Systems Strengthening Recommendations
VISION: The early childhood system is aligned, sustainable, accessible, and values the expertise and leadership of the communities caring for children.
“Too much blame on parents, and not enough blame on system for creating these inequities.”
– ECAP Participant
Durham County’s early childhood system “includes all the places and people that influence the experiences of children, prenatal to age eight, and their families.” (https://ecconnector.org/p/about-us).
Learn more about the components of our early childhood system and the strengths, challenges, and opportunities to improve it in the report below.
- Anti-Racism and Power Sharing
Address institutional racism as a root cause and share power with parents and communities. This can be done by ensuring the people most impacted by racism and its consequences have the power to shape the solutions and direct the resources.
Strategies
The Recommendation: Address Institutional Racism as a Root Cause and Share Power with Parents and Communities
The Strategies:
STRATEGY 1.1: Conduct a well-resourced community review process to vet and assess the drafted ECAP for anti-racism, power sharing, equity, and liberation.
STRATEGY 1.2: Engage community-rooted leaders[1] to lead the implementation of the ECAP with institutions and larger organizations supporting them. Invest in capacity building to fund and support community-rooted leaders’ work.
STRATEGY 1.3: Create opportunities that promote constant unlearning, re-learning, growth, and mindset shifts around authentic community engagement, power sharing, and institutional and structural racism for community and system leaders.
[1] As defined by Communities in Partnership), “Formal and informal groups that are owned, run, and operated by the people that live and work within their own communities. These organizations are not only run by the most impacted within the community context but they are directly accountable to their neighbors and members. They can operate as a non-profit, for-profit, faith community or other organized formal or informal community group. The main identifier is that the board, staff, and mission and vision were created and owned by those living within the community they are focusing their work on or have been directly impacted by the area or context in which they serve.” (Source: Camryn Smith, edited by Niasha Frey, MPH)
Why this Recommendation is Important to Our Community
Communities across the country, including Durham, continue to grapple with persistent disparities in early childhood outcomes. Too often, the solutions that are proposed and funded are developed by people without proximity to the problems they are addressing. They are also often programmatic rather than systemic and do not address the root causes of these disparities like racism. The people most impacted by racism and its consequences lack the power to shape the solutions. See the “Our Early Childhood System” for more details.
Community Voices:
“Sometimes in early childhood systems work we avoid addressing the root causes of the challenges we see, like systemic racism and poverty, because we say those are beyond our control and aren’t early childhood issues.” - ECAP participant
“Too much blame on parents, and not enough blame on system for creating these inequities.” - ECAP participant
2. Early Childhood Workforce
This describes the early childhood education profession and the persistent and unique challenges faced by early childhood educators. In the future, this recommendation could be more broadly focused on early childhood professionals across sectors, such as health care workers, social workers, counselors, etc.
Strategies
The Recommendation: Ensure Early Childhood Professionals Across Sectors are Respected, Well-Compensated, Highly Trained and Reflect the Communities They Serve
The Strategies:
STRATEGY 2.1: Raise compensation (including pay and benefits) to attract, recruit and retain highly-qualified teachers in all early learning environments. Seek public and private funding sources aimed at sustainability.
STRATEGY 2.2: Invest in increasing access to the existing culturally responsive, effective and engaging professional development opportunities for the early childhood workforce in Durham (inclusive of Family Child Care Homes; Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) Care; specialist positions) that are funded by public and private sources. Ensure early childhood educators are paid for their time. Include paid training/mentoring models to promote quality classroom interactions with young children.
STRATEGY 2.3: Promote a diverse workforce of providers that serve children and families across sectors by strengthening career pathways, including education and training.
Note: The strategies this action planning team identified were focused on the early childhood education profession, based on the persistent and unique challenges faced by early childhood educators serving children 0-4. In the future, this recommendation could be more broadly focused on early childhood professionals across sectors (e.g. social workers, healthcare professionals, etc).
Why this Recommendation is Important to Our Community
In order for children to receive high-quality care and education in the first few years of their life, it is critical that the early childhood workforce is adequately compensated and valued for their work. Lack of proper compensation and opportunities for professional development leads to undervalued early childhood education, high rates of burnout and turnover, and ultimately a workforce shortage.
Community Voices:
“Child care system rests on the shoulders of a workforce that does not have much agency in terms of power of their voice - underpaid, undervalued, many demands without benefits and pay on par” - ECAP participant
“Let’s just strike. Who is going to come in and teach these kids? Sometimes it will take some radical and revolutionary change.” - Durham early childhood educator
“Recruit and retain more teachers in ECE and K-3 that have a shared lived experience with Latinx children and students” - ECAP participant
"Programs catered for and led by people of color.” - Durham parent
3. Resource Awareness and Service Navigation
Increase resource awareness and navigation so that families with young children in Durham know and can easily access available services related to early care and education, the K-12 school system, housing, food, healthcare, and more.
