What We Do

The Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Interdepartmental Liaison for Early Childhood Development (ECD) promotes a joint approach at the federal level to improving the availability of high quality early learning and development programs. We are made up of the Office of Child Care, the Office of Head Start, and the Interagency Team.

In addition to providing coordination across the Offices of Child Care and Head Start, we manage early childhood development efforts with other offices within the Department of Health and Human Services. We also work with other federal agencies, state and tribal councils and administrators, and a wide range of national organizations and non-profit partners. These interagency, collaborative programs and communications help ensure a complete and integrated approach to improving the nation’s childhood learning and development. 

Within all of our programs and projects, we strive to achieve the following goals:

• Build successful Early Learning and Development Systems across Head Start, child care, and pre-K.
• Promote high quality and accountable early learning and development programs for all children.
• Improve the health and safety of early learning and development programs.
• Ensure an effective early childhood workforce.
• Promote family support and engagement in a child’s development.

ECD also works with other programs within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. One of these is the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, which administers and coordinates the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.

ECD also serves as the liaison to a range of other federal agencies, particularly the U.S. Department of Education. Given the importance of state and local activities in early childhood development, ECD works closely with state partners such as State Advisory Councils, State Child Care Administrators, and State Pre-K Directors. 

Finally, the ECD team continues to reach out to a wide range of national organizations and philanthropic partners to ensure that we are collaborating and learning together.