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From Local Pilots to Lasting Infrastructure: System-Level Innovations in Early Childhood highlighted how workforce investments, infant and early childhood mental health initiatives, and shared measurement strategies work together to strengthen the broader early childhood ecosystem, creating more coordinated and sustainable support for children, families, and providers.

CPPR analyzed Rural Health Transformation Program proposals from all 50 states to identify how child care is being integrated into rural health system transformation and where opportunities exist to better align health and early childhood initiatives.

Working with statewide partners, CPPR has helped bring together health care providers, public health leaders, and community organizations to strengthen collaboration, share knowledge, and improve systems of care for mothers and families.

A growing body of research shows these separations are preventable. A study from the University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research highlights that early childhood services remain underused tools for keeping families intact — and reducing long-term costs to the state.

By swiftly identifying the underlying needs of children, youth, and families served by child welfare, the comprehensive array of Family First services was systemically responsive in connecting families to appropriate supports, such as mental health, parental skill-building, kinship navigation, and substance use disorder treatment.