Strategies
The Recommendation: Increase Resource Awareness and Create an Easily Navigable Service System for Families with Young Children
The Strategies:
STRATEGY 3.1: Develop a Peer Navigation program for parents of young children accessing community resources and services.
STRATEGY 3.2: Provide geographically diverse single-stop locations accessible and welcoming to families with young children.
Why this Recommendation is Important to Our Community
Durham has a variety of resources available for families with young children that are not well-known or accessible because the systems of care are complex and often siloed. Families shared how hard the system of services (related to early care and education, the K-12 school system, housing, food, healthcare and more) is to navigate. This was even more of a challenge for non-English speaking families, lower literacy populations, and parents supporting a child with a developmental delay or disability or complex healthcare needs.
Parents surveyed during the ECAP process suggested having existing community resources better integrated to improve service navigation and to increase awareness around the resources available through a centralized place or resource.
Community Voices:
"I think there’s plenty of resources out there for families but if we could get the word out more so these resources will be acknowledged and utilized more." - Durham parent
"Make support services more affordable, more accessible, and the application process easier." - Durham parent
"I don’t know. I think the big problem is that everything is so scattered and it’s hard to understand procedures and orders of things. It’d be nice if there was like a Durham one call but for parenting and health and school questions.” - Durham parent
"One website for all available resources." - Durham parent
"Providing more assistance for completing forms." - Durham parent
"There should be options based on interest not just economic need. If you are really interested in that service you should be able to access it for your child. There are so many requirements and paperwork, as a parent you get kind of worried/scared off. And as a result, our children suffer. That is not fair." - Durham parent
4. Data Sharing
Data can be better shared across agencies and with the community to monitor collective progress, promote transparency and accountability, and better understand the areas of greatest need for the community as a whole. This must be done in way that supports families and addresses any concerns with data sharing. Data also has an important role to play to generate funding for community-rooted solutions that are creating promising results.
Strategies
The Recommendation: Facilitate Data Sharing Between Agencies and with Communities to Better Understand Areas of Greatest Need, Track Progress, and to Promote Transparency, Accountability, and Systems-Building
The Strategies:
STRATEGY 4.1: Convene a set of community conversations and identify an ongoing community oversight structure to address opportunities and concerns related to early childhood data sharing and inform future data collection and data sharing efforts.
STRATEGY 4.2: Address barriers to data collection and sharing across agencies and age groups so that community stakeholders can continue to identify the areas of greatest need, to track progress in these areas that have been identified as a focus, and to generate funding for strategies that are creating promising results.
STRATEGY 4.3: Pilot data sharing initiatives that support data collection to report on ECAP indicators that are not currently available at the county level and share that data transparently to increase community accountability.
Why this Recommendation is Important to Our Community
ECAP goals and outcomes are interconnected and not happening in silos, so data must be shared across agencies to monitor collective progress and continuous improvement. Equity is the cornerstone of the ECAP, and similar initiatives nationally committed to racial equity use data to make decisions as a community. Those efforts have led to consistently improved outcomes for children (see The Road Map Project). Sharing data about who is being served and how, what the outcomes are, and what barriers or gaps are present will enhance continuous improvement and allow all stakeholders to adjust strategies for the child’s success.
5. Language Justice
Ensure early childhood services in Durham can be accessed by all families with young children regardless of their immigration status or English language proficiency.
Strategies
The Recommendation: Ensure Early Childhood Services Are Accessible and Welcoming to Families Regardless of Immigration Status or English Language Proficiency
The Strategies:
STRATEGY 5.1: Center language justice in all services, supports, and programs offered to young children and their families in Durham.
STRATEGY 5.2: Improve service coordination and partnerships among stakeholders to comprehensively address the health needs of people whose native language is a language other than English, people with different levels of schooling, and people who primarily rely on forms of communication that are not written.
STRATEGY 5.3: Expand early learning support in all settings to non-native English speaking families.
Why this Recommendation is Important to Our Community
All families need clarity in their communication about their children regardless of their literacy level or native language. There is a wide diversity of languages spoken in children’s homes in Durham. For example, as of April 2021, Durham Public Schools has 9,161 students enrolled whose home language is Spanish and 749 students enrolled whose home language is not English or Spanish.(1)
There are a wide variety of services offered in Durham, but they are not fully benefiting the communities who do not speak English as their first language or who have a lower literacy rate. Many families shared their frustration with finding a counselor or caseworker who speaks their language to help them navigate the services available. This is also a challenge for students and parents in school as there are not enough interpreters to assist families.
