Alaska’s Early Childhood Joint Task Force

The Alaska Early Childhood JTF had an 8-member Leadership Team, which engaged and guided a full 40+ member JTF, which formed to align work on the early childhood needs assessment and strategic plan. This was coordinated by recipients of three grants: the Preschool Development Grant received by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) and jointly managed by DEED and the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS); an Impact Project grant from the State Capacity Building Center to align Early Care and Education (ECE) systems with programs and services, led by the DHSS Child Care Program Office; and an Indigenous Project LAUNCH grant to prepare Alaska Native children 0-8 with skills to succeed in school, led by Southcentral Foundation, a health and wellness organization serving the Alaska Native population in Southcentral Alaska.

The JTF Leadership Team met weekly to guide this work. The full Joint Task Force held frequent meetings, at least quarterly, to provide feedback along the way. The JTF Leadership Team also provided updates at each quarterly meeting of Alaska’s Early Childhood Coordinating Council (AECCC).

Meeting notes for the AECCC can be accessed here.

Early Childhood Alaska group photo Early Childhood Alaska graphic

LINKS:

Agreements

JOINT TASK FORCE Meeting Summaries

JTF Surveys

The JTF and Leadership Team provided important guidance on plan content and process throughout the strategic planning effort. This included face-to-face meetings on plan framework, content, feedback on process, workgroup participation, editing and ongoing support.The JTF also responded to and provided input on the following surveys:

  • Needs assessment contents/outline and additional data sources (August 2019)
  • Needs assessment draft (October 2019)
  • Strategic plan framework (Jan 2020)
  • Draft strategic plan (April 2020)
  • Final review of plan (May 2020)

JANUARY 2020 Workgroups for Strategic Plan

In January 2020, members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) volunteered to participate in three work groups, each focused on the draft goal areas of the strategic plan. An in-depth briefing paper was provided for each workgroup prior to the meetings, outlining draft objectives and actions tied to relevant information from the Needs Assessment. The January 2020 workgroups were a critical step in the stakeholder engagement process, and this work became the foundation of the strategic plan content.