What is Community Systems Development?
It is challenging to make impactful and long-lasting change alone. Addressing the barriers that prevent families from accessing early childhood services requires a strong and effective coalition of families, organizations, agencies, schools, and community leaders. A high-quality, accessible early childhood system becomes achievable when agencies, organizations, and communities come together to develop a shared mission, strategy, and action plan.
When we work together to identify the issues, the root causes, and the solutions, we are better equipped to create impactful and meaningful change in the early childhood system. This collaborative process is called community systems development.
The early childhood system in Illinois is complex. Community systems development relies on building strong, trusting relationships with community stakeholders to understand issues in the community and to engage people directly impacted.