CONFERENCES

Build Initiative National Conference: Healthy Mental Development in Young Children: Policy Strategies to Ensure School Readiness Conference
 
Held November 16-18th, 2010 at the Denver Marriott Tech Center in Denver, Colorado, the national Build meeting, Healthy Mental Development in Young Children: Policy Strategies to Ensure School Readiness, provided an opportunity for 14 states from across the country (including eight Build state teams and six additional teams) to discuss the multidimensional facets of healthy child mental development as related to policy and practice. Consistent with the Build approach, the conference offered peer-to-peer learning and sharing between national leaders of child health planning and policy and state teams as well as  opportunities for state level planning and networking.  
 
 
Keynote Presentations
 
Dr. Charlie Bruner, Executive Director of the Child and Family Policy Center and Director of Build Research and Evaluation provided an overview of the conference with his, From Science to Policy: An Early Childhood Systems Building Framework to Incorporate Children’s Mental Health, presentation. 
 
The meeting opened on Wednesday evening, November 16th with comments by Dr. Ed Schor of the Commonwealth Fund.  His presentation titled, The Ordinary Needs of Children and Families, set the stage for the next two days by outlining opportunities for child and family success that a system building approach provides. He challenged the audience to be patient and persistent in their work to improve outcomes for young children.
 
On Wednesday morning Dr. Ross Thompson, Professor of Psychology, University of California at Davis shared his presentation, The Science of Early Childhood Development: Learning, Stress, and Brain Development. Dr. Thompson’s work focuses on early personality and socio-emotional development in the context of close relationships.  He provided an overview of the neuroscience and child development literature on mental health development in young children and its critical role in long-term emotional, cognitive, and social development as well as the implications for policy these findings provide.
 
Thursday morning began with a keynote by Tawara Goode, National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development titled, Achieving Cultural and Linguistic Competence:  Implications for Systems Supporting the  Health and Mental Health of Young Children and Their Families.  Cultural competence and linguistic competence are widely recognized by policy makers, researchers, educators, and providers as fundamental aspects of quality in health and human services, particularly for diverse populations.  Cultural competence and linguistic competence are viewed as essential approaches for reducing disparities and promoting equity by improving access, utilization, service delivery, and the outcomes and well-being of children, families, and the communities in which they live. While the evidence suggests the efficacy of these approaches for health and mental health care, many systems and organizations continue to struggle with the full integration of cultural and linguistic competence into their policies, structures, practices, and procedures.  Her presentation: (a) delineated the multiple dimensions of culture within the contexts of young children, their families, and systems that provide them with services and supports;  (b) described conceptual frameworks for advancing and sustaining cultural and linguistic competence;  (c) examined cultural and linguistic competence within the context of system and organizational change; (d) cited salient findings from the evidence for cultural and linguistic competence in health and mental health care; and (e) examined system and organizational roles in addressing health and mental health equity.
 

 

BUILD's 9th Annual Conference: Exploring Paradox & Potential in Systems Building

“Exploring Paradox & Potential in Systems Building” was the theme of the 9th Annual BUILD National Meeting held at the Eaglewood Conference Center in Itasca, Illinois, October 4-6, 2010.   Teams from each of the eight BUILD states gathered with national, state and regional experts to reflect on their systems building work in a tumultuous economic and political climate.  Unprecedented budget constraints, imminent gubernatorial elections in six of the eight states, and the challenges and opportunities presented by the newly formed Early Childhood Advisory Councils provided the backdrop for peer learning sessions focused on a variety of systems building topics.  

 
Among the highlights: a keynote presentation from Maria Guajardo, Ph.D., executive director of the Mayor’s Office for Education and Children in Denver, Colorado, on the barriers and opportunities for including and serving all children in state and community systems, with a particular lens on diversity and equity, a panel discussion looking at lessons learned from two decades of studying community level change initiatives, and roundtable discussions on addressing the paradoxes of systems building. During the annual BUILD Book Club session, state teams used the book Power and Love, A Theory and Practice of Social Change, by Adam Kahane as a starting point for a discussion of the leadership culture in their organizations, communities and states.  Smaller, focused sessions, provided state leaders with the opportunity to dig deeper into timely topics such as community level systems building, home visiting, early childhood advisory councils, parent leadership, and data systems.
 

