Developmental screenings are an important tool to ensure infants and toddlers are on track for healthy development. When screenings detect issues early, the right supports can address problems and set young children on a path for lifelong success. Recognizing the need for a coordinated system of early childhood screenings and referrals, Tarrant County, Texas, is bringing together a broad group of stakeholders to build an initiative to increase access to, and timely implementation of, early developmental screenings and align appropriate prenatal, early childhood, and maternal health services to better meet families’ needs. While the effort is still in the early stages, county leadership is expecting promising, data-driven results.

Early childhood educators are faced with the common career challenge of low compensation and costly higher education. That's why providing educators incentives to pursue higher education and stay in the early education system is critical to building a strong early education workforce. Over the last 30 years, North Carolina has emerged as a national leader in early childhood education, due in part to its efforts to develop a highly supported infant-toddler teacher workforce. Using a research-driven, evidence-based approach to inform policy decisions and program investments, the state has continually improved its early childhood workforce system—addressing the challenges of teacher turnover and wage disparities, improving existing programs based on extensive data collection, and bringing successful programs to scale statewide. Today, 50 percent of infant-toddler teachers in North Carolina have a two- or four-year degree, and the turnover rate among early childhood teachers has plummeted from 50 percent in many centers to 18 percent statewide.