Early Childhood Policy Statements and Initiatives

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The beginning years of a child’s life are critical for building the early foundation needed for success later in school and in life. Research shows that brain development is most rapid in the first years of life.

In the last few years, the Office of Early Childhood at the Administration for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services released policy statements and early childhood initiatives individually or with other departments.

See this list of Policy statements and their locations on our website for more information.

Suspension/Expulsion Prevention: this statement assists States and early childhood programs in preventing, reducing and ultimately eliminating expulsions and suspensions in early learning settings. It raises awareness about exclusionary discipline practices in early childhood settings, discusses issues of racial and gender disparities, and sheds light on negative outcomes for children associated with expulsion and suspension in the early years. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/child-health-development/reducing-suspension-and-expulsion-practices
Birth to Five: Watch Me Thrive!: this initiative has the goal of raising awareness of and encouraging healthy child development; promoting universal developmental and behavioral screening for children; ensuring early identification of developmental delays; and supporting families and early childhood programs through tools, guidance and tips. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/child-health-development/watch-me-thrive
Caring for Our Children Basics: Health and Safety Foundations for Early Care and Education: this work summarizes Federal guidance on basic, minimum health and safety standards across Head Start, child care, and pre-K programs. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/caring-for-our-children-basics
Inclusion: this policy statement sets a vision for States, local educational agencies, schools, and public and private early childhood programs to strengthen and increase the number of inclusive high-quality early childhood programs nationwide. It also assists them in making inclusive high-quality early childhood programs accessible for all young children with disabilities. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/inclusive-high-quality-early-childhood-pr...
Family Engagement: this policy statement brings together research on effective family engagement and identifies core principles from HHS' and ED's family engagement frameworks. The statement includes recommendations to States, Local Education Agencies (LEAs), schools and community-based early childhood programs for implementing effective family engagement practices and highlights resources to assist them in their work. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/family-engagement
Dual Language Learners: this policy statement promotes high-quality supports and services for young children who are Dual Language Learners (DLLs) - children who have a home language other than English and are learning two or more languages at the same time, or learning a second language while continuing to develop their first language. The statement increases awareness about the benefits of bilingualism and the important role of home language development, reviews the research on the strengths and challenges faced by this population, and provides States, tribes and early childhood programs with effective strategies for promoting DLL’s learning and development. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/dual-language-learners
Career Pathways: this policy statement provides States and early childhood programs with research-based recommendations on developing and implementing career pathways to support the professional learning, practice, and compensation of early childhood educators and program directors. This policy document focuses specifically on the needs of teachers and program directors with the goal of their having a sequence of stackable, portable credentials, combined with the supports needed to advance their individual career progression. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/early-childhood-career-pathways
State Advisory Councils: this policy statement provides State Advisory Councils (SACs) with guidance on sustaining federal and State investments, and advancing work that supports the coordination of quality, comprehensive systems of early care and education at the State level. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/early-learning/state-advisory-councils
Monitoring: this policy statement sets a new vision for monitoring, encouraging States to align monitoring policies and procedures across funding streams (i.e. CCDF,CACFP and Head Start) where appropriate rather than monitoring exclusively by funding stream. It recommends efficiencies that can be achieved through coordination, collaboration, cross-training, differential monitoring, data sharing, and greater use of technology. It shifts the current focus of monitoring from one of “compliance only” to “continuous quality improvement”. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/joint-monitoring
Technology Use: this policy brief helps families and early childhood educators use technology to promote developmentally appropriate, active, engaging, meaningful and socially interactive learning for young children. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/joint-policy-brief-on-the-use-of-technolo...
Homelessness: this policy statement provides research and recommendations to local and State early childhood programs and housing providers on ways to intentionally collaborate to provide safe, stable, and nurturing environments for pregnant women and families with young children who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd/joint-policy-statement-on-meeting-the-nee...
Data: this report helps States use existing administrative data from early childhood programs to improve services for young children and families. The statement will cover the importance of linking data collected across programs to better understand the needs of the children and families; supporting continuous program improvement, innovation, and research; integrating data to help answer questions related to program access, participation, quality, and child outcomes. It will also cover how data can impact resource allocation decisions; allow for examination of patterns in service use; identify areas for quality improvement and innovation; and improve the coordination of service delivery across systems at both the state and local levels. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ecd/intergration_of_early...