Resources and Meeting Materials:

 
 
 

Plenary Sessions

BUILD Book Club: What drives our leadership decisions? Is it the drive to self-realization (power) or the drive to unity (love)? In this fifth annual edition of the BUILD Book Club, Adam Kahane’s perspectives on power and love provided an interesting lens for our exploration of the complexities, paradoxes and potentials of systems building.  When thinking about leadership, power and love may seem contradictory, but finding effective ways to integrate the two can make all the difference in leading significant change.  During a group discussion and a team exercise, state team members used the concepts in the book as a frame to look at effective leadership and examine their work, their fellow leaders, and themselves.
 
Kahane, Adam, Power and Love, A Theory and Practice of Social Change, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2010.
 
Taking Stock of Systems Building: Anne Kubisch, Aspen Institute, shared findings from two decades of studying community level change initiatives.  Respondents Joan Blough, Early Childhood Investment Corporation, Michigan, and Richard Chase, Wilder Research, Minnesota reflected on the lessons gleaned for state level early childhood systems builders.
 
 
 
Integrative Thinking in Early Childhood:  A paper –Integrative Thinking in Early Childhood: Developing Proximate Solutions to Contradictory Ideas in System-Building - by Charlie Bruner, Child and Family Policy Center, provided the context for an overview presentation and a series of roundtable discussions.  Bruner argues that integrative thinking – the ability to hold two contradictory ideas in mind and reach a synthesis that contains elements of both but improves on each – is crucial to successful systems building work.  State leaders met in small groups to brainstorm how to productively address some of the contradictions that occur in their daily work such as program advancement vs. systems development and individual leadership vs. overall governance. 
 
 
 

Concurrent Small Group Sessions

Community Level Systems Building: This discussion, let by Lisa Roy, Center for the Study of Social Policy, Jeanna Capito, Erikson Institute, and Candace Williams Positive Parenting DuPage, examined cross-oval systems building at the community level, digging deep into effective community strategies and challenges.
 
 
Early Childhood Advisory Councils: Elliot Regenstein, EducationCounsel, and Margie Wallen, Ounce of Prevention Fund, discussed the latest developments and opportunities with Early Childhood Advisory Councils, providing a look at potential strategies for sustaining and expanding influence through gubernatorial transition.
 
 
 
Home Visiting: Deb Daro, Chapin Hall, provided a contextual overview of home visiting and her thoughts on how to make the most of the federal home visiting focus for systems building, and Gaylord Gieseke, Voices for Illinois Children, provided highlights from Illinois’ plans.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Parenting Leadership:  Bryn Fortune and Brenda McGowan, Michigan’s Great Start Parent Coalition, presented a continuum of ways parents can be authentically involved in states’ early childhood systems building.
 
 
Data System Barrier Busting: Tom Schultz, Council of Chief State School Officers, presented strategies for states to take advantage of the opportunities to address early childhood data systems through ECAC funding and build cohesive systems, aligned with P-12 longitudinal data systems.
 

BUILD's 8th Annual Conference: Sustaining Momentum, Supporting Leaders, Building Systems

“Sustaining Momentum, Supporting Leaders, Building Systems” was the theme of the 8th Annual Build National Meeting held in Phoenix, Arizona October 13-15, 2009. Teams from each of the eight Build states and guests from Arizona participated in the sessions that featured a variety of topics related to the systems building work underway across the country. Among the highlights: a keynote delivered by Rich Neimand, Neimand Collaborative, on “The Heckman Equation: New Messages and Tools for Supporting Investments in early Childhood Development” offered strategies for using the work of Nobel Laureate James Heckman in advocacy, a panel representing three states discussed “Sustaining Systems Change through Political Transitions, and Dr. Angela Sauaia, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, discussed “Health Equity and Young Children,” and a two-state panel led a discussion of “State System Building and the Federal Agenda.” During the annual Build Book Club session, state teams used a business classic, Good to Great, by Jim Collins to frame a discussion of their states progress and ways to create better results that are sustainable over time.

