Early Childhood and PN-3 Programming
Sections
The first three years of a child’s life are the “bricks and mortar” of brain development - building the foundation for future learning, behavior, and health. Evidence shows that when we invest the early years, infants and toddlers become healthy children who are confident, empathetic, and ready for school and life. Communities and governments can provide parents with the support they need to succeed and thrive. Programs and policies impacting these early years should ensure healthy beginnings at birth, support families with young children and make high-quality child care and learning environments more accessible and affordable to all parents who want them.
Counties For Kids
Counties for Kids is a public awareness campaign for county leaders who are committed to making investments in young children from prenatal to age three (PN-3). We encourage all county leaders to join the network of champions advancing PN-3 policies, programs and systems.
Counties Matter
Counties play a major role in shaping early childhood systems and investing in core services for infants and toddlers that help to support a thriving community and positively impacting outcomes into adulthood. Every county in the United States administers and funds part of the cost of strengthening communities and families with young children. Counties routinely provide an array of programs and services to an estimated 16 million children ages zero to three in the United States and are responsible for addressing the needs of young children, and their families, by administering and coordinating PN-3 services including child care, health and prenatal care, early intervention, home visiting, maternal health screenings, parent classes and early literacy programs.
PN-3 Resources for Counties
The National Association of Counties Research Foundation (NACoRF) is a non-profit organization recognized by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service as a 501c3 public charity providing education, technical assistance and research to counties. NACoRF’s mission is to ascertain, develop and distribute knowledge about county governments and training of public officials, prospective public officials, and other interested parties. NACoRF assists America’s 3,069 counties -- including nearly 40,000 county elected officials and 3.6 million county employees-- in pursuing excellence to produce healthy, vibrant, safe and resilient counties. NACoRF has taken the lead in four major areas: best practice research, peer learning, education and training, and convening among government and private-sector leaders. Through its efforts, NACoRF helps counties find innovative solutions to local challenges and provides high-quality, evidence-based information to guide policies, decision-making and programming.
Click here to find more information and resources for counties in launching and supporting a local PN-3 initiative in your community.
U.S. Congress begins work on budget reconciliation process: What this means for counties
The House and Senate Budget Committees have marked up Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget resolutions to initiate the budget reconciliation process to enact policy priorities without garnering bipartisan support, although the two chambers differ in their approach to drafting the legislation.
Panel: People in crisis need support, not handcuffs
Counties can better serve people experiencing a behavioral health crisis by engaging behavioral health specialists instead of law enforcement, experts told county officials at a recent meeting held at NACo headquarters.
Lawmakers reintroduce the Build Housing with Care Act
On January 30, Senator Ron Wyden and Congresswoman Bonamici reintroduced the Build Housing with Care Act. This legislation would establish a new competitive grant program under HUD intended to boost the supply of co-located child care facilities and affordable housing developments.
NACo submits comments on proposed rules regarding new foster care requirements and strengthening TANF
On November 27 and December 1, NACo submitted comments on two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families that would impact county administration of federal child welfare and anti-poverty programs.
Sonoma County creates solutions to homeless crisis
Wildfire devastation and the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a homelessness crisis in Sonoma County, Calif., prompting the county to create more comprehensive housing offerings to better meet the needs of its most vulnerable populations.