There are also eligibility barriers for parents who are undocumented and therefore do not have access to the early childhood supports and services that documented families do.
Families and caregivers with young children emphasized how difficult early childhood health, education, and other support services are to access because of language and cultural barriers. This was true of early childhood services as well as support for caregivers of young children who are immigrants (documented and undocumented), refugees, non-native English speakers, or lower literacy populations. Parents expressed that language access also needs to be paired with cultural understanding and humility. Just because someone speaks Spanish, for instance, does not mean that they are the best messenger with Latinx families.
In Durham, we want to focus on not just language access, but language JUSTICE. “Language justice creates spaces where people are invited to bring their whole selves, and the whole range of their perspectives and experiences, into the room. It demonstrates a commitment to creating a space where no one language is dominant; rather, every language in the room holds equal footing, and all participants are respectfully committed to a process of open communication and transparency.”(2) Creating spaces where language justice is centered requires funding, staffing, support, and deep mindset shifts.
(1) Durham Public Schools. Multilingual Resource Center. “Data (Datos) – Número de estudiantes desde el 1 de abril 2021.” Retrieved from: https://www.dpsnc.net/Page/5499.
(2) Antena. “How to Build Language Justice.” (2013). Retrieved from: http://antenaantena.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/langjust_eng.pdf.
Community Voices:
"Fewer obstacles when requesting help, more information on the programs in the clinics and more bilingual people." - Durham parent
"Create more help with different languages in all schools so that the family is involved with everything school." - Durham parent
“Whenever conferences have been offered, sometimes the parents who speak another language don’t come or engage as much.” - Durham Public Schools K-3 Teacher
“It’s so hard for families who speak languages other than English to enroll in [PreK and Head Start].” - Durham parent
"Lack of support for ELL [English Language Learners] in schools." - Durham parent
“The interpreter they provided was really a service navigator who only spoke English and didn’t ensure I had support at all steps when it was all so foreign to me.” - Durham parent
"Those of us are trying to get our citizenship papers in order, they told us not to ask for any state assistance. Bc then it will look poorly on us when they review our cases. Idk if it's true or not that it will affect my status BUT I am afraid." - Durham parent
“They need to look at the population size and determine how much support is needed for interpreters based on that. E.g., the schools with 50% Spanish-speaking need more than one.” - Durham Public Schools K-3 Teacher
6. Family Friendly Public Spaces and Enrichment
Expand opportunities for more accessible, inclusive, safe and family-friendly public spaces and activities where families can interact and see their families reflected and where children can learn and play.
Strategies
The Recommendation: Expand Opportunities for Accessible, Inclusive, Safe, and Family-Friendly Enrichment Activities and Public Spaces
The Strategies:
STRATEGY 6.1: Enhance Durham’s public spaces and local developments to become more family-friendly, safe and inclusive of all of Durham’s residents and to encourage playful learning throughout the community.
STRATEGY 6.2: Invest in programs and activities that already exist to improve marketing/promotion and reduce barriers to access (e.g. transportation)
Why this Recommendation is Important to Our Community
Children spend much of their time out of formal learning environments, so the role of parents, communities, and public spaces in early childhood learning and brain development cannot be understated or undervalued.(1) As a community, we must do more to promote play and support healthy brain development in public spaces and enrichment programs outside of scheduled school time. These opportunities for play and engagement in public spaces can also support healthy social-emotional interactions for children and their families.
Parents and caregivers across Durham expressed a desire for better access to Durham’s public spaces and for those spaces to be safe and inclusive. As Durham grows, there is an opportunity to intentionally create family-friendly, safe, and inclusive public spaces where more families can interact and see their families reflected.
Durham can also learn from examples in other cities to incorporate opportunities for parent-child interactions and “playful learning” in public spaces which enhances children’s cognition and social development. For example, in Philadelphia, community organizations came together to enhance a bus stop into a stimulating environment with story art, a puzzle wall, and more.
(1) Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy. “Playful Learning Landscapes.” Retrieved from: https://kathyhirshpasek.com/learning-landscapes/.
