Focusing on the Needs of Early Childhood Professionals

The word “innovation” can be perceived as a buzz word. We see it everywhere – in job descriptions, in resumes, organizational websites, etc. and people almost instinctively pay attention to it. And rightfully so… it’s desirable to think of new ways of doing something, especially if it saves time, human effort, and money.

And yet, I often wonder if designing relevant and engaging professional learning for today’s early childhood educators is a matter of innovation, or rather a matter of focusing on the learner and what matters most to them.

The field of adult learning has provided some principles about how adults learn…and there have been research studies to confirm these. I like to think of these as conditions that we can create to center the needs of adult learners. Here’s a few of them:

• Give learners choice
• Respect learners and meet them where they are
• Show, don’t tell them
• Let learners practice
• Make it relevant

These conditions that support adult learning help us shift our focus from what we want (learning designers, subject matter experts, etc.), to what learners need. In my work at Start Early, we’re focusing on learner needs through centering equity using inclusive facilitation and offering microlearning.

The 2024 National Home Visiting Summit brought together advocates, home visitors, program leaders, funders, and researchers, alongside federal, state, and local level public sector system leaders for three days of learning, reflection, and action, both in person in Washington, D.C. and virtually with attendees joining from across the globe.

This year’s gathering spotlighted the tremendous progress public sector early childhood system leaders, particularly at the state level, have made to advance home visiting as part of an equitable, comprehensive early childhood system.

In breakout session presentations, small group discussions, and networking opportunities throughout the Summit, the four points below emerged as the key themes from system leaders regarding progress toward equitable early childhood systems:

1. Consolidation is not enough. There was energy and excitement about the lessons states are learning as they move towards consolidation of early childhood programs and funding streams into single, state agencies focused solely on early childhood. For example, state home visiting leaders shared promising practices around single statewide referral lines, and increasingly integrated funding streams. As more states consider consolidation, system leaders at the Summit asked attendees to consider how consolidation and integration are actually experienced by families and providers when they interact with public systems, and challenged leaders not to stop with integration at the top.
2. Look for “catalyst” funding opportunities. In a session about the Preschool Development Grants for Birth-Five (PDGB5) , state leaders reflected on approaching the funding opportunity with the question of “what can PDGB5 do for us, versus ‘how do we meet the requirements?” The Summit offered numerous examples of system leaders looking at federal, state, and increasingly philanthropic funding sources as catalysts – not carrying the full weight of system infrastructure but inspiring progress.
3. Communities are key. State system leaders are increasingly operationalizing infrastructure at a state level with reverence, respect, and leadership from the unique needs of individual communities. Home visiting programs, with their connection to community infrastructure, offer a unique opportunity for child care, preschool, and other early childhood programs and funding streams to leverage the existing relationships and networks of home visitors.
4. The Home Visiting Work Force is a part of the Early Childhood Education Workforce. Chronic staffing shortages, low wages, high turnover rates, and a feeling of lack of respect for the child care workforce have been well publicized in the media, but these issues are also being felt across the home visiting workforce. While it might sound obvious to those in the field, system leaders are increasingly implementing cross sector approaches to recruit, support, and retain the early childhood workforce, inclusive of those in the home visiting sector. These comprehensive strategies to lift all the professionals who support young children and their families send a message of value to all those in the field, while also attacking the structural impediments to an effective workforce.

How can you bring these takeaways into your state’s system? Mark your calendars for February 12-14, 2025, for the 2025 National Home Visiting Summit! We hope you will join us in person at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C. for more peer learning on these topics.

The month of December is often referenced as the most wonderful time of year, and I have always taken advantage of this time to personally reflect and think about the successes and challenges over the past 12 months. 2023 has been a tumultuous year for me as I personally experienced the best and worst that our profession has to offer, getting caught in the crossfires of a book ban aimed at dismantling the foundation of the early learning profession. My experience has strengthened my resolve that we must invest in young children and the workforce that serves them by providing holistic, high quality early learning environments.

I am frequently asked how the so-called “culture wars” impact early childhood education. I begin these conversations praising our early childhood workforce for their resilience and commitment to early learning. We show up every day to serve children and families despite what’s happening around us. We hug babies and toddlers and offer support for families when our own world is crumbling due to the lack of infrastructure to fund our profession and support our work to create inclusive early childhood systems.

We cannot continue to ask more and more of our workforce while our country continues to devalue and disrespect our early educators.