 
 Resources and Meeting Materials 
 
 

Build Book Club Selection: What do hedgehogs and flywheels have to do with building early childhood systems? In the 4th annual edition of the Build Book Club, participants borrowed lessons from what many consider to be a classic of business literature. Using the concepts from the book as a point of departure, state teams considered where their state is on the journey from good to great and discussed ways to translate lessons learned into better results, sustainable over time. 

 
Collins, Jim, Good to Great, Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t, New York, Harper Collins, 2001. 
 
Plenary Sessions 
 

The Heckman Equation: New Messages and Tools for Supporting Investments in Early Childhood Development. Rich Neimand, President/Creative Director, Neimand Collaborative, presented strategies and tools for using the work of Nobel Laureate Dr. James Heckman on the economic return on investment for early childhood education to effectively make the early childhood case to policymakers and business leaders.

 
            www.heckmanequation.org
 

 The Heckman Equation: A solution for better education and health outcomes, less crime and poverty and greater economic prosperity. 

 
 

Sustaining Systems Change through Political Transitions. Based on a report outlining the experiences and lessons learned of a dozen state leaders, a pre-meeting survey of participants and the comments of a panel of state leaders, this interactive session explored ways to take steps at every stage of an administration to improve the chances of sustaining systems change. Kristin Wiggins, Washington, facilitated the session that featured Rhian Allvin, Arizona, Nadine Mathis Basha, Arizona, Karen Ponder, North Carolina, and Barbara Gebhard, West Virginia.

 
 
Sustaining Early Childhood Systems Development  – Interviews With Key Informants Outside Pennsylvania: Key Findings In Brief.
 

Health Equity and Young Children.  Dr. Angela Sauaia, MD, PhD, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, described the health inequities affecting our young children’s health, their causes, and how we can work toward eliminating them. 

 
            Health Equity   
  

State System Building and the Federal Agenda. This discussion centered on what states are doing to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the federal agenda. Charles Bruner, Child and Family Policy Center, Bob Frawley, New York, Kathy Glazer, Build Initiative, and Nancy Shier, Illinois led the discussion on the challenges, what’s working, lessons learned and what information/resources are needed to move ahead. 

 
 
 
 
 
Workshops

 Integrating Prevention and Family Support into Early Childhood System Building. This workshop, led by Karen Schimke, New York, Karen Yarbrough, Illinois, and Amanda Blagman, New Jersey, explored ways that state leaders can better integrate family support and prevention strategies into early childhood systems. 

 

 
 
 
 
 

Measure What You Treasure: Developing Culturally Competent Data Systems. In this workshop, Charlie Bruner of the Child and Family Policy Center, led a discussion of how states can develop data systems that gather pertinent information about race, language and culture, drawing from the latest Build Policy Brief. Richard Chase, Minnesota, and Amy Kemp and Roopa Iyer, Arizona, provided state perspectives on the issue.

           
 

Building Parent Leadership. Leaders from three Build states – Bryn Fortune, Michigan, Robin Higa, Washington and Eileen Wise, Pennsylvania - helped workshop participants explore what parent leadership is, its assets and how it can be accessed, built, and strengthened to create strong communities, inform service delivery and enhance systems-building efforts. 

 
            Community Café 
 
 

State Policy Advocacy: Beyond The Usual Suspects. This workshop, led by Charlie Bruner of the Child and Family Policy Center, explored how states can develop common messages and unified advocacy strategies. Amy Koteba, Arizona, and Nancy Shier, Illinois, offered the perspectives of two states.

