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3. Understanding the Early Years

Overview of the Understanding the Early Years Initiative

Community Development and Partnerships Directorate
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

Table of Contents

1. What is the Understanding the Early Years (UEY) Initiative?

Understanding the Early Years (UEY) is a national initiative that enables members of communities across Canada to better understand the needs of their young children and families so that they can determine the best programs and services to meet those needs.

UEY’s overall purpose is to enable members of communities to work together to address the needs of young children from birth to age six by:

• Raising family and community awareness of the importance of family and community factors that can influence young children’s development; and
• Strengthening their ability to use local data to help them make decisions to enhance children’s lives.

The Understanding the Early Years (UEY) Initiative provides three years of funding to community-based, not-for-profit organizations on behalf of their communities to help them learn to generate and use local information on:

• the development of kindergarten (the year before grade one) children;
• family and community factors that influence children’s development;
• local programs and services for young children and their families; and
• local socio-economic characteristics.

In each UEY community, this information enables its local UEY project staff, UEY community coalition of organizations and individuals, and other community members to identify gaps in services and programs for young children and their families and to better understand how to address those needs. Moreover, it fosters partnerships among community organizations and individuals, enabling them to make informed decisions about the best approaches for young children to thrive. Each community project involves the participation of parents, teachers, schools, school boards, community organizations, and others interested in the well-being of children.

The communities where UEY projects are located include children from diverse cultural, language and economic backgrounds. This includes First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, children in immigrant and low income families, and children in official language minority communities.

UEY community projects have been selected through a Call for Proposals process. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada enters into a three-year Contribution Agreement with a non-profit organization, which is the recipient organization for the UEY project. The research on children’s development and children’s family and community experiences is conducted in each community by independent organizations. With UEY funding, the recipient organization hires a community co-ordinator to manage all aspects of the local UEY project and a researcher to carry out the research on community programs and services, and to interpret and map research results. The recipient organization and community co-ordinator work with a community coalition consisting of community service providers, school board representatives and others interested in the well-being of children to increase awareness of children’s needs in the community and to develop a Community Action Plan. This Community Action Plan, which is based on the results of the research, identifies measures to improve services and programs for young children, and to encourage the community to work together to address the needs of their young children.

2. History of UEY

UEY was launched as a research initiative to enhance knowledge of community factors that influence the early development of children. Starting in 1999 with North York, Ontario, the pilot initiative comprised 12 communities by 2001.

UEY became a seven-year national initiative in 2004, which will end in March 2011. Thirty-seven community projects have been funded through Calls for Proposals in 2005 and 2006. The first group of 21 community projects received funding in autumn 2005 and the second group of 15 received funding in spring 2007. A project in a First Nations community began in spring 2008.

See Appendix A for a list of community projects.

3. Objectives of UEY

Each local UEY project has two overall objectives: carrying out community-based research and enabling community members to use the research-generated information to increase awareness of, and to improve decision-making on, children’s issues. The community-based research can be further divided into gathering information and building knowledge.

The UEY Initiative does not deliver programs or services.

The following chart summarizes the objectives of UEY and the components of UEY that contribute to each objective. An asterix ‘*’ indicates that the activity is carried out by an organization working in collaboration with the project recipient.

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3.1 Research

The UEY Initiative helps communities obtain data on the development of their young children; factors that influence early childhood development; and the community’s resources. The reports that present the results of the analyses of these data build knowledge, at the community level, of the needs of young children and their families. This knowledge enables parents, teachers, service providers and other members of the community to make policy, program and investment decisions that meet those specific needs.

3.1.1 Generating Information

3.1.1.1 Children’s Development, Family and Community Experiences

Experiences in the early years of a child’s life, from birth to age six, are important in determining how well the child can enjoy life and feel worthwhile as he or she grows up. Interactions with parents, siblings and other children and adults in the community have important impacts on a child’s development and help to establish the foundation for future development and well-being. Children generally thrive in families and communities that meet their developmental needs. Conversely, poor supports for children’s needs reduce children’s quality of life and may increase the likelihood of experiencing future academic and social difficulties.