• Early childhood workforce turnover is as high as 40% ¹
• Average wages are $11-15/hour, with early educator poverty rates 8X that of K-12 educators. The federal poverty line for a family of 4 is $30,000. A typical early educator earning the average hourly wage would come in around $26,000 annually ²
• Professionals are deeply stressed, with depression rates 13% higher than the national average ³

These statistics are compounded when we consider that our workforce is comprised primarily of women – particularly women of color.

Recently, we have seen yet another wave of oppressive legislation and public attacks, including doing away with loan forgiveness and affirmative action, striking the right to abortion, and demonizing and limiting the use of words and practices around diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

All of these efforts silence, scare and limit our efforts to foster a diverse and effective workforce that provides high quality early learning experiences for children and families. How can we be okay with policies and practices that discriminate against children and families while disregarding their culture and diversity?

Attacking Early Childhood Quality

On a personal note, for 5 years I led in a state where we heralded pre-k as a bi-partisan policy effort and as a result we had a pre-k program that was number 1 in reaching NIEER (National Institute for Early Education Research) quality for 17 years in a row. For DAP (Developmentally Appropriate Practice) to be under attack now is unconscionable as DAP was always the foundation for quality in our classrooms.

Terms including “culturally responsive,” “social-emotional learning,” “implicit bias,” and “diversity” are being censured. When states change competencies, dismantle standards and professional learning to remove these words, it prevents our workforce from receiving the support they need to employ best practices that are critical for children’s development. An urgent example is the crisis we are experiencing around harsh discipline practices that disproportionately affect black children. We must teach culturally responsive, anti-racist, and anti-bias pedagogy to address this.

Silencing and Restricting Workforce Rights

We have a staffing crisis and desperately need qualified, prepared teachers and staff. Striking down Affirmative Action and Loan Forgiveness programs shuts down essential educational support for staff.

When our professionals can’t access the healthcare they need for themselves and their families because of losing Reproductive Rights, it jeopardizes well-being.

“Color Blind” lawsuits threaten specific programs and interventions for Black, LatinX, and indigenous children and families who make up both our workforce and classroom populations. We see gaps in rights, quality of life, and wealth growing even bigger from this discrimination and racism. The workforce, and the children and families we serve, are from diverse backgrounds and we cannot serve them effectively when we employ strategies that force us to ignore the complexities of race, culture and ethnicity.

A question I keep hearing is, “How can we remain hopeful and enable a brighter future for our professionals, families and children?” My response is that there is no living and no better tomorrow without hope. Hope allows us to return each day knowing that we are making a difference and putting the needs of others first.

At Start Early our mission is to eliminate the opportunity gap so that all children can thrive and learn. We are focused on four areas of action:

1. Career Pathways. We must create accessible and affordable pathways to support our workforce in getting the credentials and knowledge they need to earn higher wages.
2. Professional Learning. We need powerful, rich onboarding to support new staff. We must improve workplace culture and climate to be inclusive and supportive. And we need to foster ongoing learning to increase educator effectiveness and confidence – and improve retention.
3. Engage Congress & Lawmakers. We must raise awareness about the science behind early childhood and demand support for early learning as the economic plan for improving our country and preparing tomorrow’s leaders.
4. Support Each Other. And equally important, we can create space to slow down and be intentional about supportive environments in our programs and classrooms. We can embrace rest, joy, relationships, and connections. This is what will help us cultivate resiliency and hope as we face these historic challenges to our workforce.

“Culture Wars” are a call to action for us all. As we prepare to end one year and start a new one, we must ensure that the early learning workforce has the support necessary to build strong relationships with children and families that last a lifetime. Our educators must not be forced to work in fear of retaliation for using strategies that optimize early learning spaces. It is up to each of us to do our part to tackle these issues with those in power. We must arm ourselves with knowledge and engage our communities and local coalitions to spread the word about why the work we are doing for our youngest citizens matters. We must demand for every child what we expect for our own young children.

Sources
¹Turnover: Ed Surge; OPRE; Yale Medicine 
² Hourly Wage Average & Rate of Poverty: 2020 Early Educator Workforce Index; Alabama 
³Depression: Children’s Equity Project, Mental Health Report

Occasionally, Start Early Washington team members are honored with opportunities for thought leadership on a global scale. In this blog, ParentChild+ Washington State Program Director, Pamela Williams shares a few thought-provoking insights from her recent presentation at the 18^th World Congress for the World Association for Infant Mental Health in Dublin, Ireland.

