We know that our partners are the experts of our communities. We also know that they are in the best position to implement new creative programs, projects, and approaches that draw on their community’s skills and strengths to support the health and well-being of our babies, children, young people, and families!
Since 2018, we have partnered with 13 organizations through Best Starts’ Innovation Supports Strategy, which was known as the Prenatal to Five Innovation Fund strategy during the first levy, to pilot and implement projects, programs, and approaches that meet community-identified priorities and are co-created with community. In Best Starts 1.0, our partners implemented an incredible range of unique programs and projects — from a series of audio storybooks for Somali speaking families with young children to a series of classes that engaged caregivers and allies in inclusive early learning and disability equity.
Recognizing that the first stages of any new program or approach can also easily be the most challenging, we individually paired each organization – also known as an “innovation team” — with a capacity builder to provide 1:1 capacity building support. In partnership together, capacity builders supported each team from the initial design and idea development to full implementation of their programs and approaches, and provided relational, individualized support through trainings, workshops, communities of practice, and more.
As we look towards providing innovation focused supports once again to Innovation teams in Best Starts 2.0, we are excited to share our new report that evaluates our capacity building partnership from the first Best Starts levy. Our report describes the implementation of building program capacity from 2018 to 2021 and highlights data and lessons learned. We look forward to integrating what we’ve learned into the future implementation of supports within the Innovation Supports strategy!
Please note that in this blog post, we use the term “capacity builder” to describe the individuals who supported our Best Starts funded partners as they developed and piloted their projects and programs. In the report, you will notice that the terms “technical assistance teams (TA)” and “capacity builders” are interchangeably used
Learn more about how we define technical assistance and capacity building for the renewed Best Starts for Kids 2.0 levy.
- Have any questions? Contact bsk.data@kingcounty.gov.
- View other Best Starts for Kids data and evaluation reports here.