 The Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems grant began in July of 2003 with a small grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB.) The mission of the project was to develop a strategic plan to support a coordinated system of resources and supports for young children from birth through age five and their families in Indiana. The goal of the project is to ensure that Indiana’s children arrive to school healthy and ready to learn.
The first two years of the grant were dedicated
to infrastructure building. Toward that goal, a Core Partners group
(functioning as the steering committee) along with five subcommittees
was convened. The subcommittees were formed to address: medical provider/
medical home issues; mental health and socio-emotional development;
early care and education; parent education; and family support. Members
included key stakeholders representing families, state agencies,
professional trade associations, public and private early childhood
providers, etc. 
They met regularly to develop a Program vision and mission, service
standards, desired outcomes, and issue identification. Community Dialogues
were also conducted across the state.
The project was renamed Sunny Start: Healthy Bodies, Healthy
Minds. MCHB committed to funding the project for an additional three
years to work toward the implementation of the strategic plan, which
focuses on improving the array of services available to young Hoosier
children and their families. Work has involved: the expansion of a website
to provide families and early childhood providers with resource and
support information Early Childhood Meeting Place,
the adoption of Utah Clicks universal application software by the
Indiana WINS project, support of a study on the economic dimensions of
the child care industry in Indiana, and the development of a consensus
statement regarding the content and core competencies for social-emotional
training activities across all providers/caretakers of young children, birth
to five.
In 2007, the program continues to move forward with projects like marketing
the expansion of the Early Childhood Meeting Place website (the information
clearinghouse for families) and pilot testing Indiana WINS (the
universal application). New projects include the development of an up- to-
date developmental calendar to be used by families and providers which
highlights important health and safety information such as infant and
toddler’s nutritional needs, oral health issues, and communication and
gross motor development. When completed, this document will be posted on
the Early Childhood Meeting Place website so that all Hoosiers will have
on-line access.
Social and emotional development in young children continues to be a
focus of Sunny Start. After receiving final approval from the Sunny
Start Core Partners, the Social and Emotional Consensus Statement
described above was finalized. Currently, Sunny Start committee
members are developing a tool to be used in conjunction with the Consensus
Statement that will help individuals assess the social and emotional
competencies that their training addresses. Finally, Sunny Start is
sponsoring a comprehensive one week Summer Institute in July, 2007
which will help mental health professionals in Indiana build skills
in the area of social and emotional development in young children,
infants and toddlers.
The Core Partners and subcommittees
continue to meet regularly with updates from these meetings posted on
this website. For more information, please see the contact information
below:
Work
Plan Steps and Timeline
Funded and supported in part
by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau,
Health Resources and Services Administration,
Department of Health and Human Services. |
