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Community entities monitor programs and outcomes for an entire population, neighborhood, or community to ensure that primary services reach all children and families, including those at highest risk or most isolated. Community entities scan what is available and accessible to support healthy child development and strong families, identify what is missing, and take steps to fill in the gaps.
Local collaboratives ensure that information and outreach on primary services are widely accessible, including information about the kinds of services available and their locations, hours of operation, and costs. They provide information and services in forms that are sensitive to issues of culture, language, and education, and in settings that families trust.
Local collaboratives make sure there are multiple entry points for children and families to obtain help from institutions providing primary services. They encourage community institutions to develop family programming and activities and to make their environments welcoming to young children.
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| The United Way in Chicago publishes the United Way Human Care Services Directory, which includes information on the types of programs offered to children, youth, and families; eligibility requirements; and program fees. The Illinois Alliance for Arts Education and the Chicago Board of Education also publish guides to the city’s arts education resources. | |
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Local collaboratives recognize the special role of health services in the lives of young children and their families.
They encourage health professionals to use their contacts with families to:
- Promote family literacy-related activities
- Provide links to supportive services
- Identify family problems that require specialized responses from other systems, and provide links to those systems
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