Project Overview
Third Sector partnered with SRI Education to support the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families in its work to strengthen local early childhood care and education systems. Working in seven communities across the state, we launched a series of “Mixed-Delivery Action Labs” that enabled local child care, public health, business, and community leaders to collaboratively develop solutions to child care challenges.
Most Americans believe that all families, regardless of race, background, or circumstance, should have the freedom to choose high-quality child care that provides a nurturing environment for their children. However, in many states, early childhood education and care are fractured landscapes of programs, with expensive operating and enrollment costs, inconsistent quality of care, and services that don’t meet communities' local and cultural needs.
Families and communities need strong child care systems, where families can choose from a range of programs—like Head Start, public pre-K, or community child care centers—and providers have what they need to effectively deliver education and care. “Mixed Delivery” child care systems are designed to enable families to access high-quality child care in a variety of settings while streamlining funding for programs.
The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (MN DCYF) is investing in strong mixed delivery systems across the state as part of its work to ensure children and families have what they need to thrive in kindergarten and beyond. Because Minnesota comprises a mix of urban, suburban, and rural communities—each with unique challenges and opportunities— MN DCYF knew not to rely on a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach to strengthening mixed delivery across the state. Instead, they created an approach to engage local educators, who are best equipped to design the solutions most likely to work for their communities.
In 2024, Third Sector partnered with SRI Education, the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) at the University of Minnesota, and MN DYCF to design, develop, and launch the Mixed Delivery Action Lab Project in communities across Minnesota. Over 10 months, we:
- Brought together leaders in business, health, education, child care, and human services to understand how mixed delivery could work for them.
- Designed and led a series of collaborative “ action lab” sessions to help local leaders enhance mixed delivery in their communities. Third Sector developed these action labs, building on our decade of experience in community engagement, expertise in early childhood service delivery, and skills in forging strong partnerships between state governments and community leaders. We then collaborated with SRI and CAREI to deliver a series of six workshops, each in seven communities across Minnesota. The labs incorporated human-centered design, liberatory design, and community-codesign, which are practices for making practical, equitable change possible.
- Trained state leaders from Minnesota’s Department of Education, Department of Human Services, and others on our design process, building their capacity to support local communities now and in the future.
- Supported communities to build new connections with others in the local child care and education ecosystem and strengthened relationships with state agencies, promoting sustained service improvements. We helped education leaders build lasting relationships with local partners and with their partners at state agencies like MDCYF, enabling them to draw on state resources and collaborate across communities.
Through Third Sector’s work, seven Minnesota communities launched projects that responded to local needs and opportunities for enhancing mixed delivery. Projects included developing a shared resource guide for families, hosting a community event with multiple child care providers, and setting goals related to fundraising and network support. CAREI’s project evaluation found that communities benefited greatly from the facilitated lab process and from the tools Third Sector provided, including a project management workbook and facilitator toolkit. Participants also built new partnerships and expanded their knowledge of available resources for educators, families, and kids. The action labs kick-started lasting collaborations that will continue after the project period.
Lastly, the action labs helped state staff identify common opportunities across Minnesota (e.g., a hunger for coordinated resource navigation for families) and lowered barriers to shared trainings for different providers. MN DYCF incorporated learnings from this project into its planning and has secured additional Preschool Development Grant funding to continue strengthening mixed delivery using these practices and more.
Early Childhood Development
| Project Name | Scope | Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Spartanburg Academic Movement (SAM) Children's Cabinet: Restructuring Early Childhood Leadership for More Seats at the Table | City | SC | Active |
| Third Sector partnered with Spartanburg Academic Movement to design a Children's Cabinet to improve outcomes for children and families in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The project aims to restructure early childhood leadership by designing a Children's Cabinet, a cross-sector collaborative body to foster stronger alignment among diverse local community partners. | |||
| Reshaping Leadership in Early Childhood: Designing The Small Magic Provider Council in Alabama | County | AL | Complete |
| Third Sector collaborated with Small Magic, an early childhood nonprofit, to establish a Provider Council. This involved creating a sustainable governance framework, establishing decisionmaking protocols, and implementing efficient communication channels. The project successfully built a strategic foundation, outlining a clear path for future implementation and ensuring the cabinet's sustained effectiveness. This council will function as a coordinated body, fostering cross-sector collaboration among local community partners and providers, with the goal of enhancing outcomes for children and families in Jefferson County, Alabama. | |||
