Philadelphia Early Care and Education Collaboration: Strategic Roadmap

Vital Village Networks at Boston Medical Center (BMC) is a collaborative that includes educators, caregivers, medical professionals, community residents, and community-based organizations acting synergistically to improve well-being, prevent adversities, and advance health and educational equity for children.

Guided by the belief that coordinated, community-based support will increase caregiver access to resources, knowledge, and skills to improve parent-child interactions and engagement with ECE centers (which jointly promote literacy), Vital Village Networks, with support from the William Penn Foundation, designed and facilitated an inclusive strategic visioning process to convene early learning program administrators who have pioneered innovative community collaborations and community-based organizations that have implemented engagement strategies, with the goal of collectively designing a scalable strategic roadmap to increase access to community-based supports for families that holistically support school readiness.

With outlined priorities and collective recommendations, this roadmap envisions building an infrastructure to align systems of care and education for early childhood. The report uplifts specific strategies to enhance and build upon successful practices, as well as presents opportunities to develop innovations designed specifically to meet the needs of Philadelphia’s children. Situated in a city emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors present a comprehensive vision and issue a timely call to action.