Issue Brief 54: Enhancing Early Childhood Systems of Care in High-Need Communities
When young children show signs of physical, emotional, or behavioral problems, interventions at the earliest possible point can prevent or reduce later developmental challenges. The best outcomes can be achieved with comprehensive approaches that include health promotion, prevention, early identification, and early intervention strategies and supports. These approaches are especially needed in underserved communities where rates of developmental problems tend to be the highest.
This issue brief shares lessons and strategies learned from the Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health) grant from 2010-2015, locally referred to as New Britain Promising Starts, which helped the community develop an early childhood system of care that promoted wellness and school readiness, prevented and reduced developmental risk factors, and provided early interventions through improved systems infrastructure and expanded services for children from birth to age 8.
Learn about our current work in early childhood mental health
For more information on Promising Starts—Wheeler Clinic’s New Britain Project LAUNCH, contact Jeana Bracey or Melissa Mendez (MMendez@Wheelerclinic.org).