HHS invests in strategies to strengthen early childhood development opportunities to help children and youth thrive equitably within their families and communities. HHS fosters the physical, emotional, intellectual, language, and behavioral development of children and youth while supporting their families and caregivers. HHS implements interventions and multidisciplinary programs to enhance and support early childhood development and learning. HHS also focuses its efforts to improve early childhood development programs, systems, and linkages through the application of data, evidence, and lessons learned. Below is a selection of strategies HHS is implementing.
In the context of HHS, this Strategic Plan adopts the definition of underserved populations listed in Executive Order 13985: Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government to refer to “populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, who have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life”; this definition includes individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality. Individuals may belong to more than one underserved community and face intersecting barriers.
Contributing OpDivs and StaffDivs
ACF, ACL, ASPE, CDC, CMS, FDA, HRSA, IHS, OASH, NIH, OGA, and SAMHSA work to achieve this objective.
Strategies
Foster the physical, emotional, intellectual, language, and behavioral development of children and youth while supporting their families and caregivers
- Support state and local government agencies, tribes, non-governmental organizations, and other community partners in promoting comprehensive, culturally competent, two-generation, community-based, developmentally appropriate, trauma responsive services that strengthen economic security, promote protective factors, promote learning, and reduce stress on families, fostering environments that support children, youth, pregnant and expectant persons, and parents.
- Identify and address barriers to maximizing children’s physical, emotional, cognitive, language, and behavioral development, while ensuring knowledge of and access to comprehensive behavioral health services for children, parents, and families.
- Promote programs and leverage strategic family, early learning, school, healthcare, and community-based partnerships to improve early identification of children with developmental delays and disabilities, including mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders, and facilitate linkages to appropriate treatment and services, including IDEA Part C early intervention services for children (aged birth to 36 months) and IDEA Part B services for school-aged children (aged 3 through 21 years of age).
- Advance strengths-based approaches and models to promote protective factors, positive youth development approaches, and evidence-informed programs focusing on improving the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, language, and behavioral health of adolescents, including engaging parents and caregivers, ensuring access to teen-friendly services, and coordinating adolescent- and family-centered services.
- Improve growth and development prospects of children, including enhanced dietary quality and reduction in risk factors for preventable non-communicable disease, through the promotion of healthy eating and dietary guidelines, nutrition education and standards, physical activity, oral health and hygiene, and other feeding and nutrition programs or collaborations aimed at supporting children and families, especially in rural, low-income, and other high-risk areas.
- Coordinate federal interagency efforts and target resources aimed at improving environmental health and healthy development in children by reducing exposure to environmental health risk factors—including food contaminants, lead, mold, toxic chemicals, and potent allergens—and their effects, such as asthma, poisoning, and other sicknesses.
- Expand access to comprehensive sexuality education for young people to ensure accurate and complete information about sexual and reproductive health and rights, and to support child protection.
- Collaborate and coordinate with state, tribal, local, territorial, and other key partners to increase awareness of adverse childhood experiences, build capacity to implement prevention and response policies, programs, and practices based on the best available evidence, provide targeted, culturally appropriate trainings and technical assistance, and use data to inform program planning, implementation, and evaluation of adverse childhood experiences prevention and response strategies.
Support services and programs to improve the social well-being of unaccompanied homeless youth, children and youth who cannot remain in their homes, and refugee children and youth
- Provide street outreach, emergency shelters and longer-term transitional living and maternity group home services and programs to serve and protect runaway and homeless youth.
- Bridge child welfare experience with expertise in refugee resettlement to improve outcomes for minors who have undergone forced migration and traumatic experiences with foster care placement and services and support the caregivers and community members involved in nurturing their physical and emotional well-being.
- Provide services to facilitate the school performance, psychosocial adjustment, integration, and goal-setting of refugee children and youth, and extend complementary supports to their family members, to strengthen overall family wellbeing.
Implement interventions and multidisciplinary programs that enhance and support early childhood development and learning
- Promote systems and practices of assessment and intervention, anchored in primary healthcare, that support holistic early childhood development and learning, and child and youth well-being, inclusive of physical, socio-emotional, behavioral, intellectual, cognitive, and language development.
- Align eligibility and program requirements across family-serving health and human service systems, and provide family navigation supports, to reduce burden and gaps in services.
- Improve access to stable and affordable high-quality early care and education settings and participation in early childhood programs of underserved communities and populations and the replication and application of lessons learned from successful programs focused on inclusion practices.
- Develop effective and culturally-informed training and technical assistance informed by evidence and best practices to improve the quality of early childhood and prenatal care services and education programs, including those offered by tribes and faith-based and community initiatives.
- Invest in early childhood development, learning, and care by building the capacity of the staff and workforce supporting the programs and services provided to children and families in these sectors, including programs serving low-income communities and populations.
- Stabilize the early care and education sector to address decreased revenues and increased costs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and build back a high-quality supply of programs and providers, particularly in low-income communities.
Improve early childhood development programs, systems, and linkages through the application of data, evidence, and lessons learned
- Facilitate and foster cross-sector partnerships and collaboration across HHS and non-HHS agencies at federal, state, tribal, territorial, and local levels to better integrate planning, programs, policies, financing, and data systems aimed at addressing social determinants of health, integrating family services, reducing disparities, and supporting strong families and communities in equitable ways.
- Empower children, youth, and families with opportunities to engage and have their voices heard in the planning, implementation, and assessment of programs and systems they rely on for care, learning, and other health and well-being supports.
- Promote evidence-based community engagement, dissemination, and implementation of healthcare and human services best practices among underserved populations to leverage reach and reduce gaps in services.
- Leverage research opportunities and access to data, evaluations, and evidence to better inform the development and execution of policies and programs that affect the health, well-being, and livelihoods of children, youth, adolescents, and their families and communities.
- Invest in providing technical assistance to states, tribes, and localities to support the implementation of policy, programs, and approaches, and enhance their capacity to identify, monitor, and address children’s learning and developmental needs, including supports for mental health.
- Foster the dissemination and utilization of user-friendly tools to strengthen the enrollment and participation of vulnerable youth in postsecondary education, apprenticeship, and career technical assistance opportunities.
- Utilize an integrated approach to understand the environmental factors and hazards that present a barrier for maximizing program improvement for the benefit of improved health outcomes, safety and resilience, and healthy learning environments for children.
- Conduct and support innovative research, evaluation, and surveillance of adverse childhood experiences to build the evidence base and guide prevention, identification, and response efforts.
