The National Governors Association's Center for Best Practices has awarded 12 states and territories $10,000 grants to support early childhood advisory councils (ECACs) in an effort to bolster and support early childhood learning.  The states receiving grants are Alabama, Connecticut, Colorado, Guam, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.  The grants will help states create or improve ECACs and meet the provisions of the Improving the Head Start Act of 2007.  "Gubernatorial leadership continues to drive state early childhood policy advances," said John Thomasian, director of the NGA Center for Best Practices. "These grants will help states bolster coordination of early childhood services and streamline resources to improve outcomes for young children and their families."
In many states, ECACs are the coordinating entities that are responsible for advancing the policy agenda for at-risk children between the ages of birth and five years old and for promoting linkages to early care and education, family support, health, mental health, and other developmental services.  The grants are supported by the Buffett Early Childhood Fund.