A Global Stage for Equity & Social Justice

In July 2023, Pamela Williams joined a global panel discussion at the 18th World Congress for the World Association for Infant Mental Health in Dublin, Ireland, focused on Equity and Social Justice in Infant Mental Health. Joining co-presenters from Canada, Australia and the U.S., Pamela led a session exploring the Residual Effects of Colorism and the Impacts of Implicit Bias in Our Decision Making. This presentation provided a unique opportunity for practitioners to reflect on how unconscious bias affects decision making in their field.

Exploring Colorism in Media & Society

Pamela led her audience through a series of thought-provoking questions and exercises, shedding light on the presence of colorism in communities, society and media. She showcased compelling historical and contemporary print ads, billboards and advertisements from the U.S., France and Asia, demonstrating how media supports a harmful, racist narrative that white is best, “the lighter your skin, the better you are.” She encouraged her audience to reflect on the messages the media portrays to Black, Indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC), and the messages it portrays to white people.

Broadening the Scope of Race Equity Work

Pamela stressed the importance of broadening the scope of race equity work beyond an American-centric perspective to better serve diverse staff with varying life experiences. Recognizing the disparities in the representation experienced by BIPOC American-born staff and those born outside the U.S., she pointed out that discussions about race need to adapt to the backgrounds of the communities we partner with. “Many of our BIPOC American-born staff struggle to remember the age when they saw people like themselves on TV, and many of my team members born outside of the U.S. said they saw representation all their lives.”

The result is that the conversations around race we may have in the U.S. do not mean the same thing to individuals raised in other countries. However, when we ask what it means to have dark skin, many individuals around the globe can relate to biases around skin tone. –Where the U.S. may embrace terms such as “Black” and “Brown,” individuals born outside the U.S. may cringe at the thought of their child or themselves being labeled with terms such as brown or black because they are viewed negatively in their home country.

Embracing Uncomfortable Conversations for Positive Change

Delving into these deeply ingrained biases, Pamela acknowledged the weight of these discussions. She was particularly mindful of encouraging her audience to stay present and engaged, as addressing these “sneaky little buggers that sit with us” is crucial for positive change and needs to be talked about. As a result, there can be powerful outcomes from doing this hard work; by challenging ourselves to uncover deeply held biases, we can improve our decision making, allowing us to do better in the communities we serve.

Resources For Deeper Understanding

To gain a deeper understanding of colorism, Pamela referenced the book Colorism: Investigating a Global Phenomenon by Dr. Kamilah Woodson. She also shared movie suggestions that explore this subject, including Imitation of Life and Passing. These resources provide valuable insights into the complex worldwide issue of colorism and its societal impacts.

Echoing Resilience: Intertribal Canoe Journeys

October celebrates Indigenous Peoples Day, honoring Indigenous People’s legacy, traditions and invaluable contributions.

In the rich tapestry of Indigenous coastal communities of the Pacific Northwest, Canada and Alaska, the timeless art of canoeing embodies more than just transportation — it represents profound journeys that symbolize unity, resilience, and a deep connection to the land and the water.

Start Early Washington’s Training and Technical Assistance Specialist Alex Patricelli shared how she reclaimed her Native culture and traditions with her young boys Mateo (6) and Kulani (4) through the celebration of intertribal canoe journeys at the 2023 Paddle to Muckleshoot.

For generations, coastal tribal communities relied on canoes for daily life. However, cultural ties were severed when canoeing was banned in the U.S. and Canada in the 20th century. More than 100 years passed before this restriction was lifted. In 1989, coastal communities reclaimed the canoe with an intertribal canoe journey to symbolize the resilience and survival of traditional practices against colonization and Western assimilation challenges.

In preparation for the 2023 epic canoe journey, Alex wanted to make her boys custom drums. The drum is regarded as the heartbeat of Indigenous culture in ceremonies, celebrations and spiritual gatherings.

Alex’s vision for the drums was clear: to harmoniously blend her son’s multifaceted cultural identities, uniting them as brothers while also preserving their individuality. She soaked the deer hide, skillfully assembled the drum kits and hand-painted each drum. The drums serve as a canvas for symbolism, where a turtle and manta ray take center stage through distinct imagery.

Alex elaborated on the origins of her art designs, “The outer ring symbolizes the boys’ Native heritage, inspired by the ‘formline’ design of Coastal Native artwork. Within the lines, both drums bear the symbols of a turtle and manta ray, which hold cultural significance to our Chamorro and Filipino heritage and represent qualities of persistence, wisdom, patience, good fortune, power and protection.”

