Early Childhood
Action Plan

In 2019, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services released North Carolina’s Early Childhood Action Plan (ECAP). The plan sets forth a bold vision for North Carolina’s children, focused on making steady progress towards achieving ambitious goals relating to children’s health and development, safety and well-being, and learning.

Building off this statewide work, Durham is now the first county in the state to create an ECAP specific to our community. We are thrilled to share this report – “Grown in Durham: Durham’s Early Childhood Action Plan,” which serves as a blueprint for strengthening our early childhood systems in Durham.

An Early Childhood Action Plan (ECAP) Rooted in Equity

In Durham, not all children and families have the same opportunities to thrive. The health, safety, and education of a child should not differ depending on the child’s race, the family’s wealth, or any other reason. As we respond to COVID-19 together and address racial injustices in Durham, we have an opportunity to bring our community and resources together towards shared goals in support of all our young children.

All ECAP Documents for Downloading

• Durham ECAP Coloring Book for Families (Spanish version)
• ECAP 2-Pager (Spanish version)
• 1. Durham ECAP Summary (Spanish version)
• 2. Acknowledgements
• 3. Our Process
• 4. Indicators
• 5. Our Early Childhood System
• 5a. Our Family Support System Overview
• 5b. Our Maternal and Child Health System Overview
• 5c. Our Early Learning System Overview
• 6a. Systems Strengthening Recommendations (Spanish Version)
• 6b. Basic Needs Recommendations (Spanish Version)
• 6c. Safe and Nurtured Recommendations (Spanish Version)
• 6d. Healthy Recommendations (Spanish Version)
• 6e Learning and Ready Recommendations (Spanish Version)
• 7. Our Next Steps (Spanish version)
• 8. Glossary