            Learning Begins at Birth 
 
 
Beyond the Usual Suspects: Developing New Allies to Invest in School Readiness  – State Early Childhood Policy Technical Assistance Network
 
 
State Financing Options for Infant-Toddler Services. Barbara Gebhard, Zero to Three, led a session on creative options for investing in services for at-risk infants and toddlers. Becky Veak, Nebraska, and Karen Yarbrough, Illinois, offered state experiences and lessons learned. 
 

            Inspiring Innovation: CreativeState Financing Structures for Infant-Toddler Services

Family, Friend and Neighbor Care Conference: Building Quality Everywhere

More than 100 state leaders, national experts and philanthropists gathered in Minneapolis in September at BUILD's national conference on family, friend and neighbor care – "Supporting Quality Everywhere."

Eleven states sent teams to the meeting to participate in peer-to-peer and expert information and strategy sharing and to help build momentum to advance support for family, friend and neighbor caregivers.

In addition to examining emerging models and the lessons that can be taken from them, conference highlights included sessions on the progress made toward integrating FFN care into early childhood systems and setting a policy agenda; building an infrastructure for quality in FFN care; and the impact of the current federal climate.

Resources and Meeting Materials

Meeting Agenda 

Participant List 

Comprehensive FFN Reading List 

Build's FFN Policy Brief 

Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care: A Framework for Public Support 

Charles Bruner of the Child and Family Policy Center and Build's Lead Evaluator provided an opening framework for the conference.

Minnesota Factsheet , Washington Factsheet .

Illinois, Washington and Minnesota are three examples of states who made progress in integrating FFN care into early childhood systems and setting a policy agenda for FFN care. In the opening plenary for the conference, representatives from each of these three states discussed the successes and the challenges associated with moving the FFN work forward.

Strategies for Supporting the Success of FFN Care .

The conference dinner offered the opportunity to highlight the FFN care successes of Minnesota, the host state, and highlight the role of legislators, advocate and funders in creating a policy win.

Strengthening Families Through Early Care & Education , Prevention and Promotion .

In a session entitled Building an Infrastructure for Quality in FFN Care, Judy Langford, Center for the Study of Social Policy and Nina Sazer O'Donnell, United Way Worldwide, led conferees in a discussion about how to build on the best of two worlds – early care and education and family support – to best meet the needs of young children and their families.

Summary of Funder Responses to FFN Survey , Strategies for Supporting the Success of FFN Care .

Representatives from 16 foundations attended the conference. A pre-meeting survey set the stage for a discussion about the role philanthropy can play in moving FFN care forward.

What's Happening in Washington .

Helen Blank of the National Women's Law Center led a discussion of the Impact of the Federal Climate on FFN Care.

Healthy Child Development & School Readiness:  Moving the Agenda Forward

February 26-27, Denver, CO 
Joint Meeting of The Build Initiative/Project Thrive-NCCP

The Build Initiative in partnership with the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) conducted a topical conference for multiple state teams focused on the intersection of health/mental health development and school readiness.  The goal of the conference were to:

  • Assist teams from 8 states (Colorado, Arizona, Washington, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island) to build upon emerging best program practices and policies from the health system to support school readiness strategies and to support the health system in adopting exemplary health and mental health practices. 
     
  • Identify key policy actions that states can take to promote healthy child development and school readiness and seek to strengthen the linkages of health/mental health to the early care and education and family support components. 

Consistent with both BUILD and NCCP approaches, a strong emphasis was placed on peer-to-peer learning and sharing and the implementation of an action-oriented agenda that supports systemic change for children and families.

Conference support materials

Child Health and School Readiness Key Sources of Information, Focus Upon State Policy .

Award Presentations

BUILD and NCCP presented two awards at the conference.  Click to see videos of the awards presentations to Zoe Nicholie and Jane Knitzer.
 

Beyond Either/Or: Resolving Tensions in Systems Building

The 2008 Build Initiative National Meeting, held October 21-23 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, drew more than 70 state, regional and national leaders to learn from their peers, explore cross-cutting early childhood issues, celebrate individual and state accomplishments, and look to future challenges and possibilities. 

