Governor Phil Murphy • Lt. Governor Tahesha Way

New Jersey Council for Young Children

The New Jersey Council for Young Children (NJCYC) is a 25-member Governor-designated council that is in, but not of, the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) and represents all New Jersey state agencies with oversight of programs for families and children from birth to age eight, including the NJDOE, Human Services, Health, Labor, and Children and Families. The NJCYC also represents Head Start agencies and organizations, advocacy groups, child care organizations, school districts, universities and foundations.

The current goals of the council are: 

  • Develop a coordinated system of early childhood programs and services statewide with a data information sharing system that meets the early care and education needs of infants, young children, and their families throughout the state, from birth to age eight. 
  • Identify and improve services for infants, young children, and families by coordinating outreach efforts across state agencies, school districts, and community and faith-based organizations, including, but not limited to, underserved populations. 
  • Develop a coherent set of early learning and development and program standards that address all areas of development for ages birth to eight that lead to positive outcomes for infants, young children, and their families. 
  • Strengthen the preparation and ongoing professional development of all early education and care professionals to optimize their positive impact on the development and learning of young children, ages birth to eight. 
  • Identify and plan a system of comprehensive, aligned program quality improvement processes for early care and education from birth to age eight, including a tiered Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS). 
  • Provide information to help the public recognize the value of early care and education for the well-being of infants and children, ages birth to eight, and the state. 

Additional information about the New Jersey Council for Young Children can be found in the New Jersey Enterprise Analysis System for Early Learning (NJ EASEL) resources below.

NJ-EASEL NJ Enterprise Analysis System for Early Learning Info graph. All text is included the text version link found immediately below the image.

Text Version:NJ-EASEL NJ Enterprise Analysis System for Early Learning

Background

NJ Enterprise Analysis System for Early Learning (NJ-EASEL) is New Jersey’s Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS). NJ-EASEL is a cross-agency collaboration designed to collect and integrate early childhood data to measure the impact of early care and education programs on the children and families they serve. 

NJ-EASEL was built as a result of Governor Christie’s Executive Order, No. 77, in 2011, which established the Early Learning Commission (ELC).  The ELC consists of Commissioners (or their designees) from the following state departments: education, children and families, health and human services. The Chairperson of the New Jersey Council for Young Children (NJCYC) is also a member of the ELC.

The ELC is charged with recommending improvements to the quality of, and access to, early learning and development programs in New Jersey in the most cost-effective manner possible. The ELC works in coordination with administrators from the state departments and labor, known as the Interdepartmental Planning Group (IPG), along with stakeholders across disciplines of education, health, labor, human services, children and families and Head Start, which make up the Governor-appointed early childhood advisory council, NJCYC.

The ELC serves as the authority for escalation of issues providing vision and direction to the IPG. The IPG is responsible for high-level NJ-EASEL decision making, provides vision and direction for the NJ-EASEL Steering Committee, sets priorities, and makes decisions necessary for NJ-EASEL project alignment across Departments. Most importantly, the IPG represents the NJ-EASEL User Group.

Purpose

The NJCYC members through its Data Committee, developed NJ-EASEL Questions and Objectives related to student outcomes and program efficacy. These questions and objectives were the catalyst for the development of NJ-EASEL. The purpose of NJ-EASEL is to provide an understanding of the collective impact of multiple programs to enable program administrators to make informed business, fiscal, and policy decisions to provide better program delivery, and access to, early care and education for children. To accomplish this, the system must ultimately integrate 15 data systems.  By sharing data across the multiple agencies, New Jersey gains greater capacity to address the NJ-EASEL Questions and Objectives, which are continually referenced to ensure the project stays within scope.