eNotes
October 22, 2025Updates from the ECTA Center
EPIC-P Cycle for Strengthening State and Entity-Wide Professional Development Support
A five-part webinar series is available from the Early Childhood Technical Assistance (ECTA) Center that provides a process for early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) systems to plan, implement, and evaluate ongoing professional development support for the field. The Engaging Professional Development to Improve and Change Practices (EPIC-P) Cycle is a data-informed cycle that aligns state or entity-wide priorities and goals with the many contexts, resources, and needs existing across the state or entity.
REAL Framework: A Planning Guide for Co-Creation
The REAL Framework is a planning guide that responds to a growing need for authentic, transparent, and trust-building co-creation processes. This is especially relevant in early childhood and public systems work. The co-creation process includes the people most impacted by the problem that the product is addressing. Co-created products and policies have several benefits. They are adopted more quickly, last longer, and produce meaningful improvements for children and families. The components of the REAL Framework are:
- Relevance Mapping
- Engagement Levels
- Adaptive Modalities
- Looping Feedback and Iteration
News from the Field
Protecting Infant Health: Closing Early Intervention Service Gaps
Early intervention services can help infants who have been in the NICU continue to develop and thrive once they return home. Automatic eligibility policies for low birth weight and preterm infants can strengthen the connection to EI services, but these connections can be inconsistent. As a result, babies and families may be missing critical supports when they need them the most. In Protecting Infant Health: Closing Early Intervention Service Gaps, New America’s New Practice Lab and Early and Elementary Education Program conducted an eight week "discovery sprint" to understand the challenges families, doctors, and administrators face when helping families connect to early intervention services from NICU.
Promising practices to improve referrals and participation referenced in the report include:
- Making the list of conditions that automatically qualify a baby for EI easy to understand and find.
- Adopting a multi-pronged approach.
- Providing useful written materials for family learning.
- Integrating EI into discharge planning.
Research
Green Space and Internalizing or Externalizing Symptoms Among Children
In Green Space and Internalizing or Externalizing Symptoms Among Children, a recent study of 2103 children, between 2 and 5 years old in 41 states across the U.S., found that greater residential green space exposure was associated with fewer internalizing symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, in early childhood. In this study of residential green space and children’s mental health, the association of green space with fewer internalizing symptoms was observed only in early childhood, suggesting a sensitive period for nature exposure. Children’s mental health is a national emergency according to a 2021 report by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Forests, parks, backyards, and other green spaces offer children opportunities to:
- Restore emotional and physiologic resources.
- Build regulatory capacities through risk-taking, physical activity, and play.
- Reduce harm from environmental stressors, such as heat or air pollution.