Healthy Keiki Healthy Future
Sowing Healthier Habits in Hawai‘i’s Early Childhood System
Summary
Presentation
Theory of Change
Our why and how
Presentation Overview
HKHF Initiative
Theory in action
Takeaways
What we learned
What now?
Looking Ahead
What is ECAS?
A non-profit that convenes a statewide network of governmental and nongovernmental practitioners and organizations to align priorities for children prenatal to age eight and to strengthen and integrate the early childhood system by streamlining services, maximizing resources, and improving programs to support our youngest keiki.
ECAS Team 3 Theory of Change
The first years of childhood are critically important to a child’s health, wellbeing, and development. When children with developmental concerns are identified early, the sooner supports can be provided to promote their optimal development. Building lifelong healthy habits starts prenatally and extends into early childhood. Children that are regularly offered opportunities to eat nutritious, culturally -appropriate foods and engage in physical activity reduce their risk for chronic diseases in adulthood. Additionally, children are more likely to thrive when their physical and mental well-being needs are addressed and their families have the knowledge, skills and resources they need to be strong partners and advocates for their children’s health, wellness and early learning.
Team 3 Focus Areas
Early Intervention
Promote regular developmental screening and access to a medical home with coordinated system for referrals
Physical Activity & Nutrition
Promote wellness and embed evidence-based, culturally appropriate PAN best practices into ECE system and settings
Social Emotional Development
Promote the social and emotional health of infants and toddlers by empowering families to engage in their child’s development
Team 3 is working to ensure all children are supported to reach their optimal development by working with early childhood and healthcare stakeholders, providers and families.
HKHF TAP provides technical assistance, tools/resources, and financial support to embed healthy eating and physical activity standards into state early ECE systems and settings
6 Cooperative Agreement August 2018 - July 2023 (5 NU38OT000304-05-00) 5 years Project Year 5 August 1, 2022 –July 31, 2023 5 'Project Plans' 1) ECE Organizations 2) National Program 3) T/TA for Physical Activity 3 Technical Assistance and Partnership Support (TAPS) States 12 Target Population: Statewide ECE Organizations 1
Objectives
1. Strengthen cross-sector partnerships and promote collaboration
2. Utilize a framework and identify shared goals
3. Implement strategies to achieve identified goals
4. Evaluate impact and share lessons learned
5. Embed physical activity and nutrition practices and supports to achieve those practices into Hawai‘i’s ECE system and settings
Healthy Keiki, Healthy Future: A Public-Private Partnership
FISCAL SPONSOR & ADMINISTRATIVE BACKBONE
PROJECT COORDINATION
FUNDER & TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
CONTENT EXPERTISE
HKHF Implementing Partners
Healthy Keiki, Healthy Future Journey
Project Implementation
Feb 2022 - July 2023
Reflect, Share, and Sustain Progress
Aug 2023 and beyond
Awarded Funding
January 2022
Pursue External Implementation Funding
Winter 2021
ECE Physical Activity and Nutrition Best Practices
Public Health: Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Policy,
Making
Systems, and Environmental (PSE) Change
the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice
GUIDING FRAMEWORKS
The state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health
The Spectrum of Opportunities Framework for StateLevel Obesity Prevention Efforts Targeting the Early Care and Education Setting
● How and where to embed standards and support for ECE providers/programs to achieve those standards into the ECE system
● Sample strategies (suboptions) provided
● Systems level changes for equitable impact
● 9 opportunity areas do not operate in silos
● Do not need to take on all areas to be successful
● Partnerships & Equity
Hawai‘i’s Opportunities
Opportunity areas selected based on feedback from cross-sector stakeholders, as well as careful consideration of factors that impact the viability of any opportunity at a given time such as:
● costs (resource, personnel)
● stakeholder needs/support/political will
● available resources
● reach
● timing
● ECE provider/system needs
Partnerships & Equity
7 Projects Across 5 Opportunity Areas
4 Providers, trainers, & TA specialists in four major counties reached*
HKHF Reach and Impact
100+
ECE programs reached *
5000+
Children ages 0-5 in ECE settings impacted
$200,000 Federal dollars infused into local economy for physical activity and nutrition in ECE
*virtually and in person
High Level Takeaways
Proof of Concept
Explored different methods to engage partners and reach, incentivize, and support providers to engage in PAN
Shared Goals
Leveraged partnerships to identify shared goals in strengthening the ECE system
Capacity & Interest
Identified where there is a lot of PAN capacity and interest vs. very little
Funding
Advocacy
Sustainable funding to support expansion and long-term programming
Looking Ahead: Needs
Promote HKHF
Share impact and lessons learned to inform systems change
Measure Progress
Establish benchmarks and systems to track progress
Shared Goals
Leverage PAN opportunities to strengthen ECE system
Looking Ahead: Opportunities
Garden 2 Grindz
Expanding pilot to O’ahu and more Kaua’i programs
Nutrition Security
Story map promotion, CACFP advisory group, advocacy
TA Infrastructure
TA/trainer database, increase equitable access to PAN PD/TA
ECE Recognition Program
Report findings can inform funding applications
Healthy Keiki, Healthy Future Web Page
Learn more about the initiative and access all documents and tools via the HKHF resource library