Alex further emphasized, “drums are regarded as living entities and not just musical instruments; before a drum can be used, we awaken their spirit by burning sage and infusing them with good thoughts, energy and blessings. Mateo and Kulani are learning to respect and understand the hand drum’s cultural significance, a vital part of our families’ cultural teachings and identity that we’ve worked hard to reclaim for our family.”

*all photos credited to Alex Patricelli

Children have many big emotions! Preschoolers are learning to name and manage them. They are also learning friendship and other social skills. And sometimes, their behaviors are challenging. Many behaviors are appropriate for a child’s stage of development yet are found challenging by adults. This may be one of the biggest pain points for educators in early childhood. We’re taking a new approach to support educators who want to build positive social skills and decrease challenging behaviors in their classroom – Reflectable SEL.

In early childhood, we have always focused on social and emotional learning. We know that high quality social and emotional skills are linked to all other areas of children’s learning and critical to their success; skills like empathy, regulating behaviors and emotions, and problem solving. It can be challenging to supply the support preschoolers need to develop these important skills.

Every Pre-K teacher that I have met is deeply invested in the growth of their students. They want to send children to kindergarten ready to succeed in school and in life.

How Early Childhood Teachers are Feeling Today

At this moment, teachers are worried about the state of children’s social and emotional growth. There is an increasing number of challenging behaviors in the classroom that they must deal with, like emotional dysregulation, difficulty building relationships, or coping with change in routine. These challenges affect the mental health of both teachers and children in ways we haven’t seen before.

The recent pandemic highlighted the vital role early childhood teachers play in families’ success and how under supported they are. We know educators experience high levels of stress—and when they are stressed, children show more challenging behaviors. And the cycle of worry, frustration, anger, and dysregulation repeats.

In a recent visit to a child development center, I asked teachers, “What do you need to help children grow and learn skills like empathy, sharing, friendship skills and regulating their emotions?” Their answers:

1. We need support that is focused and specific to the work we are doing.
2. We need support that helps us respond to challenging behaviors in the moment during our daily work.

There are many valuable frameworks, curricula, and learning models for promoting growth and preventing challenging behaviors. Their use creates lasting and positive effects on children. But it is hard to apply frameworks, curricula, and special resources to guide a teacher’s practice day to day in real time.

Applying a Human-Centered Approach to Problems of Practice

At the Early Learning Lab – where we combine human-centered design and early childhood expertise with data and technology – we asked: How might we help practitioners quickly recall the strategies they learn in training to make it easier to use them with children? How might we provide easy mindfulness supports?

To answer these questions, we used a discovery process to create a new tool and bring it to teachers to get their ideas and input. These pilot teachers helped us make the experience one that would be helpful to them. With guidance from these educators, we built the first Reflectable tool to supply focused and specific bite sized actions in simple and easy to apply language. This put the power in the teachers’ hands. They were able to reflect on the topics that mattered most to them. This made it easier for teachers to practice the skills they learned during training in a way that made sense for their unique needs. In turn, this helped educators make quick choices for how to best care for children when challenging behaviors appear.

“I didn’t realize I had the power to really change things!” – Pilot Pre-k Teacher

After using this simple, new tool to reflect on practice and set weekly goals, teachers said they:

• felt valued as experts for the work they were doing
• could thoughtfully make choices that help children’s growth
• made meaningful mindset shifts for themselves
• experienced less stress themselves and saw fewer challenging behaviors among children

A New Tool to Support Reflective Practice

The result of testing and refining this tool is Reflectable® and its Social Emotional Learning content module. Reflectable’s online, guided 10-minute weekly reflection, helps educators see the power of taking small, intentional steps. These steps improve their social emotional learning practice in the areas they decide matter most and positively impact children.

Reflectable is a helpful pause for educators to take time for themselves and give children the attention and support they deserve. In turn, this boosts outcomes, morale, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction.

It’s time to rethink support tools for the early learning workforce. They are a precious resource, and their job is tough. The early learning workforce deserve to be heard and valued so they can listen to and value the children in their care.

Whether it is preparing an older sibling for the arrival of a new baby or potty training a toddler, Camille Carlson recognizes that everyone – whether they are aware of it or not – uses Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) to improve everyday life. CQI is an invaluable reminder of the strength found in taking small, intentional steps. Therefore, it is important to break up the process into achievable goals – and celebrate the milestones along the way!

