A report from Portland State University’s Center for Improvement of Child and Family Services (PSU CCF) spotlights the first year of the Early Childhood Equity Fund program (ECEF).

The report is divided into three parts: 

• Part 1 describes the key findings from the implementation evaluation 
• Part 2 summarizes findings from the data capacity assessment
• Part 3 proposes the Equitable Evaluation Framework 

Key findings will inform Children’s Institute’s ongoing early childhood advocacy efforts, and program and community engagement work.

In 2019, Oregon’s legislature approved the ECEF as part of the Student Success Act, providing funding for culturally specific early learning, early childhood, and parent support programs. In the 2019-2021 biennium, 30 program grants and five planning grants went to grantees across Oregon.  

Key findings from this report will inform Children’s Institute’s ongoing early childhood advocacy efforts, and program and community engagement work. 

Part 1:  Implementation Evaluation

This part of the report outlines the findings gathered throughout the Year 1 Implementation Evaluation, with a focus on two outcomes: delivering early learning services using culturally specific methods, and increasing grantee organizations’ capacity to deliver services. 

Increased organizational capacity

Findings also indicate that grantees’ organizational capacity increased. The implementation evaluation showed success in: 

1. Recruiting, hiring and training staff who reflect the communities served by the organization
2. Supporting comprehensive staff training and supports for staff well-being
3. Leveraging partnerships and other resources

Part 2: Data Capacity Assessment

Part 2 of the report summarizes information about grantee organizations’ data systems, needs for data-related support and technical assistance, and strengths in data-related processes among the grantees. The Year 1 Evaluation highlights several success strategies related to data tools and systems, as well as data use: 

Data collection tools and systems

Technological aids

Before the pandemic, data were most often gathered using pen and paper, e.g., parent surveys. However, many organizations quickly adapted to successfully collecting data using websites, email, QR codes, or surveys sent to families via smart phones. In particular, grantees found success using QR codes because of the varying access to technology in participant communities.

Culturally specific and trauma-informed data collection

Participating organizations were able to collect meaningful data from their communities, by building trusting relationships, prioritizing the needs and strengths of families, and ensuring that forms and information gathering tools were available in families’ first languages. 

Trained and dedicated staff

Having adequately trained, supported, and long-term staff is key in collecting data that is trauma-informed and culturally specific. Staff also often shared similar cultural backgrounds and experiences as grantees, which likely helped them in forming trusting relationships with families and communities.

Data use

Using family feedback to adjust programs and services

Families provided input to help guide organizations’ approach to developing appropriate services that were also COVID-safe. Feedback was collected through surveys and interviews after families participated in services. 

Use of community needs assessments

ECEF grantees assessed their community’s needs in a number of ways, including focus groups, program participant feedback, leadership circles, elder and youth advisory groups, needs assessments, and data collection. This was successful in providing a more holistic view of the community’s needs. 

Intentional partnerships

Grantees described the ways that they partner with other organizations to gather and use data to support their communities. Partnerships included shared decision-making processes, community ownership of data, and opportunities for joint ownership. 

Part 3 – Equitable Evaluation Framework

The PSU CCF evaluation team is using a framework and approach, developed by Ann Ishimaru and colleagues at the University of Washington, called Data Inquiry for Equitable Collaboration; an evaluation model where grantees drive the evaluation process at every step. Specifically, they decide what questions to ask, define what “data” means, decide what data to collect, and how to collect it. They also collect the data itself, make meaning of the data, and use that to support organizational change. There is an opportunity here for the ECEF evaluation to transform power, support collective learning, strengthen organizations, engage communities, and drive systems change.

Next Steps

The evaluation framework is meant to serve as a guide for co-design and collaborative planning and implementation for the ECEF evaluation, while supporting grantees and communities to be leaders in decision-making. The next steps in this work are to continue to revise the process, finalize the framework and ultimately, co-design an evaluation that aligns with legislative requirements while also shifting mainstream dominant understandings and elevating the unacknowledged role of culturally specific organizations and services.

Additional Resources

The Early Link Podcast: Culturally Specific Advocacy 

Early Childhood Equity Fund