The meeting’s theme came from the third annual installment of the Build Book Club.   A discussion of Roger Martin’s book, The Opposable Mind – How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking, challenged state leaders to think about the opposable ideas that arise continually as we work to meet the needs of our youngest children and their families through systemic change. Examples of opposable ideas  include quantity vs. quality, desire for collaborative change efforts vs. single program attribution, and sustainability vs. fast results.

Plenary sessions focused on critical issues facing the BUILD states including interconnections between elements of an early childhood system, early childhood systems in a multi-ethnic society, making systems meet the needs of our most vulnerable children and new opportunities for children with the 111th Congress. 

Interactive workshops covered a variety of issues that cut across multiple focus areas including crafting early learning standards for a multi-ethnic society, constructing culturally competent quality rating and improvement systems, increasing teacher qualifications while maintaining workforce diversity, building state-community connections, financing options for early care and education, new roles for child care resource and referral agencies, medical homes and the integration of heath into early childhood systems building.

Resources and Meeting Materials

Meeting Agenda 

2008 Build Book Club Selection, The Opposable Mind, How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking , Roger Martin, Harvard Business School Press, 2007.

It’s About Connections , Charles Bruner, Child and Family Policy Center and Build’s Lead Evaluator, provides an overview of the elements of an early childhood system and their interconnections.

The Build Initiative’s Commitment to Diversity and Equity  , Charles Bruner, Child and Family Policy Center and Build’s Lead Evaluator, provides an overview of the Initiative’s efforts to address issues of diversity and equity.

Policy Brief – Building Early Childhood Systems in a Multi-Ethnic Society: An Overview of Build’s Brief’s on Diversity and Equity  identifies five gaps in early childhood systems building strategies.

Policy Brief – Crafting Early Learning Standards for a Multi-Ethnic Society: Lessons Learned from Washington and Alaska 

Hedy Nai-Lin Chang, Charles Bruner and Michelle Stover Wright provides information about the experiences in Washington and Alaska so that other states can learn from and build upon their pioneering efforts to address language and cultural issues through their early learning standards.

Constructing Culturally Competent Quality Rating and Improvement Systems: A Conversation 

Over the last decade many states have worked to develop and implement statewide Quality Rating and Improvement systems focusing on the improvement of services and early childhood environments for young children and families.  These systems generally include a focus on accountability, professional development, parent education and standards for successful and quality early childhood environments and outcomes.  A recent scan of state wide QRIS shows that when considering quality in early learning environments few included explicit strategies for rating programs in terms of cultural competence, diversity or a child’s home language.  This presentation by Antonia Lopez, National Council of La Raza, addresses how to bring these topics into the definition of quality at the state level and helps leaders think about how a culturally competent QRIS might look.

Developing a Diverse and Skilled Workforce: Lessons from the New Jersey Abbott Preschool Experience 

Julia Coffman, Evaluation Consultant, Melinda Green, Early Childhood Consultant and Barbara Reisman, The Schumann Fund for New Jersey, examines New Jersey’s experience in responding to the NJ Supreme Court Abbott Case that required preschool teachers in the states 30 poorest districts to obtain a bachelor’s degree and early childhood certification within four years.

Focusing on Families in Systems Built for Kids 

Judy Langford, Center for the Study of Social Policy, introduces the protective factors framework and what research tells us families need to succeed.

Financing Options for Early Care and Education 

Louise Stoney, Alliance for Early Childhood Finance and Anne Mitchell, Early Childhood Policy Research, outline approaches to create complementary early care and education funding strategies to contribute to a diverse portfolio rather than as competing silos.
Document coming soon

Early Childhood and the Federal Investment in Children (25mb)

Bruce Lesley, First Focus, provides funding context from the 2008 children’s budget and lays out the challenges for working with the next Congress and efforts to collaborate, advocate and apply political pressure to increase the investment in children.