Maine's Expanding Inclusive Opportunities Initiative for Children, Families and Communities

Team Vision
(10/30/08)

We exist to:

Ensure the well-being of all Maine’s young children by establishing a statewide framework to strengthen families and support a continuum of inclusive community-based early care and education;

Ensure that all of Maine’s children birth through 5 and their families, have increased access to high quality community based inclusive early care and education; and

Work collaboratively and transparently across sectors and systems both locally and state-wide to promote interagency understanding and support.

We believe that:

• Children are children first with the same basic needs for love, belonging, safe shelter and support.
• Children are individuals with unique strengths talents and needs.
• All children deserve quality care and education that meets their individual needs.
• Children’s needs are what should guide placement decisions.
• Instruction should be differentiated to meet a wide array of learning needs.
• Services and supports should be developed with a focus on cultural competence.
• Services and supports must be family driven.

and, as a team, we will:

• Maintain a constant focus on families and children should be the focus of everything that is brought to the table.
• Recognize that collaboration is critical and supportive of solid stakeholder relationships.
• Honor and support each others’ unique work scopes and perspectives and trusting them to fulfill responsibilities
• Respectfully share, communicate and learn from each other.
• Work together to dispel tensions and promote clarity among team members
• Utilize a strength-based innovative approach to collaborative work.

Focusing our work for:

Children and families,

And working through:

• DOE and DHHS systems stakeholders;
• State agency partners;
• Higher Education/ University partners;
• Early care and education professionals;
• Public school administrators;
• CDS directors;
• Early elementary public school teachers;
• Local community providers;
• Primary care providers/ medical system;
• Early interventionists/special educators; and
• Families

We intend to make it less difficult for children with special needs and their families to access high quality child care and early education in inclusive settings by:

• Developing a shared vision for inclusive early care and education in Maine and identify goals and outcomes
• Creating a framework for Early Childhood agencies in ME
• Sharing current initiatives/activities/requirements
• Coordinating policies and procedures to reduce barriers to inclusive practices
• Reviewing and cohesively aligning major efforts
• Identifying how fiscal and human resources can responsively support the mission
• Looking at linkages and efficacy of all personnel development activities
• Problem solving common challenges
• Developing collaborative grants
• Ensuring that standards of practice are implemented with fidelity (accountability)
• Developing strategies that are sustainable (not just random acts of improvement)
• Disseminating information to a wider audience in Maine to promote, inform others about and advance this work

Download a PDF of Maine's Expanding Inclusive Opportunities Initiative: Outcomes-January 2009 draft - original

Download a PDF of Maine's Expanding Inclusive Opportunities Initiative: Outcomes - January 2009 draft - accessible version

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