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Top Takeaways is a series of recaps from important conversations, town halls, webinars and virtual events about early learning.

On Tuesday, Sept. 1, the (NHSA) hosted the second event in their State Policy Webinar Series. Participants highlighted the challenges and successes of three states attempting to offer quality, accessible education options for young children.

Kent Mitchell, director of state affairs at NHSA, welcomed the following panelists to present on their states鈥� programs:

• Alferma Giles, director of the Texas Head Start State Collaboration Office
• Karen Grimm-Thomas, external relations director at the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning
• Kristina Ellis, health and collaborative services director for CAP Tulsa

Below are our top three takeaways from the conversation.

1. State funding is essential to Pennsylvania鈥檚 early learning success. Pennsylvania integrated Head Start into their state鈥檚 educational ecosystem and found a useful model that has expanded over time. About 13 years ago, the state merged two offices to create the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL). 鈥淥CDEL is a unique department in state government, jointly located between the department of human services and the department of education,鈥� Grimm-Thomas explained. 鈥淚t was a way to pool together all that funding for children ages birth to school-age childcare into one place.鈥� The success found with this program and funding structure allowed for expansion into Early Head Start and pre-K programs as well.

2. Oklahoma relies on layered funding to move early education forward. Similar to Pennsylvania, Oklahoma has a long history of support and advocacy in the early childhood community. In 1998, they started pre-K for all children across the state and today are working toward a statewide early childhood program relying on multiple fund sources. The program was founded in the state department of education in 2006 with $5 million dollars from the state and $10 million from philanthropists and corporations. This structure now provides the resources to expand and improve early learning programs like Head Start. 鈥淎 lot of the program requirements were guided by Head Start performance standards,鈥� Ellis explained.

3. Collaboration is key to make changes for early child care in Texas. 鈥淭exas is not a state that receives state funds for Head Start,鈥� Giles explained. Their state relies more on local and state agencies, committees and group relationships to grow and improve. 鈥淏uilding relationships can be difficult, especially at the state level,鈥� Giles admitted, especially considering the state鈥檚 size, 鈥淲e鈥檝e been able to work through our largeness as a state to be more cohesive in our work relationships.鈥�

The pre-K development grant was essential to developing these partnerships as it reestablished the (TELC). Gov. Greg Abbott appointed about 20 positions to the council in early 2019, including key individuals from state agencies. 鈥淭his was really a segue for us to use to work more cohesively together. It brought everyone to the table.鈥� The TELC wanted to develop a strategic plan to build an organized system for early childhood services. Beginning with changing systems, their challenge was clear, 鈥淪ystems building in a lot of states is very difficult because no one wants to let go of what they are already doing.鈥�

Improving and sustaining impactful and accessible early childcare supports and education cannot be done single-handedly, and these cases are a testament to that. No matter the support structure, the presenters all spoke to the importance of good systems of communication and collaboration with stakeholders. Coalescing different sectors across states to support high-quality learning experiences for young children proves beneficial for all involved, and NHSA is a proven partner in moving that mission forward.

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 91涩漫. Learn more here.