Accessing quality early care and education for children in child welfare: Stakeholders' perspectives on barriers and opportunities for interagency collaboration

摘要: Abstract Emerging evidence suggests that high quality early care and education (ECE) programs can improve children's developmental outcomes, particularly for at-risk children. Yet, ECE remains under-utilized by children in the child welfare system. This study illuminates some of reasons this presenting findings from a series ten focus groups with workers, providers, parents/caregivers young involved system (N = 78). Fourteen themes emerged regarding organizational system-level barriers to enrolling ECE. These include generic inter-agency collaboration human services, such as challenging work climates characterized limited resources, workloads staff turnover, lack guidelines collaborative infrastructure. Findings more specific between disruptive effect foster placement changes case closures on stability, policies restricting eligibility availability birth and/or parents, workers' understanding value quality, learning based versus custodial care, infants toddlers. Policy practice recommendations utilization service coordination among organizations are discussed.