One of the key pieces of information that UEY collects in communities is the development of kindergarten children. By taking into account all the important domains of kindergarten children’s development, this is a useful indicator for communities of how their children are doing. Furthermore, children’s development is shaped by all their experiences as young children in their families and communities. When the information is collected in kindergarten, it becomes an informative indicator of how the community has been supporting its young children and their families over the first five years of children’s lives. How children are doing in kindergarten also gives communities an idea of which supports may be needed for these children as they enter school and the wider community.

Information on the development of kindergarten children and their experiences in their families and communities is provided by two instruments: the Early Development Instrument and the Parent Interviews and Direct Assessments of Children Survey.

Early Development Instrument (EDI)
The EDI measures the school readiness of kindergarten children prior to Grade 1 and is completed by kindergarten teachers on each child in their classes. The concept includes the child’s ability to meet the various demands of learning in a classroom and school environment, his or her ability to benefit from the educational activities at school, as well as his or her ability to interact with and get along with others, including teachers and other children. The instrument measures five domains of children’s development: physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, communication skills and general knowledge.

The EDI was developed by the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. The Human Early Learning Partnership at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver collaborates with the Offord Centre on EDI research in British Columbia. Through collaborations with the Offord Centre, the Human Early Learning Partnership and several provincial EDI collection programs, EDI results are provided to each UEY community project. This data collection is done in collaboration with participating schools, school boards, and the UEY community co-ordinator.

Parent Interviews and Direct Assessments of Children Survey (PIDACS)
The PIDACS examines the relationship between children’s development and various family and community factors that could influence that development. The PIDACS is based on the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY)¹ for five-year-olds and collects information about a representative sample of 300 to 500 kindergarten children in a community. The survey interviews the person most knowledgeable (PMK) about the child, usually a parent or guardian, to obtain information on the family, the child’s development and the child’s experiences in the community. The survey also carries out three direct assessment activities with the child which look at children’s receptive or hearing vocabulary, copying and printing skills related to early literacy, and number knowledge.

The PIDACS data collection is conducted by an independent contractor hired by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. The contractor is also responsible for analyzing the data and producing community-specific research reports to present the PIDACS results for each UEY project. The data collection is done in collaboration with participating parents, schools, school boards, and the UEY community co-ordinator.

3.1.1.2 Inventory of Community Programs and Services

Each UEY project is responsible for developing an inventory of the local programs and services available to young children and their families; this is sometimes called an inventory of community assets. These include a range of services such as health clinics, schools, family resource centres, recreational facilities (including parks and pools), and child care facilities, and the programming specific to each. Collecting information on the location of these resources allows the researcher to map it with other data. The purpose of this exercise is to see how the availability and distribution of community resources is linked to young children’s developmental outcomes and whether there are gaps in provision of services and programs to support children and their families. See Section 3.1.2.2, Community Mapping Report, below.

3.1.1.3 Community Socio-economic Characteristics

Knowledge about the economic, social and cultural conditions in which young children grow up is essential to understanding how the early years are shaped. Communities may want to compile local data on community characteristics such as levels of employment and education and housing rental rates. This information can be obtained by analyzing neighbourhood specific data from the latest Census of Canada or from local administrative information. The information can then be mapped to show the different socio-economic environments in the community in which young children live. See Section 3.1.2.2, Community Mapping Report, below.

Another use of this local socio-economic data is to create a Social Index, which is a simple way to summarize the data to indicate the number of risk factors in a community which may be related to children’s development. A Social Index may use the following Census data for a community:

• Employment rate
• Average income of households
• Education level
• Family status
• Residents’ mobility
• Language
• Home ownership
• Immigrant population
• Reliance on government transfers

3.1.2 Building Knowledge

3.1.2.1 Community Research Report

The Parent Interviews and Direct Assessments of Children Survey (PIDACS) provides a balance between the collection of subjective data, via questionnaires completed by parents, and objective data, through direct assessment of children’s skills and abilities. For each community, this data forms the basis of the Community Research Report that presents rich information about the community’s young children. The Community Research Report helps the community better understand how its children are doing and their unmet needs. It is one of the key research documents which the community can use to develop a Community Action Plan and to encourage every member of the community to work together to address concerns related to children’s development.

