Chapin Hall

Participating in high-quality early care and education (ECE) programs is critical to the development of young children who have experienced the child welfare system. Yet, systemic barriers prevent many young children with child welfare system involvement from participating in these programs.

The Illinois Children’s Access to Programs (ICAP) project will work with child welfare workers, ECE providers and caregivers of children who have experienced the child welfare system in two Illinois communities: Chicago and East St. Louis. Participants will engage in a Human-Centered Design process to identify systemic barriers to ECE program participation and to design and test solutions to address those barriers.

Other project activities will include:

• a statewide policy and practice scan
• a review of lessons learned from previous related work
• the development of policy and practice implications associated with the solutions
• implementation and outcome evaluations

ICAP’s goal is to increase participation in high quality ECE programs such as Head Start among young children with child welfare system involvement by:

1. Strengthening collaboration between the child welfare system and ECE providers
2. Aligning policies and practices across systems, and
3. Enhancing the capacity of ECE programs to serve these young children.

The three-year project, which is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is a partnership involving Chapin Hall, Start Early, Brightpoint, East Side Aligned, and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. An Advisory Council, whose members include the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Illinois State Board of Education, the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development, Illinois Head Start Association, the Illinois BUILD Team, and the Erikson Institute will help guide the work.

Chapin Hall’s team is led by Senior Research Fellows Amy Dworsky, an expert in child welfare, and Jon Korfmacher, an expert in early childhood services. Other evaluation team members include Senior Researcher Julie McCrae, Researcher Lee Ann Huang, Project Associate Helen Jacobsen, and Richman Fellow Anne Blumenthal.

Chapin Hall is a leader in early childhood and child welfare research and evaluation. The organization uses rigorous research to generate evidence and supports policy and program implementation in the field. Our experts work alongside community and agency partners to build more effective services and systems, accelerate the use of evidence in practice, and better serve children, youth, and families.

For more information, please contact Jon Korfmacher.