The Policy Center brings to bear ZTT’s expertise on infant and toddler development to ensure that policies and systems reflect best practices, current research, and the perspectives of families with lived experience, in support of our nation’s very young children. The organization’s agenda is simple: all infants and toddlers need good health, strong families, and positive early learning experiences to thrive.
State allies can call on ZERO TO THREE to:
ZTT provides comprehensive training and strategic support across our core agenda—Good Health, Strong Families, Positive Early Learning Experiences, and Cross-Sector Collaboration—supporting coalition building, advocacy campaigns, messaging, digital organizing, family-focused Capitol Hill events, storytelling, media training, and centering family voices for equitable policymaking. Additionally, we facilitate policy self-assessments using the Building for Babies State Policy Self-Assessment tool. This tool establishes a foundation for data-driven, state-level discussions, authentic community engagement, shared decision-making, policy implementation, and continuous quality improvement across all four core policy areas.
ZERO TO THREE can help state advocates explore policy, system, and funding opportunities to strengthen their IECMH systems, and support development of advocacy tactics to advance them. Policy areas may include IECMH consultation in child-serving settings, financing clinical workforce development efforts, or integration of IECMH expertise and services in primary care.
This could include training on effective policy levers, guidance in creating, expanding, or sustaining a state infant-toddler homelessness or housing initiative or replicating another state’s model, sharing resources on exemplary models or practices from other states, arranging peer-to-peer calls between state teams, assistance with engaging state, federal, and local housing partners, reviewing and providing feedback on written materials and more.
On the Ground:
