Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems SEED Project: Scaling Effective Early Childhood Systems Develo - The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) proposes Strengthening Community Implementation of Help Me Grow in Kansas through the Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems: Scaling Effective Early Childhood Systems Development (ECCS SEED) initiative. The project will strengthen implementation of the nationally recognized Help Me Grow framework by addressing a persistent challenge identified through Kansas' Title V Needs Assessment and other statewide planning efforts: while Kansas has developed strong early childhood systems and resources, communities vary in their capacity to consistently implement and benefit from those investments. To address this gap, KDHE will partner with Thrive Allen County to pilot a Community Systems Lead embedded within Allen County, a rural community selected for its demonstrated need, strong local partnerships, and readiness to advance community systems improvement. Rather than creating a new service, referral program, or care navigation function, the project will build local implementation capacity by supporting adoption of evidence-based early childhood development models, strengthening cross-sector collaboration, identifying barriers to coordinated care, and establishing continuous communication between community stakeholders and state leadership. This approach is designed to help existing systems function more effectively while remaining responsive to the unique strengths and needs of the local community. The Community Systems Lead will strengthen implementation of the four core components of the Help Me Grow framework while tailoring implementation to the unique strengths and needs of Allen County: - Family and Community Outreach: Increase awareness of developmental promotion and strengthen connections among families, providers, and community organizations. The Community Systems Lead will help translate statewide initiatives into locally relevant implementation strategies while fostering community engagement. - Child Health Care Provider Outreach: Partner with pediatric, family medicine, obstetric, behavioral health, and early childhood providers to promote developmental screening, early identification of concerns, and timely referral to appropriate services and supports. - Centralized Access Point: Strengthen utilization of existing referral and care coordination resources, including 1-800-CHILDREN, the Integrated Referral and Intake System (IRIS), and other local and statewide referral systems, while improving collaboration among organizations serving young children and families. - Data Collection and Analysis: The project will use implementation and referral data to better understand how families access services, where barriers exist, and how community systems can more effectively support children and families. Formal evaluation conducted in partnership with the University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research will integrate data and feedback into an ongoing continuous quality improvement process By testing and evaluating a scalable approach to strengthening community implementation of Help Me Grow, Kansas will create a sustainable framework for improving coordination of early childhood systems and translating statewide investments into better outcomes for children, families, and communities.
