In Colorado’s San Luis Valley, a family looking for developmental support for their toddler may drive over an hour to reach a specialist, if one is even taking new patients. In too many communities across the country, like the San Luis Valley, the problem isn’t that services don’t exist. It’s that pediatricians, childcare providers, and mental health professionals are all working toward the same goal, but may not be working together.
When families have to navigate a maze of disconnected programs and providers, children start to miss opportunities for timely developmental support. Not because communities don’t care, but because the systems around them were never built to function as one.
A few communities have set out to change that, not by reinventing the wheel, but by connecting existing systems. When communities find ways to integrate and expand vital support systems, rather than replicating another model, a more cohesive and responsive solution emerges that better serves local families and their needs. In doing so, stronger partnerships can form between providers and community groups, between state agencies and local leaders, and most importantly, between families and the systems serving them.
Three places show what that looks like in practice.
San Luis Valley, Colorado
Rural communities like the San Luis Valley face a harder version of the same problem. There are fewer specialists, longer drives, and a smaller workforce to go around. Often, when a family can’t access services easily, it feels like they have no services at all.
State agencies supported local leaders in implementing a robust, closed-loop electronic referral system, increasing successful referrals and the number of families completing early intervention evaluations. State and local partners also strengthened the mental health workforce through training and fellowship opportunities, created a framework for partnering with families to develop more responsive pathways to care, and expanded the HealthySteps program, which embeds a specialist in early childhood development directly in pediatric offices – including San Luis Valley’s most rural clinics.
None of this worked just because of a single tool, process, or resource. It worked because activities were driven and shaped by the people who stand to benefit from the coordination.
Maui County, Hawai'i
Rather than launching something new, leaders in Maui County, Hawai’i, strengthened an existing collaborative already trusted by local families: Kākou for Keiki. It had a community network of strong relationships, local knowledge, infrastructure, and credibility that was ripe for additional investment.
By refining their collective impact strategies, Kākou for Keiki demonstrates what’s possible when centering lived experience in decision-making and developing family leaders in Maui County. Among their successes is the launch of a screening kiosk within a community health center, facilitating stronger connections between families, medical providers, and available community resources for quality developmental support.
Meeting families where they are, both literally and figuratively, builds the trust necessary to make services truly more accessible.
Washington State
State leaders in Washington recognized that local communities know their families best, but they don’t have to build every system alone. The state assessed existing data to create a full picture of family needs and shared it with partners for decision-making, helping 70 organizations across five counties and eight sectors work together to identify solutions that can be expanded across the state.
Washington also used collaborative contracting to position county-level partners as the drivers of change, while advancing shared goals. In Grant and Grays Harbor counties, local leaders used resource mapping, public awareness campaigns, and community events to connect families with services.
Washington shows us that state support and local ownership aren’t in tension with one another. In fact, when done well, they can reinforce each other and the community they serve.
While Colorado, Maui County, and Washington look nothing alike on the surface, each of these communities succeeded for the same underlying reason: inviting families in as partners when designing solutions, not just the recipients of the efforts. One built new infrastructure, one strengthened an existing collaborative, and one coordinated local and statewide resources for the greater good.
A referral system, a screening initiative, or a data-sharing agreement will rarely make headlines. Yet they determine whether families experience early childhood services as a seamless network of support or a confusing collection of disconnected organizations they navigate on their own.
These lessons arrive at an important moment. Policymakers, healthcare providers, and community leaders across the country are looking for practical ways to strengthen early childhood systems. The answer isn’t fifty communities trying to become San Luis, Maui, or Washington. It’s thousands of communities empowered to become the best version of themselves, supported by strong partnerships, family leadership, and sustainable infrastructure that’s built to last.
Communities looking for a place to start don't have to build a system from the ground up. There are field-tested, practical strategies and real-world examples to help you find field-tested tools for strengthening early childhood systems in your own community.
When we stop searching for a perfect model and instead invest in the strategies that allow communities to solve problems together, we don’t just improve individual programs. We build and strengthen systems that meet families where they are and support them on their journey to where they want to be.
Hannah Johnson is the Director of Early Childhood Developmental Health Systems (ECDHS): Evidence to Impact Center at ZERO TO THREE. She has spent the last 20 years uniting early childhood, healthcare, and legislative partners around systems transformation. Hannah is a dedicated advocate for families and serves on the Farmington Area Public Schools Board of Education in Minnesota while holding two Bachelor of Science degrees from Iowa State University.