Community Voices:
"Better access to parks and playgrounds for children with disabilities." - Durham parent
"More child friendly areas downtown!" - Durham parent
"More locations that are multi-purposeful (play area, coffee shop, car mechanic, etc. all in one place)." - Durham parent
“There is a lot of buildings and I see they build a lot of buildings. And I see they build parks. But it’s not large enough when they build the parks. It’s always the same types of games. And sometimes the ground they put it on is rocky and dangerous.” build parks, but it’s not large enough. It’s always the same type of games. And the type of ground they put on can be rocky and dangerous.” - 9th grader at Durham Public Schools
be rocky and dangerous.” - 9th grader at Durham Public Schools
"More parks and playgrounds! My kids love them and I think that as our city grows, we need to revamp the parks that we do have and add in more family friendly outdoor spaces." - Durham parent
"More splash pads, more parks, more green open space, more public swimming pools." - Durham parent
Desire for more accessible, affordable enrichment activities (particularly for children under age 5):
"Lower cost programs. No income to low income families having access to these programs" - Durham parent
"Wider range of programs that are free or have the scale for reduced cost be wide - Especially need free after school care, camps & tutoring." - Durham parent
"I wish they would provide affordable resources for other programs like karate, ballet or soccer. These kinds of sports are not affordable...it would cost you a two-week paycheck to pay for them. You would have to work 80 hours to pay for 4 hours of these programs. It is not something affordable and I wish they would change that." - Durham parent
"Having group activities for children between the ages of 2-5." - Durham parent
"More activities for 2 year olds, they seem to be forgotten." - Durham parent
"More free or low cost options for entertainment for kids under 3" - Durham parent
Awareness about what is available:
"More advertisement for free/low cost things in the area." - Durham parent
"More awareness of community events, sports, etc." - Durham parent
7. Family Friendly Workplaces
Advocate for workplaces that understand and support the needs of families with young children, such as paid leave, flexible work and scheduling, child care solutions, health benefits, and other accommodations and supports.
Strategies
The Recommendation: Advocate for Workplaces that Understand and Support the Needs of Families with Young Children
The Strategies:
STRATEGY 7.1: Build a coalition of Durham businesses, families, early childhood experts and labor groups to promote, advocate for, and build awareness about family-friendly workplaces in Durham.
STRATEGY 7.2: Advocate for state and federal family-friendly workplace policies and implement financial incentives for existing/new policies.
STRATEGY 7.3: Empower families with the knowledge and tools needed to advocate for family-friendly workplaces.
Why this Recommendation is Important to Our Community
Family friendly workplace policies “improve children’s health and well-being and keep North Carolina’s businesses competitive.”(1) Unfortunately, many families, particularly BIPOC families and families with low incomes, lack access to family-friendly workplace policies in their jobs. Nationwide, 40% of parents say they have left a job because it lacked flexibility.
As North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation’s Guide to Family Friendly Workplaces identifies, family friendly policies include:
Paid Leave: Parental leave (for birth, adoption or foster placement), sick and safe leave, and family and medical leave.
Flexible Work and Scheduling: Flextime, working from home or telecommuting, job sharing, part-time work, and predictable scheduling.
Child Care Solutions: Backup and emergency care, child care referrals, on-site child care, child care consortiums, and subsidized or reimbursed care.
Accommodations and Support: Accommodations and support for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and people, and babies at work initiatives.
Health Benefits and Flexible Spending Accounts: Health insurance, wellness benefits, and flexible spending accounts
Family-friendly workplaces would move the needle on so many of the ECAP goal areas from enabling parents to take time off for prenatal and well-child visits, to increasing breastfeeding rates, to enabling parents and children to spend more time together in the developmentally critical months and years of a child’s life.
Providing family-friendly policies is also a worthwhile investment for businesses as it improves employee recruitment, employee retention, workforce diversity, and employee productivity.(2) The Human Resources Director of a major manufacturing company in North Carolina testifies that providing accommodations for families at work is “much easier than you think it is. There’s no question that healthier employees are more productive. This is just the right thing to do.”(3)
(1) Family Forward NC. “Family-Friendly Workplaces Strengthen Our State.” (2021). Retrieved from: https://familyforwardnc.com/.
(2) Reese, Julene. Utah State University. “Research Shows Family-Friendly Policies Increase Workplace Satisfaction.” (December 2020). Retrieved from: https://www.usu.edu/today/story/research-shows-family-friendly-policies-increase-workplace-satisfaction.
(3) North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. “Making It Work: Employers Supporting Breastfeeding Families.” (May 2020). Retrieved from: https://workwellnc.com/_links/toolkit/making_it_work/0620/bfemployers/Making_it_Work-Employers_Supporting_Breastfeeding_Print.pdf.
Community Voices:
"Feeling safe as a nursing mother." - Durham parent
“PAID PARENTAL LEAVE FOR BOTH PARTNERS FOR 6 MONTHS.” - Durham parent
"I think we primarily need broad systemic change that allows for more family leave and lets parents better balance careers and parenting." - Durham parent
"I had to go back to work after three months, so my child started off with my parents. My child was born with congestive heart failure and had developmental delays as a result, which was a concern since my parents first language isn't English.” - Durham parent