Individualized Partner Work Plans
Who is involved: Each state/territory Act Early COVID-19 Response Team has a leadership team for the Act Early Response to COVID-19 Project, comprised of state and local early childhood program/systems administrators representing multiple sectors of the early childhood system, including childcare, child welfare, home visiting, early intervention, and pediatric healthcare.
How it is implemented: The Response Team is organized as a professional learning community with each team member creating an individualized work plan describing how they will integrate LTSAE into their respective program.
Sample activities included:
- Community events
- Trained early childhood program and system providers
- Head Start Collaboration Meeting
- Disseminated materials to families and providers
- Supported families in downloading and using the Milestone Tracker app
Response Team Example:
New York’s Act Early Ambassadors provided technical assistance to support each team member in developing and implementing an individualized work plan to integrate LTSAE into their respective programs. The Response Team learning collaborative met monthly and centered their discussions around relevant topics. Between meetings, the NY Ambassadors provided individualized technical assistance to help team members implement their plans. Collectively, the team amassed 10 work plans from a variety of programs serving young children and their families including Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Early Care and Education, Help Me Grow, Home Visiting, Medicaid, and the Office of New Americans. All 10 active participants successfully completed activities outlined in their workplans.
Activities and Accomplishments
- New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) Division of Childcare Services is training supervisors to provide an expanded version of the Watch Me! training to childcare providers
- New York Medicaid’s First 1,000 Days is training Peer Family Navigators to work with families to download the Milestone Tracker App and complete checklists
- The Act Early Ambassador led a training for Head Start programs through the Council on Children and Families on LTSAE materials and resources and how Head Start providers can use them with families
- The Act Early Ambassador worked with the Office for New Americans to:
- Support families who are immigrants in downloading the Milestone Tracker App
- Develop and distribute Voyage (a free multi-lingual resource book for families who are immigrants) to help them monitor their child’s development
- The Act Early Ambassador worked with the state’s Office of Family and Children Services to train over 700 providers who reached thousands of families
- Collectively, the New York Response Team distributed more than 10,000 LTSAE books, charts, and flyers, and distributed over 6,000 children’s books
- In New York, the Milestone Tracker App downloads increased 33% from January to July 2021
- 100% of Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) survey respondents reported increased use of LTSAE materials