Children Enter School Ready to Learn (Anne Arundel County)

Local Indicator: Birth to 4 outcomes - use of social-emotional skills exiting within age expectations

64.56% 2015

Definition
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Story Behind the Curve

Completed with the Local Interagency Coordinating Council for Anne Arundel County


  • poverty
  • homelessness
  • distracted parents - use of technology and social media
  • addiction
  • abuse
  • delayed interventions - deficiencies in community awareness of early intervention programs, lack of understanding, lack of will, "he'll catch up" or "she's just shy"
  • lack of parent awareness & education ("is this normal?")
  • parental needs for additional education (literacy, GED)
  • lack of appropriate medical care (primary or specialty) - preventative or proactive intervention
  • community trauma
  • lack of a common definition across agencies/services
  • access to services - transportation, language barriers, health care
  • cultural barriers (both directions)
  • lack of interest
  • increase in kinship care
  • agency fear ("they'll take my kids", "they'll take me" immigration issues)
  • adult mental health
  • child mental health - "security of attachment" issues, often due to trauma
  • incarcerated parents
  • basic needs take priority
  • inability of programs to properly engage parents (approach?)
  • staff fatigue/burn out
  • parent/provider burn out
  • major subjectivity in the Child Outcome Summary measures
  • disconnect between state perspective and local experience (lack of understanding of the reality of issues affecting families) - training for/speaking to only a "perfect world" scenario
  • need more access to preschool and affordable child care
  • sandwich generation - balancing care of elderly parents and young children
  • system is not keeping up with increased level of need for children currently in service (huge changes over 10 years)
  • increase of kids referred with autism, intense medical needs vs. kids with language delays (10 years ago)
  • more extreme behaviors exhibited, higher intensity of behaviors (2 year olds being kicked out of multiple day cares regularly)
  • pending legislation that says you can't suspend or expel kids regardless of age (concerns about ability to support high needs kids, ensure safety of child and teacher/caregiver, trauma to other children in classroom, etc.)
  • lack of resources and supports for families with kids birth to four
  • capacity needs given intensity and volume of behaviors
  • lack of data sharing between ITP, Child Find and K-12 (legislation that prevents some of this! ex. data sharing between Part C and Part B services)
  • lack of data sharing between agency partners
  • lack of data sharing across jurisdictions (county lines)
  • issues with stigma that become a barrier to getting help/supports
  • technology becomes a crutch with kids (phones, tablets, etc.) as a means of managing behaviors
  • technology addiction and reliance with parents and kids
  • could part of increase in referrals be due to changing social and cultural mores and children being seen in the community in care/play settings earlier than in previous generations (things not kept "behind closed doors")
  • improvements in medical technology have helped kids with significant health issues survive
  • increase in substance exposed newborns
  • high rates of adverse childhood experiences (ACES study), lack of resilience/protective factors
Partners
  • AACPS
  • DSS
  • Health Department
  • AAMC
  • Mental Health Agency
  • Headstart
  • Early Headstart
  • Arundel CCC
  • Library
  • The Coordinating Center
  • Arc of Central Ches
  • Parent's Place of MD
  • Military (Ft Meade)
  • Parents
  • Pediatricians
  • Thrive
  • Legal system - jails/prisons, judges, advocates, attorneys
  • Legislature
  • Constituent Services for County
  • Churches
  • Family Support Center
  • Civic organizations - Junior League, Rotary, Kiwanis
  • Community Foundation
  • (Add other potential partners from notes)
  • Villa Maria
  • Children's Guild
  • Innovative
  • HACA, HCAAC
  • Substance Abuse/Addiction Treatment Providers
  • Homeless Shelter Providers (Sarah's House, Lighthouse)
  • Child Care Providers (family or center based)
What Works
  • Home visiting models
  • Inter-agency collaboration
  • EC CRICT
  • early childhood behavioral/mental health interventions (BEST, CHAMPS, AACPS Early Childhood Interventions)
  • Fussy Baby/FAN training
  • Structural Family Therapy
  • Parent engagement
  • Holistic approach to school readiness like in Headstart (health services, basic needs, other resources, etc.)
  • Developmental testing/screening in pediatric offices for early intervention
  • Universal testing during pregnancy not just after birth
  • Therapeutic Nursery Centers (Lourie Center)
  • Universal full-day pre-k
  • Parenting Education (raising kids doesn't come with an instruction manual)
  • Broad scale PR campaigns to address issues
  • Access to a living wage for all
  • Circle of Security Parenting programs
  • Parent/Child Interactional Therapy
  • Engagement of innovative community partners (less hampered by policy and regulation) to drive change
  • Collaboration with Substance Abuse/Addiction Treatment Providers to address early childhood issues for kids of patients/participants
  • Programming inside jails/prisons (Open Book, BEST)
  • Decrease in high school drop-out rate
  • Increased availability to transportation options (change in policies, public transportation, human services "Uber" model)
  • Universal Intervention for Children of Trauma/Early Childhood Trauma
  • (Certified) Play therapy
  • Trauma Focused/Trauma Informed Care (certifications)
  • Experienced Early Childhood Mental Health Providers
  • Summer Bridge
  • Summer Meals Programs - mobile meals into communities to increase access
  • Family Based Mental Health Services (ex. DHMH Pennsylvania)
Strategy
  • More robust in-home mental health services (real, effective therapeutic interventions not just consultations) - Family Based Mental Health Services (ex. DHMH Pennsylvania)
  • PR Campaign - [could be local, state, or tie into national messaging]
  • Creating a more cohesive horizontal team at LICC table (and identify other methods of engagement for other partners)
  • Lobby decision makers with respect to policies around things like a living wage
  • Present to/partner with local pediatricians (AA Co APA or Pediatric Service Meeting as Featured Topic)
  • Therapeutic Nursery Program locally
  • Increase our partnership with SICC
  • Diversifying service delivery
  • Creation of Home Visiting Certification programs
  • Increase provider preparation (in university programs) for reality of family circumstances
  • Encourage increase in students choosing teaching and related professions to ensure capacity
  • Explore other countries best practices (family leave, supports, early childhood initiatives, etc.)
  • Host an open house for decision makers

__________________________


Prioritized:

  • Coordinate with ECC (perhaps Amelie from County Exec's office)/Strategic, collaborative project approach with ECC
  • Engage decision makers - County Exec's office, State Officials (Anne Arundel County delegation?), Board of Ed, Judges/judiciary (Open House)
  • Increased focus on collaborative service delivery - coordinated system of care (shared data systems/data platforms)
  • Engaging with partners for specific populations (jails/prisons, substance abuse, homeless shelters, etc.) to bring services where high risk/high need families are

Next steps:

  • Identify a "champion" in state legislature - talk to BOE legislative liaison
  • Plan open house (frame the message!)
  • Connect Wes and Pam Brown to establish collaborative relationship with ECC
  • 9/19 meeting at 10 a.m. Annapolis Pediatrics with MHA
Data Discussion
  • Explore other countries best practices (family leave, supports, early childhood initiatives, etc.)
  • PPMD will pull data for review in December 2017 (by zip) - three/four years data
  • Child Find data on kids that don't qualify but need service (by zip) - three/four years data
Research Agenda

Look at data for identified "what works" to ensure success

Scorecard Result Container Indicator Measure Action Actual Value Target Value Tag S R I P PM A m/d/yy m/d/yyyy