As Start Early Washington’s Quality Improvement and Innovation Manager, Camille Carlson’s approach to Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) is instrumental in supporting home visiting services statewide. Through individual and group coaching, Camille guides professionals in the field toward providing the best possible services for children and families using tools to identify and test changes on a small scale. Together with CQI teams and Washington home visiting programs, Camille works to identify changes that result in significant improvements for the home visiting field, families and children, all part of Start Early Washington’s mission to create strong foundations necessary for more fulfilling work that continuously improves supports and resources available to families statewide.

A Beautiful Reminder

Camille uses her expertise to help home visiting programs deliver services relevant to the unique needs of the children and families they support. Her firsthand experience as a parent fuels her desire to improve systems of support for children, their families, and the teams of staff that serve them. Camille’s motivation for this work grew when she was pregnant with her second child. “During my pregnancy, I had the support of home visitors and supervisors at my fingertips. As I listened to home visiting professionals across the state discuss parent coaching and family observations, I started applying their valuable insight to navigate the changing dynamics of my life with two children. This process helped me gain confidence in my parenting skills, and it was a beautiful reminder that family is central to our work. I was overwhelmed by the support that was given to me and the confidence that it brought, which emphasized the importance of sharing such a positive experience with others.”

Connecting Data to Practice

Quality improvement is essential to providing successful home visiting services where staff collaboratively establish goals, reflect and create actionable steps for improvement. By adhering to a CQI process, home visiting programs can build strong relationships with families, make well-planned decisions and increase positive outcomes to achieve better support for children and families.

The ongoing, collaborative process draws on the expertise and experience of home visitors, supervisors, community partners and families. Although data points are a big part of CQI, Start Early Washington works toward cultivating a culture of continuous quality improvement rather than another set of requirements to check off for reports. “Since I’ve been in my role, we have seen an investment in a CQI culture. Teams have grown significantly, and we are beginning to see a sense of buy-in and excitement around the process.”

Camille shared her immense gratitude for the opportunity to work with and coach organizations that provide home visiting services to families across Washington state with the shared goal of creating positive change for the organizations and families that they serve, utilizing a CQI lens.

Home visiting is a voluntary service designed to ensure that families with young children have the supports and resources they want and need to thrive. They aim to strengthen caregiver-child relationships; promote maternal, infant, and early childhood physical, mental, and emotional health; and link families to community resources and services through cross system collaboration.

The Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) presents an opportunity to strengthen prevention efforts like home visiting and to expand them to more families. FFPSA is federal legislation that reorients child welfare towards prevention and seeks to reduce the use of foster care. Since we know the power of home visiting in preventing child welfare involvement, bringing it to scale could be critical in fulfilling Family First’s goal. Many states are centering their Family First prevention plans around voluntary home visiting, and some are creating pathways for families to access these services in their communities, without child welfare involvement.

In a new brief, experts from Start Early and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago outline ways to scale up home visiting capacity through Family First. The brief explores key opportunities that have been identified as Family First is implemented and provides recommendations to strengthen collaboration between child welfare and home visiting programs at the federal, state, and local levels, including:

• Scale Up Home Visiting for Additional Capacity
• Partner and Collaborate Across Child Welfare & Home Visiting for Collective Impact
• Implement Home Visiting to Model Fidelity
• Orient Philosophies and Policies around Prevention
• Support a Diverse Community-based Workforce that Meets Families’ Needs

Center Family Engagement

At the 2022 National Home Visiting Summit hosted by Start Early, there was a strong emphasis on the connections between home visiting and FFPSA. The focus on Family First at the Summit reflects the interest across the country to further lean into systems partnerships between home visiting and child welfare agencies to create structural conditions that provide access to supports without stigma or blame. In this way, we can acknowledge and address the inequities that harm children and families of color and lead to further disparities and disproportionate representation in the child welfare system. Read the full report.

Learn more about Start Early’s resources and learning opportunities for the home visiting field.

As the program analyst for Start Early Washington, Anna Contreras is always thinking about what works best to support the children and families that participate in Washington’s home visiting programs. She collects and analyzes a mixture of quantitative raw data as well as the often-overlooked qualitative feedback needed to truly improve and enrich the home visiting experience for children and families. This includes collating information gathered from numerous home visiting professionals across the state.

Anna has dedicated her professional career to understanding how relationship-based supports impact lifelong outcomes for young children and their families. She’s particularly interested in families grappling with adversities, such as migrant and seasonal farmworkers, immigrant communities and dual language learners. “My Latinx background not only identifies me but defines me. As a second-generation immigrant, I relate to the challenges of those who are growing and learning from their native culture while also adjusting to new societal norms and navigating American culture.”

