The Role of State Health Policy in Multi-Sector System and Service Linkages for Young Children

Children must be healthy in order to learn. Their motor skills, coordination, and overall physical health affect social-emotional and cognitive development and academic achievement. The domains of child development are interrelated, demanding a multi-sector approach to foster healthy development. Yet, cross-sector service coordination remains a challenge. Increasingly, states are recognizing that healthy development requires attention to interrelated developmental needs of children and families, leading them to plan more integrated services. State health policy makers and program administrators, using their authority as health care purchasers, regulators, data warehouses, conveners, and educators, can help bridge the gap between the health sector and other early childhood resources by developing policies that promote coordination at both the state and local levels. With funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) conducted an exploratory study of the role of state health policy in linking the health sector with other services that support young children’s health and development. The purpose of the project was to promote the role of state health policy in efforts to assure cross-sector service linkages for young children and their families, with the ultimate goal of better addressing the comprehensive needs of young children as they grow and develop. NASHP identified and examined policies in 12 leading states. These states identified a number of success factors, barriers, and opportunities gleaned from their experiences implementing policies to promote the health sector as a key component of multi-sector service linkages for children.

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