The Community Research Reports are prepared by an independent analyst in collaboration with each participating community project, under contract with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

3.1.2.2 Community Mapping Report

A key activity implemented in each UEY community is a community mapping exercise. Community maps organize local information and present it in a format that is easily understandable to people with a wide variety of backgrounds, and, therefore, are a vehicle for helping members of the community work together. Furthermore, the maps can help identify areas of strength and areas of need in the community. They then stimulate discussion and bring people together to generate ideas and solutions.

Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) computer software, maps are created to display the following information by different geographic areas of the community:

• information in the Inventory of Community Programs and Services (community assets);
• local socio-economic characteristics;  and
• the results of the Early Development Instrument data collection.

These maps provide a visual picture of the relationships between community factors (for example, location of parks, libraries and child care centres), community socio-economic characteristics such as rates of employment and home ownership, and children’s school readiness (for example, social competence).

These maps are consolidated into a Community Mapping Report. This report is another key research document which the community can use to increase understanding of how the community is supporting children through its programs and services and to develop the Community Action Plan.

The Community Mapping Report is prepared by the community researcher for the local UEY project, with funding provided by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada through the Contribution Agreement.

3.1.2.3 Community Action Plan

The Community Action Plan is one of the most important products for a UEY community project. Drawing on the Community Research Report and the Community Mapping Report, the UEY recipient organization and co-ordinator work in collaboration with the community coalition to create an evidence-based Community Action Plan to act on the findings about the young children in their community. By proposing community programs and services that will enhance children’s development, the Action Plan serves as the community’s blueprint which the UEY recipient organization, co-ordinator and coalition can use to encourage the whole community to undertake concrete measures to address the needs and problems identified by the research.

As indicated above, the Community Action Plan is developed by the recipient organization, co-ordinator and coalition in the UEY community project. Funding is provided through the Contribution Agreement with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

3.2 Enabling the Community

When effectively disseminated and shared with the community, the UEY research provides information in clear and compelling ways. Valuable lessons are learned about the needs and strengths of the community with respect to early childhood development. As this understanding improves, the members of the community can determine how they will work together to improve children's outcomes based on the research evidence. The research-based information can also be particularly powerful in convincing decision-makers of a need in the community with respect to children.

The UEY process emphasizes that any community's response must consider its unique features. Because the UEY strategies require the community to look at itself as a whole community, as well as neighbourhood by neighbourhood, the results of the actions taken will be more enduring.

The UEY Initiative is a community learning process, through which community organizations, educators, parents and other concerned community members learn the value of community research and acquire the capability of making decisions based on evidence. It also emphasizes the importance of a coordinated approach to resolving issues at a community level which can result in creative and valuable responses to issues which improve the lives of all the members in the community.

4. Roles and Responsibilities of UEY Players

Within each UEY project, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) representatives and local community members are key participants with different roles and responsibilities. The following diagram illustrates the nature of the relationships between these players.

To support the success of each project, UEY players take on the following roles and responsibilities.

Community Recipient Organization

The recipient organization, a legally incorporated non-profit organization with a mandate focused on social development issues, enters into the Contribution Agreement with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. The recipient organization is accountable for the management and delivery of the project, within the budget allocations and project timelines, and responsible for project results and deliverables. This includes supervising the local UEY project, hiring the UEY co-ordinator and researcher, and adhering to the Agreement, including financial and activity reporting to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

Community Coalition

The coalition consists of a group of interested and committed local individuals representing the various people and agencies with an interest in children's development (e.g., parents, teachers, school boards, social services, health services, recreational services, recipient organization, governments and the business sector). In their advisory role, coalition members work in collaboration with the UEY recipient organization and co-ordinator to understand the UEY data, to encourage the community to support the needs of children, and to develop an evidence-based Community Action Plan to address and improve programs and services for children and their families.

