View video from the summit!

The NGA Center for Best Practices hosted Building Brighter Futures for Our Children, a national children's summit that brought together 39 state teams to develop a coordinated policy agenda among state health, early education and human service systems to ensure better outcomes for our nation's children. Because of economic factors and insufficient access to high-quality health care and constructive early learning opportunities, many children face challenges to their long-term health and academic success.

The summit gave cross-sector state teams an opportunity to:

• Understand the critical linkages among economic status, health and early care and education that affect a child's lifetime success;
• Explore how public expenditures can be coordinated to improve efficiency and accountability across state systems;
• Identify strategies to enhance the operational alignment among states agencies, initiatives and desired outcomes; and
• Learn about strategies that demonstrate high returns for individuals, families and states.

For a full agenda, please see the Building Brighter Futures for Our Children: A National Summit for State Policymakers Session Guide.

Presentations:

• The Case For Action: The Science of Early Childhood Development
  Jack Shonkoff, MD
  Julius B. Richmond, FAMRI Professor of Child Health and Development, Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Graduate School of Education; Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston; Director, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

• Following the Data, Debating Policy Imperatives
  Harry Holtzer, Professor, Georgetown University Public Policy Institute

• Using Data to Drive Outcomes
  Secretary Reggie Bicha, Wisconsin Department of Children and Families

• State and Local Collaboration
  Angie Logan, Executive Policy Specialist, Office of Policy Development, Department of Public Welfare, Pennsylvania

• State and Local Collaboration
  Dan Wuori, Chief Program Officer, South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness

• Using Community-Level Data to Drive Policy and Assess Progress
  Rolf Grafwallner, Assistant State Superintendent, Division of Early Childhood Development, Maryland State Department of Education

• Using Community-Level Data to Drive Policy and Assess Progress
  Valerie Minor, RN, NSM, Associate Professor of Nursing, Alderson-Broaddus College, West Virginia

• Using Community-Level Data to Drive Policy and Assess Progress
  Julie Willems Van Dijk, Associate Scientist, Population Health Institute, Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

• Tracking Outcomes Across Agencies
  Janice Gruendel, Senior Policy Advisor, Children and Youth, Governor Rell

• Tracking Outcomes Across Agencies
  Robin Arnold-Williams, Executive Policy Director, Governor Gregoire

• Linkages: Coordinating TANF and Child Welfare in California
  Danna Fabella, Linkages Project Director, Child and Family Policy Institute of California;
  Leslie Ann Hay, Linkages Project Associate and Consultant, Hay Consultants
  Alma Vega, Linkages Coordinator, Los Angeles County Department of Social Services

• Mississippi Office of Health Schools
  Shane McNeil, Director, Office of Healthy Schools
  Anne Travis, Chief Executive Officer, Bower Foundation

Publications:

• Shaping a Healthier Generation: Successful State Strategies to Prevent Childhood Obesity

• Nine Things Governors Can do to Build to Build a Strong Child Welfare System

• A Governor's Guide to Children's Cabinets

• Partnering with the Private and Philanthropic Sectors: A Governor's Guide to Investing in Early Childhood

• Creating a Comprehensive State Early Childhood Advisory Council – FAQs

• State Strategies to Address Child and Family Poverty