When it began in 2012,  the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA Center) funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), built upon the foundation of several OSEP-funded TA centers to improve service systems and assist states in scaling up and sustaining effective services and research-based interventions for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities and their families. Building on the success and expertise of NECTAC, TACSEI, CELL, and ECO, the ECTA Centerʼs work scope included:

• Working with partner states to develop a service system framework for high-quality, effective, and efficient early childhood and early intervention service systems. The components and quality indicators within the service system framework will be defined to support the implementation of effective practices at the local level.
• Producing guidance materials for state and local programs that identify the essential features and implementation processes critical to implementing, scaling up, and sustaining effective services and interventions.
• Partnering with the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children, to revise the research-based, field-validated DEC Recommended Practices, and producing products to promote the use of the DEC Recommended Practices.
• Providing three levels of assistance to states and local programs: general/informational technical assistance; specific targeted assistance; and intensive assistance over time to:
  • Strengthen State Part C and Section 619 service systems,
  • Increase the implementation of effective practices,
  • Improve Part C and Section 619 monitoring and accountability,
  • Increase collaboration across early childhood systems,
  • Enhance Child and Family Outcome measurement, and, ultimately
  • Improve results for children and families participating in Part C and Section 619 programs.

ECTA will continue to support state and local capacity-building to improve and sustain equitable systems that support access by, and full participation of, young children with disabilities across early childhood programs to provide equitable access to effective IDEA services that reflect evidence-based and culturally and linguistically responsive interventions to improve outcomes for each and every child with a disability and their family. The Center will address five key intended outcomes: (1) increased capacity of State and local early childhood systems, (2) increased capacity of State Part C and Section 619 programs to improve and sustain State systems, (3) increased capacity of State C and Section 619 programs to include implementation supports within their State systems to support local programs, (4) increased capacity of States and local early childhood IDEA programs to engage with families and other stakeholders to develop policies and implement practices to address factors that influence disparities in outcomes, and (5) increased knowledge, skills, and competencies of early childhood system administrators, including State Part C and Section 619 administrators, to lead systemic improvement efforts.