Community Co-ordinator

Reporting to the recipient organization, the UEY co-ordinator is a full-time position, responsible for many tasks ranging from facilitating data collection activities; developing community interest and buy-in; strengthening community partnerships and transferring knowledge (for example, through organizing public events and media relations). In addition, in collaboration with others, the UEY co-ordinator develops a range of reports and products, including the Community Action Plan, and communications products.

Community Researcher

The UEY research function can be met through a part-time position for specific time periods. The main functions are to manage the gathering of information for the Inventory of Community Programs and Services, to compile data on community socio-economic characteristics, to carry out the community mapping using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software and to produce the Community Mapping Report. The researcher helps interpret the results of the research for the community.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) is responsible for the overall management of the national UEY Initiative. HRSDC provides contribution funding to UEY recipient organizations to manage and deliver the UEY project in each community. The funding to communities supports a range of activities including the collection of local-level data, the development of a Community Mapping Report and a Community Action Plan, and the hiring of a UEY co-ordinator and researcher. HRSDC also supports UEY projects through activities such as hosting an orientation for new recipient organizations and co-ordinators, training on results-based reporting and sessions for sharing experiences later in the project cycle.

HRSDC also manages a service contract for the collection and analysis of the Parent Interviews and Direct Assessments of Children Survey data for each UEY project. The collection and analysis of the Early Development Instrument data for each UEY project is carried out through collaborations with UEY projects, provincial EDI initiatives, the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario and the Human Early Learning Partnership at the University of British Columbia. The specific collaborations depend on the project.

Independent Contractors for Data Collections

The Parent Interviews and Direct Assessments of Children Survey (PIDACS) collection is managed by an independent contractor, under contract to HRSDC. In collaboration with each community, this contractor develops a Community Research Report for the community based on the analysis of the PIDACS survey data.

As indicated above, the collection and reporting on the Early Development Instrument (EDI) data occurs through collaborations with UEY projects, provincial EDI initiatives, the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario and the Human Early Learning Partnership at the University of British Columbia. The specific collaborations depend on the project.

5. The UEY Community Project Life Cycle

Under the Contribution Agreement with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, the recipient organization is responsible for the implementation of the three-year UEY project. The following provides the minimum key activities that occur in the life of a UEY project. The project life cycle has varied somewhat for the 2005 and 2007/2008 projects. The following breakdown is based generally on the activities for the 2007/2008 projects.

First year

• Hire co-ordinator and researcher.
• Participate in orientation and training activities.
• Strengthen the UEY community coalition.
• Work with the community to develop an understanding of, and commitment to, the local UEY project and the larger UEY Initiative.
• Carry out the Inventory of Community Programs and Services and compile local socio-economic information.
• Develop Community Mapping Report.

Second Year

• Work with independent data collection contractors and school boards to facilitate the EDI and PIDACS data collections. (The data collections occur from fall to late spring.)
• Complete the Inventory of Community Programs and Services and compilation of local socio-economic information.
• Add new data to the Community Mapping Report.

Third Year

• Disseminate the research results to members of the community.
• Develop a Community Action Plan based on the research findings.
• Complete final report for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada as per the Contribution Agreement.

6. UEY Products

The three key UEY products are described in Section 3.1.2:

• Community Research Report;
• Community Mapping Report; and
• Community Action Plan.

In addition, to measure the progress of each project over time, and to ensure accountability for funding, the recipient organization provides several reports to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada under the Contribution Agreement, including:

• Ongoing financial and activity reports; and
• Progress and final reports.

A UEY community project should consider other specific products that will help encourage the community coalition and other members of the community to work together in the UEY project and to share knowledge from the research. This work includes raising awareness about: the role that families and communities play in child well-being, the process of evidence-based decision-making, and the importance of developing innovative local solutions to address community needs.

