Financing Child Care in the United States - Ewing Marion Kauffman ...

Results to date are encouraging. In 1990, only 39
percent of students in the Rochester City School District
passed the kindergarten screening without any difficulty,
and 33 percent of students were noted to have multiple
problems. By 1997, 62 percent of students had no
difficulties, and only 9 percent had multiple problems.
(The kindergarten screening includes evaluation of
language, motor skills, cognition, vision and hearing).
POPULATION SERVED
ECDI has defined “at risk” 3– and 4–year–olds in the City
of Rochester as a priority. The nature of the collaborative,
however, is such that the member organizations, including
some of the programs noted above, may serve the entire
county or multiple counties, and often serve children from
birth through age 8.
STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS
• Members of ECDI were initially convened by
Rochester Mayor Thomas P. Ryan (D) to consider the
conclusions and recommendations developed by a
special task force and corroborated by a demographic
study done by the Center for Governmental Research
(both funded by the Rochester Area Foundation). The
group was charged with developing a feasible strategy
that would advance the community agenda, including
practical funding recommendations. It became evident
that progress on early childhood development issues
required agreement on priorities, and that no
participant standing alone could finance — or gain the
commitment of community leaders to finance — the
necessary array of projects.
• Thinking — and working — systemically required the
members of ECDI to focus on services rather than
providers. This distinction has been critical to the
approach to program evaluation and systems change.
In some cases, this focus changed the relationship
between funders and service providers, and fostered
new approaches to accountability and fund allocation.
• ECDI members take great pride in this initiative, which
has continued to operate for ten years based on the
voluntary participation and commitment of community
partners. This informal organizational structure allows
ECDI to operate as a “neutral” body, with a volunteer
facilitator and no single sponsor or funder. Members of
the group were pushed to think systemically, maintain
communication and work together.
• The periodic community–wide forum ensures inclusion
of varied viewpoints, and generally provides buy–in
from a wide array of early childhood service providers.
• State and local agencies are included in the initiative.
For this reason, a separate early childhood advocacy
committee is responsible for lobbying efforts.
• The nature of a broad community collaboration has
dictated that ECDI avoid proposals considered “radical”
or define goals perceived as “impossible” to reach as
priorities until consensus has been built. Ten years ago,
salaries were identified as a critical but “impossible”
problem. After ten years, a consensus has been
reached and it is now acceptable to move salary
increases to the top of the priority list.
OTHER SITES WITH SIMILAR STRATEGIES
The McCormick Tribune Foundation in Chicago has
headed a similar multiyear initiative, addressing many
of the same problems and solutions as the Rochester
collaboration. The Nassau county (New York) Child Care
Collaboration has a similar accreditation priority, and it
brings together a spectrum of early childhood providers
to address community–wide issues.
CONTACT
Jacqueline P. Cady, Chair
Early Childhood Development Initiative
c/o Rochester Area Foundation
500 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607
Phone (716) 325 4353
Fax (716) 546 5069
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