Kansas Early Learning Collaborative

Excellent outcomes for children and families through innovative collaboration

The Kansas Early Learning Collaborative represents a statewide effort to improve and expand services, community collaboration, and continuous evaluation and improvement processes in the early childhood domains in Kansas. 

Overall Goals of the Kansas Early Learning Collaborative are to:

• Implement the Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Plan
• Strengthen and expand existing services
• Utilize innovative strategies to address targeted need
• Expand opportunities for children and families to access quality care
• Increase access to screening, evaluation and intervention to children at risk for developmental delays
• Expand access to evidenced-based home visiting services
• Enhance collaboration through uniform guidance, protocols, technical assistance and accountability

Six statewide early learning organizations support pregnant women, children, and families by providing a seamless continuum of high quality services. 

The six service partners include:

1.    Kansas Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (KACCRRA)

2.    Kansas Association for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (KAIMH)

3.    Kansas Childrens Service League Healthy Families (KCSL HF)

4.    Kansas Division for Early Childhood (KDEC)

5.    Kansas Head Start Association (KHSA)

6.    Kansas Parents as Teachers Association (KPATA)

Six Goals of the

Kansas Early Learning Collaborative

Goal 1:

Expand and enhance high quality, research-based services to pregnant women, infants and/or toddlers in un-served and underserved communities throughout the state.

Goal 2:

Integrate prenatal to age 5 services at the community level through a collaborative systems model, including a centralized referral system, common outcomes and shared resources.

Goal 3:

Increase the number of qualified professionals providing early care and education particularly those serving infants and toddlers.

Goal 4:

Embed inclusion throughout the infant/toddler service delivery system.

Goal 5:

Strengthen mental health consulting services and embed social-emotional development into birth to five early learning settings.

Goal 6:

Expand the use of the Kansas Quality Rating System to increase quality and to support more informed decision-making by parents.

1. Ellis
2. Saline
3. Shawnee
4. Wyandotte
5. Ford
6. Harvey
7. Crawford