase cross-systems (i.e. medical, early childhood, child welfare) and cross-governmental (community to county to state) integration with emphasis upon:
• Expand the settings in which developmental screens are conducted and the professionals who conduct them;
• Reduce health inequities in screening, service referral and access; and
• Increase family engagement and family wellness.

For the most recent updates on the project, please see our NYS ECCS Impact Newsletter located in the project Resources section on the right!