The percent of children ages 0-4 who are on target with developmental skills needed to succeed in school has fluctuated between the 2018-2019 and 2023-2024 school years. Maintaining consistent developmental screening processes is critical to the success of developing a strong early intervention program. 

Contributing factors:

• Increased access for parents using electronic screening vs. manual paper screens. 
• Streamlined data collection utilizing a community hub model. 

Limiting factors:

• Consistent attendance 
• Language barriers

“Healthy development in the early years (particularly birth to three) provides the building blocks for educational achievement, economic productivity, responsible citizenship, lifelong health, strong communities, and successful parenting of the next generation.” - Harvard Center for the Developing Child 

Science shows that positive early childhood experiences can have major short- and long-term effects on cognitive and social-emotional development. Money spent on high-quality early care and education (ECE) is an investment. One dollar spent on high-quality early care and education yields an average return of $4 over time. In circumstances where children are extremely vulnerable, the return can be as high as $13.

Access to quality early care and education (ECE): School readiness varies across communities. Factors include urban/rural settings, wealth, and the extent and quality of community supports available to families. Almost 77% of non-rural White children were proficient in letter recognition upon entering Kindergarten in 1998 compared to 66% of rural White children. What might account for rural/non-rural differences in school readiness? While rural students are more likely than non-rural students to be enrolled in a Head Start program prior to Kindergarten, rural children were less likely than non-rural students to attend a center-based ECE program in the year before Kindergarten.

Dodge County’s childcare desert is 4 times worse than Milwaukee County’s. In our region, we have fewer than 1 “slot” available for every 3 children. Even though parents are paying higher fees than ever (19% of gross income when national guidelines suggest 7%), childcare centers struggle to remain staffed and open. Why? A broken business model means parent fees don’t cover the true cost of care, leading to razor-thin margins and low pay for ECE professionals. Innovative models that have shown success in stabilizing childcare revenue use a “three-legged stool” approach, with financial support coming from parents, government and employers.

Learn more: Buffett Institute - About the Early Years
Helping parents understand the benefits of developmental screening - Ages and Stages
Kindergarten Readiness in Wisconsin

• Birth to Three
• Business and Independent Investors
• Early Care & Education (AKA Childcare)
• Faith-Based Organizations
• Head Start
• Higher Education
• Human Services
• Libraries
• Nonprofits
• Parents, Caregivers, Families
• Pre-K/Elementary Education
• Public Health 
• Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program (WIC)
• State and Federal Policymakers
• Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health (WI AIMH)
• Wisconsin Early Childhood Assoc (WECA)

BUILD KNOWLEDGE among parents/caregivers and ECE providers 

• Developmental screening to better understand milestones and individual child development
• Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health endorsements 
• Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health consultants

GROW ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY of ECE (childcare) providers

• Implement developmental screening practices
• Support adoption of evidence-based Pyramid Model in classrooms

TRANSFORM SYSTEMS, increasing access to high-quality childcare (adding capacity and boosting sustainability of existing providers)

• Increase childcare providers’ reimbursement rates
• Activate employer-supported childcare models
• Expand access to childcare assistance (increase eligibility limits, waiving or reducing parent co-payments)  
• Expand outreach on the availability of childcare assistance, particularly to underserved communities
• Increase the number of “slots” available at center–based and family-based childcare locations 
• Stabilize ECE workforce with professional wages and benefits, pay parity, benefits, and mental health supports
• Provide business support and bottom-line savings to existing childcare providers 
• Wisconsin Early Education Shared Services Network (WEESSN)

ADVANCE POLICY

• Advocate for state and federal policies that support access to quality early care and education for all families (i.e. childcare tax credits)

Access to Quality Early Care and Education

GOAL (access): To increase the number of high quality “slots” available to ALL families in Dodge and Jefferson Counties  

• To create 126 high quality early care and education slots via the YMCA at the Collective in Watertown 
• To support 40 high quality slots in Reeseville/Juneau area 
• To provide Start Up Coaching to help at least 7 new providers achieve licensing/certification
• To provide start-up capital to existing ECE sites with plans to expand
• To improve operational and administrative efficiencies for ECE providers through WECA/WEESEN shared services network

GOAL (access): Build childcare provider sustainability by transforming revenue model with employer contributions 

• Develop and implement employer sponsored care model for Dodge and Jefferson County employers

GOAL (Policy/Advocacy): Build capacity of regional stakeholders to align with state-level influencers to advocate for state/federal policies that support access to affordable high quality child care  

GOAL (ECE Workforce): Build a sustainable pipeline of passionate, quality, open-minded, ECE professionals to serve in early care settings in Dodge and Jefferson Counties

• Partner with Madison College over three years to help 50 residents achieve entry-level credentials and provide a pathway to a BS degree in education for at least 10

GOAL (ECE Workforce): Strengthen capacity of early care and education providers to utilize evidence-based practices that promote the social and emotional development of all children

• To increase and support early care and education providers in implementation of the Pyramid Model Framework 
• To increase and support early care and education providers in implementation of developmental screening practices for early identification of children at risk for cognitive, motor, communication, or social-emotional delays

Developmental Screening

GOALS: (1) To increase the number of developmental screens completed for children in Dodge and Jefferson counties and (2) To increase the percentage of children screened in Dodge and Jefferson Counties

• Add additional 10 area partners (Health Care/Early Care and Education/Community Based Organizations) to commit to conducting developmental screening and data sharing as part of our community of practice 
• 100% of partners submit comprehensive screening data by June 30th each year
• Annually host a “back to school” community wide screening day to connect families to resources to meet needs that screening identifies

GOAL: To increase the percentage of children who are developmentally on track (all ages/all intervals) 

• Build capacity of partners through professional development to identify children on/off  target with developmental skills and link families to resources to meet identified needs

Pyramid Model

GOAL:  Increase number of Early Care and Education sites implementing Pyramid Model

• Recruit 2 new Pyramid Model sites (striving towards 1 family-based provider and 1 center-based provider, or 1 school-based program)
• Onboard 2 new Pyramid Model sites

GOAL: Increase number of children in Pyramid Model classrooms (at fidelity) 

• Increase number of Pyramid Model-coached teachers at fidelity (80% or or greater overall TPOT score) from 14 to 18

GOAL: Increase Quality Measures (BOQ's) in place across active Pyramid Model sites 

• For each active, program-wide implementing site, the Benchmarks of Quality 2.0 is completed by the Pyramid Model Leadership Team at least 2 times per calendar year  (fall and spring)

GOAL: Reach 60% of Quality Measures (BOQ's) in place across NEW* implementing Pyramid Model sites 

GOAL: Increase percentage of children in Pyramid Model-coached classrooms developmentally on target 

• Promote developmental screening (ASQ) practices with Pyramid Model implementing sites
• Provide developmental screening (ASQ) professional development opportunities to increase the knowledge and skills of the early care professionals that are employed by Pyramid Model implementing sites

GWCHF collects ASQ screening data from approximately 17 area partners. *Not all community partners are able to submit data in each year. 

*Listed percentages reflects ASQ 3 screenings completed in which the child scored above cutoff within all five domains of the 48 month questionnaire* - Those five domains are communication, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, problem solving and personal & social.  "Above cut off" is based on scoring on multiple skils per domain.