Early Childhood Organizations

The mission of B-3 state supports is to strengthen Preschool Expansion communities’ ability to develop a high quality, intentionally aligned education system from birth through third grade. This is accomplished through one or more B-3 approaches led by a team of community stakeholders.

Baby TALK provides a universal approach to families with children prenatally through age 6 with an emphasis on identifying and serving those families most at-risk. Funding sources may dictate a target population and the Baby TALK model can be used for this particular focus.

The Center for Child Trauma Assessment, Services and Interventions (formerly the Center for Child Trauma Assessment and Service Planning) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is a Treatment and Services Adaptation Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). The purpose of our Center is to provide national expertise on interventions for the developmental effects of trauma across child-serving settings, including child welfare, behavioral health, educational and juvenile justice settings.

Child Welfare Information Gateway promotes the safety, permanency, and well-being of children, youth, and families by connecting child welfare, adoption, and related professionals as well as the public to information, resources, and tools covering topics on child welfare, child abuse and neglect, out-of-home care, adoption, and more.

A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, we provide access to print and electronic publications, websites, databases, and online learning tools for improving child welfare practice, including resources that can be shared with families.

Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) is an association of nearly 800 public and private nonprofit agencies that assist more than 3.5 million abused and neglected children and their families each year. CWLA works through its member agencies to provide training, consultation, conferences, and publications that support children, youth, and families.

Illinois believes that a high-quality, intentionally aligned education system from birth to third grade is essential for the success of the State’s highest-need children and is committed to ensure a high-quality, comprehensive system of teaching, learning, and support for children from birth through third grade. In order to more effectively serve Illinois children and families, the State is aligning and transforming state and local systems to assure collective impact across service sectors.

The Early Childhood and Parenting (ECAP) collaborative is home to a number of projects that focus on educating and raising young children. ECAP hosts research, technical assistance, and service projects.

The Early CHOICES inclusion initiative promotes increasing high quality inclusive early care and education for each and every child birth to age 5. Our goal is to increase the number of children with disabilities receiving specialized services in regular early care and education settings.

Early CHOICES will accomplish this through:

• Providing technical assistance and facilitating professional learning for teams that support children and families
• Engaging and empowering families to access resources and information
• Collaborating with other Illinois early care and education entities

As a parent, you have the most influence on your child’s development from infancy to adulthood. And one of the first important decisions you will make is choosing the best early learning setting (sometimes referred to as child care, pre-K or preschool) for your child’s birth to preschool years. 

ExceleRate Illinois helps you find an early learning provider who makes quality a priority

By supporting and recognizing continuous quality improvement in early learning, ExceleRate Illinois provides you with an objective way to make quality a part of your decision making. Ultimately, the system helps you feel confident that your child has the best opportunity to learn and grow.  

FEP is an Illinois State Board of Education Birth to Three Prevention Initiative Program. The SPEED Family Enrichment Program (FEP) is a FREE Prenatal to 3 years early childhood program. Our goal is to increase the chance of future school success by providing child development information and support to families with  infants and toddlers through home visiting and parent-child learning groups.      

Gateways is the Illinois early care and education professional development network. The Gateways Web site includes information on careers in early care and education, a higher education directory, a job board, financial information for individuals and programs, a description of credentials available in early care and education in Illinois, and information on finding a Professional Development Advisor (PDA) who offers free assistance to help individuals achieve their professional development goals.

The Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development (OECD) leads the state's initiatives to create an integrated system of quality, early learning and development programs to help give all Illinois children a strong educational foundation before they begin kindergarten.

Research shows that children with a solid educational foundation in their first five years are significantly more likely to be successful in school, college, career and life. Governor Quinn created the Office of Early Childhood Development in 2009 to focus the state's efforts and maximize its investment in early learning programs. Quality, early childhood education is a cost-effective strategy to promote growth. Every dollar invested in early education saves $7 in special education, public assistance, corrections and lost taxes.

Illinois Action for Children, Our work is to ensure that every child in Illinois — particularly those in need — have access to the resources to succeed in school and in life. Since our founding in 1969, Illinois Action for Children has worked to create systems of early care and education that help strengthen families and communities.

The Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership (ICMHP) is the only statewide, public/private partnership of policymakers and advocates in Illinois committed to improving the scope, quality, and access of mental health programs, services, and supports for children.

Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map IECAM’s mission is to provide comprehensive early childhood data and maps to local and state agencies and other stakeholders to improve outcomes for Illinois children. Developed in 2006, IECAM is funded by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS). Our users include policy makers, legislators, administrators, grant writers, educators, early childhood advocates, researchers, and the general public.

IL Early Intervention Clearinghouse is a free lending library that consists of books, journals, and DVD's related to early childhood, parenting, and young children with special needs.

Illinois Early Learning Project (IEL) provides evidence-based information on early care and education for parents, caregivers, and teachers of young children in Illinois . The website offers tip sheets for caregivers and parents, resources for implementing the Illinois Early Learning and Developmental Standards. Also, check out the Standards Start at Home resource for parents.

The Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (INCCRRA) is a statewide organization which – in partnership with its 16 local Child Care Resources and Referral (CCR&R) agencies – is a recognized leader, catalyst and resource for making high quality, affordable early care and education and school-age care options available for children and families in Illinois.

Illinois Principals Association works to provide Members high quality professional development, networking opportunities, and advocates on the behalf of school leaders with state and federal legislators and the Illinois State Board of Education.

Since 1972, the Illinois Resource Center (IRC) has provided assistance to teachers and administrators serving linguistically and culturally diverse students. With support from the Illinois State Board of Education, the IRC has emerged as a major statewide intermediate service agency, and its educational and professional development programs have helped thousands of educators throughout Illinois and the nation to develop effective learning environments for English language learners.

The Illinois State Board of Education funds the STAR NET Project in six regions of the state. STAR NET provides professional development resources for parents and professionals who work with young children from birth through age 8, with an emphasis on children with special needs.
The Early Childhood Center of Professional Learning collaborates with STAR NET to provide workshops and webinars that cover core foundational knowledge on curriculum, assessment and social emotional development.

The Early Childhood Education Division of ISBE develops and provides materials and support for implementation of the Illinois Early Learning Standards and their use in early childhood programs. The Early Childhood Division also supports programs that focus on children from birth to age 8, early intervention for at-risk students, pre-kindergarten programs, early literacy, and partnerships among schools, communities, and service providers.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is a membership organization dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children with particular focus on the quality of educational and developmental services for all children from birth through age 8. NAEYC offers a range of professional development resources for its nearly 100,000 members, who span a national network of over 300 local, state, and regional Affiliates, and a growing global alliance of like-minded organizations.

Start Early was founded in 1982 as the Ounce of Prevention Fund, a nonprofit public-private partnership. Since the beginning, we have delivered best-in-class doula, home visiting and Early Head Start and Head Start programs and advocated for thoughtful policies and adequate funding at the local, state, and federal levels. From our roots directly serving families and children on Chicago’s South Side and rural Illinois, we have expanded nationwide impacting early childhood programs and policies with partnerships in 25 states. Our role as on-the-ground practitioners continues to be the bedrock of our expertise and source of innovation and leadership in the field.

TORSH Talent is an online professional learning platform that enables organizations to support educator growth through the entire development cycle of assessment, goal setting, feedback, coaching, and data analysis.

Voices for Illinois Children (VIC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, statewide group of child advocates with a broad agenda focused on child and family well-being. Current VIC policy projects include promoting the availability of preschool for all children to those parents who want it, providing crucial services for young children with special needs, expanding home-visiting programs for at-risk families, promoting after-school programs for at-risk youth, and reforming school funding in Illinois.

WIDA's Teaching in PreK-3 is a program focused specifically on the language development of young multilingual children in early care and education (ECE) settings. We partner with state education agencies to help states provide support and resources to ECE programs and providers that serve multilingual children and families.

ZERO TO THREE is a national, nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization that supports the healthy development and well-being of infants, toddlers, and their families. Publications and reference guides to programs, projects and professional developmental services are available for parents and for professionals working in child care, child welfare, early intervention, and mental health program settings.