Anna’s commitment to improving the home visiting experience and creating more equitable and inclusive systems that recognize and respect diversity begins with her mother. Home visiting has been part of Anna’s life since the day she was born. Anna’s mother received home visiting services in Washington state when she was pregnant with Anna, a support that was not provided for Anna’s siblings. Because of this experience, her mother was better connected to her community’s resources and felt more comfortable talking through the various roadblocks she was experiencing. In addition, her home visitor helped her better understand the services and supports available to her. They were a trusted partner to nurture and support Anna’s healthy development. This was especially important to Anna’s mother because she didn’t have her mom (Anna’s abuela) near at the time.

Recalling her personal experiences and her experience helping her parents navigate data collection and other complex information, Anna finds it essential to create inclusive forms and dashboards for the home visiting support team.

Anna also shared the importance of considering the impact on the person collecting information. “When creating forms, we consider the impact on the staff asking the questions — such as, what does the answer mean for the respondent? How is this information going to be utilized? What are the unintended consequences for the person sharing the information? People must feel comfortable enough to share this information. They also want to ensure that necessary changes will follow and that they are not wasting their time answering another set of questions; it is hard to be vulnerable, especially when you are unsure of what will happen next with the information provided.”

Whether it’s a first-time parent connecting with a home visitor or staff sharing their experiences with each other, trust and respect are vital to collecting meaningful information. Relationship-building is foundational to Start Early Washington’s work and a key ingredient to affecting meaningful change.

“As a first-generation college student, relationship-building was important to me. Feeling seen and heard was fundamental to my growth and development, and therefore I carry that experience in my work today.” Feeling accepted, safe and connected to a community of support helped push Anna past moments of self-doubt and projected her toward future success in her home life, career and beyond.

The Subtle Differences

Data showcasing the subtle differences in home visiting provider experiences and the depth of variation between the family dynamics they support helps inform the resources and learning opportunities needed for the home visiting field as well as the various elements required to support the children and families they partner with. In addition, such data-driven insights are vital to maintaining an inclusive and collaborative decision-making process for system improvements.

Anna primarily works with Start Early Washington’s home visiting team to improve home visiting services and outcomes for children and their families in Washington state. Anna works closely with the home visiting team to assess customized coaching and mentoring offered to home visiting programs. Similarly, she evaluates how Start Early Washington can best support comprehensive learning opportunities, transparent data collection and thoughtful analysis.

For example, surveys are designed to answer questions such as: Does the home visiting field have the professional development opportunities they need to grow their skills? What additional support is needed for home visitors to feel confident in their role? How can Start Early Washington help home visiting professionals achieve individual and programmatic goals? These questions and more help to ultimately measure how we can support positive system changes —such as gains in knowledge, better time management, improved staff retention and the creation of better family engagement protocols.

Qualitative feedback helps Anna understand the story of home visiting in our state, connecting the necessary data points to improve system outcomes and inform policymakers. Data allows us to see how and when priorities shift for programs, and feedback and discussion help us understand what success and challenges look like for home visiting programs and the families they work with. Qualitative feedback from our home visiting team helps uncover trends in discussions, typically hidden among quantitative numbers alone. This data complements ongoing performance monitoring to ensure continuous quality improvement for home visiting professionals statewide.

Anna’s work strengthens home visiting programs by showcasing the power of relationship-based work, reinforcing the deep connections and trust between home visitors and families. Recognizing the unique identities, heritages, cultures and human emotions while celebrating differences and bolstering representation validates and supports an environment of inclusion for the entire home visiting system.

Trust Is Pivotal

While data is critical to support a high-quality system, trust is pivotal to accessing quality information and rich feedback. Some things for home visiting teams to consider when collecting data:

• Use simplified language; the frame of information is important.
• Are questions clear enough to capture the needed information?
• Do all parties understand how the data collected will inform the home visiting system?
• Does the reader understand their rights and role in responding to the questions?

Co-Creative Learning Opportunities for Home Visiting Professionals

Start Early Washington facilitates learning opportunities as well as unstructured co-creative opportunities for home visiting professionals statewide to build knowledge, seek mentorship, connect and decompress with others in the field experiencing similar situations. Together, they work through obstacles and celebrate successes; since 2020, Start Early Washington’s work has reached nearly 8,235 children and families. Our approach to supporting the home visiting field includes mindfulness practices, reflection, sharing experiences and knowledge that builds trust in a strengths-based learning environment.