The pandemic disrupted developmental screening in the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 data collection periods, but increases over the last two years indicate pandemic impact could be diminishing. 

Contributing Factors:

• Increase of local partnerships 
• Systems restoring normal practices post pandemic

Restricting Factors:

• Lack of engagement of local healthcare partners.  
• Lack of awareness of importance and tools for parents to promote brain building 
• Community did not provide universal access to developmental screening
• Systems did not make it easy for parents to access needed services  

“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

Developmental Screening Team Members

Strengths of the ASQ-3

• Designed for parents to administer
• Series of questionaires about children 2 mos. to 5 yrs.
• Adjusts for prematurity
• Identified children with potential delays
• Written at 4th to 6th grade reading level 
• Culturally Sensitive
• Adaptations in multiple languages
• Teaches child development

2020-2021

To support the ongoing implementation and growth of this work the ECT Developmental Screening Team will meet:

• 4 Full virtual meetingsin July, Sept, January, April
• Technical Assistance calls to be offered twice monthly in October, November, December, February, March, May, June 

Action Plan:

• Screening to continue with 18 current agencies
• Assessment for readiness to occur with 2 agencies.
• Continuation of data collection quarterly with submission dates of October 15th, January 15th, April 15th,  July 15th
• Engage local/regional healthcare providers in Developmental Screening during well child visits at 9, 18, 30 month visits

GWCHF collects ASQ screening data from approximately 17 area partners - listed in the partners section below.  

*Not all community partners are able to submit data in each year. 

**2023-2024 - New data submissions | Jefferson School District, Johnson Creek School District, YMCA Early Learning Center, Fort Healthcare, Jefferson County Birth to three healthcare referrals.