On January 28, the Child Health & Development Project: Mississippi Thrive!, Mississippi Families for Kids, and Families as Allies facilitated a virtual event to share the results of a statewide survey of early childhood professionals regarding the status of early childhood partnerships and efforts in Mississippi. This survey was distributed by the Help Me Grow National Center, in partnership with Visible Network Labs, on behalf of the Child Health & Development Project: Mississippi Thrive! and Mississippi Families for Kids.
The survey revealed that Mississippi early childhood professionals have a strong sense of trust in each other and that their partnerships have led to increased collaboration. Professionals responding to the survey shared that a successful early childhood system should have these components:
- Comprehensive, affordable, quality early education;
- An efficient, thorough, accessible, and navigable system; and
- Healthy, happy, thriving children and families.
We appreciate this conclusion from the survey: “The data points to a need for systems change that centers the needs of families and engages families as partners in decision-making and programming.” The next steps include gathering data directly from families and examining how we can all use the information from this survey to make Mississippi’s system better for all young children.
You can view a recording of the event at this link. This three-page report and longer eight-page report explain the survey results more deeply. The Child Health & Development Project: Mississippi Thrive! has helpful resources for families.
This 2021 Enacted Legislation on Early Care and Education Report from the National Conference of State Legislatures gives examples of recent child care legislation nationwide. We also encourage you to check out the Mississippi Early Learning Alliance’s collective impact effort working toward Mississippi having a state-of-the-art child care system by 2030.
