The Early Childhood Initiative through the Headwaters Foundation funded local support networks for young children in western Montana. In rural Mineral County, educators, business leaders, counselors and others help coordinate various forms of assistance and relief for families.
April Quinlan, family program supervisor for the county's health department, said they offer home visits starting during pregnancy, including doula services, and continuing through early childhood. She explained it has been transformative for families.
"To go from maybe not really knowing anything about parenting to feeling like they're their own advocates for themselves, for their children, that they're an experienced parent, and then watch them go into leading other parents and doing work in the community to help other families," Quinlan observed.
Mineral County received a five-year grant and has renewed it for another two years. The Early Childhood Initiative ran from 2018 to 2024, with the Headwaters Foundation investing more than $13 million.
An independent analysis from this year found the program raised awareness of the work, connected parents and caregivers with local resources, and helped pass legislation to strengthen early childhood investments in Montana. Another outcome was support for a statewide early childhood office. Zero to Five is a policy and advocacy organization working on issues facing Montana families, such as access to early care and education programs.
Ashley Morton, senior resource partner for the Headwaters Foundation, said the biggest lesson from the initiative was watching local communities make their own decisions.
"Learning what community is capable of when given resources and the opportunity to work collaboratively to identify solutions and create change in the ways that they know their community needs," Morton outlined.
Morton stressed the initiative was a healthy start and the efforts need sustained momentum and investment to keep supporting young children in Montana. She added the foundation is now focusing on finding other partners who can help carry on the work.