Today, preschool and other services
for young children are delivered through what is widely recognized as a
non-system, with programs like child care, pre-kindergarten, special education
services and Head Start operating in separate policy silos, each with differing
objectives and different funding streams. This uneven and uncoordinated
character of early childhood policy can impede access, quality, and return on
investment to these programs. Indeed, stories
of avoidable dysfunction-of low-income parents who are unaware that their child