Two Systems, One Vision: Quality Early Care and Education for Children in Foster Care

Researchers from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the National Center for Children in Poverty, and SRI Education are working with Arkansas’s Office of Early Childhood and other state partners to strengthen the early care and education (ECE) experiences of young children in foster care (birth through age 5). Presenters will share how they are adapting the Learn, Innovate, and Improve model (Derr et al., 2018) to 1) learn about the facilitators and barriers to children in foster care’s participation in high-quality ECE, 2) use project findings to develop and test strategies to increase children in foster care’s participation in high-quality ECE, and 3) use rapid learning methods to improve the feasibility, implementation, and impacts of selected strategies. They will also discuss how Arkansas’s targeted Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation program called Project PLAY is supporting children in foster care who may be at risk for expulsion. Session attendees will learn about ways to examine child care experiences of children in foster care in their state and potential strategies for improving ECE access and quality for children in foster care.

Moderator

Cynthia Tate, Ph.D., BUILD Initiative

Presenters

• Nikki Edge, Ph.D. – University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
• Sheila Smith, Ph.D. – National Center for Children in Poverty
• Todd Grindal, Ed.D. – SRI Education