A new report finds Massachusetts families need a system of early childhood support in their communities

Many new parents have a common complaint: babies do not come with instruction manuals. 

This is a problem that Massachusetts could solve by creating easy ways for families to access information about and connections to early childhood services. 

A new report from the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank, explains how. 

The report — Connecting the Dots: Infrastructure to Help Massachusetts Families with Young Children Connect to Services — is based on a yearlong project run by the Urban Institute and Northeastern University Professor Kim Lucas. 

The project started with a review of the Legislature’s recent Economic Review Commission report and the work of The Early Childhood Agenda. 

The project team spoke to more than 100 people and “focused on local early childhood infrastructure to provide information, connections, and services so the systems could be tailored to differences in geographic, sociocultural, demographic, linguistic, and political contexts across Massachusetts.”

The need is substantial. As one parent quoted in the report says: 

“My biggest frustration is searching for child care service… It’s hard when you have a whole list of 10 people to call, but then when you whittle it down and do all the calling while you’re watching your kids, while you’re trying to work from home, [and each provider has a waitlist]. So I know it would be hard to do, but it would be a nice resource to be able to have someone tell me who knows what’s open and available who has done all of that for me.”

A community leader featured in the report adds: 

“We have 30 different databases, some of which are required by different funders. This isn’t a cross-agency problem—this is just within our own agency. Coordinating services for families in these circumstances is very difficult.”

Among the report’s overall findings: 

• Massachusetts families with children from birth to age 5 have a pressing need to “obtain information on and connections to early childhood services. Current public funding for early childhood services and infrastructure is inadequate to meet the need.”

• many parents end up tapping into “a patchwork” of information, not a system

• people see value in having Massachusetts play a role in creating a system that connects parents to information and resources

• “some infrastructure components need to be determined at the local level” to meet specific local needs

• families and service providers are unaware of many of “the initiatives that currently exist across the Commonwealth,” and 

• in addition to public funding, this effort needs “philanthropic and business engagement”

To effectively address these challenges, the report recommends: 

• having “comprehensive legislation and a commitment to sustained state investment to support the creation and implementation of local early childhood infrastructure in each community”

• combine a “ ‘hub’ and ‘no-wrong door’ approach” to create a system that coordinates and aligns with existing community initiatives 

• create “an interagency state-level team of leaders” who work to “align early childhood systems and support standardization of local infrastructure”

• develop “a process and funding sources that foster innovation and offer flexibility to create infrastructure” that is locally relevant and driven by “a consortium that brings together providers, families, and others with a vested interest”

• invest in “clear and descriptive branding so that families and providers can easily identify and find trusted sources of early childhood information and connections,” and

• have “formal collaboration among leaders from the public sector, philanthropy, and business to support innovation in the design and implementation of local early childhood infrastructure”

A pediatrician who is quoted in the report adds: 

“ ‘No wrong door’ is a great phrase, but if you are asking me to do 100 extra things on top of everything else, or my staff who are overworked and overwhelmed, it’s just not practical. It affects quality of life and then physicians will just quit and retire. People are leaving medicine because it is just too much. Something like 211 [a phone number that anyone can call to learn about services] that provides local information and connections would be great if it really worked… Oh my gosh, that would be great for those of us caring for young children and for families if it was up to date and had the information we need.”

Edward Street and other advocates will build on this work through the Early Childhood Agenda workgroup focused on creating local infrastructure and partnerships. The next step is for policymakers to take action, launching the start of an easily accessed information system that supports parents so that they can help their children thrive.

A state leader, quoted in the report, sums up the necessary strategy, explaining: 

“You can’t do anything major on the margin. This requires a substantial commitment and dedicated staff to update information and connections to early childhood services.”

To learn more, check out the report.