These products may include brochures, presentations, user-friendly summaries of findings, and media articles. Products may be of interest to a range of community members, including teachers, parent-teacher associations, school boards, health service agencies, police service boards, local coaches, and parks and recreation associations.

7. Selection of Community Projects

UEY community projects were selected through a Call for Proposals process. To be eligible for funding under the UEY Initiative, an applicant organization must have been legally incorporated, non-profit, and pursuing activities in the area of social development.

The community must have been geographic with:

• an existing active community coalition focusing on social issues;
• the support of all participating school boards; and
• a minimum of 300 children entering kindergarten in the data collection school year.

There were two calls for proposals for the national UEY Initiative; twenty-one projects were approved through the 2005 Call and 16 projects were approved through the 2006 Call.

Appendix A - Understanding the Early Years Community Projects

Pilot Projects

Five projects concluded in 2005.

• UEY Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
• UEY Winnipeg, Manitoba
• UEY North York, Ontario
• UEY Prince Edward Island
• UEY Southwestern Newfoundland

Seven projects concluded in 2007.

• UEY Abbotsford, British Columbia
• UEY Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
• UEY South Eastman, Manitoba
• UEY Niagara Falls, Ontario
• UEY Dixie-Bloor of Mississauga, Ontario
• UEY Montréal, Québec
• UEY Hampton, New Brunswick

National Initiative

Twenty-one three-year projects began in autumn 2005 and concluded in autumn 2008.

• British Columbia
  • UEY Greater Victoria
  • UEY Mission
  • UEY Okanagan-Similkameen
  • UEY Sunshine Coast
  • UEY Campbell River
  • UEY North Shore (North and West Vancouver)
• Saskatchewan
  • UEY Northeast Saskatchewan
• Manitoba
  • UEY Division scolaire franco-manitobaine
• Ontario
  • UEY Niagara Region
  • UEY Ottawa
  • UEY Northern Region of Ontario
  • UEY Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County
  • UEY Lower Hamilton
  • UEY Milton
  • UEY Northumberland County
• Québec
  • UEY Pointe-de-l’Île de Montréal
  • UEY Montréal Chassidic and Orthodox Community
• New Brunswick
  • UEY Greater Saint John
• Nova Scotia
  • UEY Cumberland County
  • UEY Halifax West and Area
  • UEY Western Nova Scotia

Fifteen three-year projects began in spring 2007 and will conclude in spring 2010. The Prince Albert Grand Council project began in spring 2008 and will conclude in spring 2011.

• British Columbia
  • UEY Burnaby
  • UEY New Westminster
  • UEY West Kootenay
  • UEY North Peace-Northern Rockies
  • UEY Kamloops
  • UEY Cowichan Valley
• Alberta
  • UEY Red Deer
• Saskatchewan
  • UEY Moose Jaw-South Central Saskatchewan
  • UEY Regina
  • UEY Southeast Saskatchewan
  • UEY Prince Albert Grand Council
• Manitoba
  • UEY Selkirk-Interlake
• Ontario
  • UEY Malton
  • UEY Georgina
• Nova Scotia
  • UEY Pictou, Antigonish and Guysborough
  • UEY Cape Breton-Victoria

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¹The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) is a comprehensive, longitudinal survey designed to measure and track the well-being and life experiences of Canada’s children and youth as they grow up. The survey is conducted by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), in partnership with Statistics Canada.

The NLSCY captures the experience of growing up in Canada in a holistic way, with the content of the survey being broad rather than concentrating on any one area. Information is collected on a wide variety of domains of development (physical health, language, cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioural) and factors which may influence those domains. The latter include characteristics of the child’s family (socio-economic status, structure, parenting style, family functioning, and social support), child care and school experiences, and neighbourhood characteristics. Thus, the NLSCY supports research on how children are doing at each stage of development, what factors are important and how these factors affect children’s developmental outcomes. The results of this research inform the development of policies and strategies to help young people follow healthy, active and rewarding life paths.

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Date Modified:

2011-08-09