NC Birth-to-Three Quality Initiative at the 2025 State of the Child Summit

Hosted by NC Child and the North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM) at the Raleigh Convention Center on April 15, the second annual State of the Child Summit highlighted the current landscape of children’s health and wellbeing across North Carolina and engaged caregivers, lawmakers and leaders across communities, sectors and organizations in discussions around policy solutions to ensure our children have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Members of the NC Birth-to-Three Quality Initiative (B-3QI) management team were invited to attend the event and network with others dedicated to supporting young children, families and the early childhood education workforce.

Event organizer NC Child works directly with state legislators and legislative offices to inform and draft bills that work toward improving the health of all children in the state. Using data collected by their research team, they provide insight into current needs and advocate for child, family and workforce health. Executive Director Erica Palmer Smith was the first keynote speaker for the summit, along with Governor Josh Stein, Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt, NC Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Devdutta Sangvai and Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center Founder and Executive Director Dr. Cynthia Osborne. The B-3QI management team was struck by the wealth of knowledge and dedication exhibited by each speaker, and how the various sectors they represent collided into a full-spectrum effort that uplifted the whole child. Breakout sessions addressed child nutrition and food insecurity, the loneliness epidemic and its impact on mental health, foster care challenges and opportunities, strengthening teachers and other child care providers and more.

Our team agreed that one of the most impactful panels was “Our Voices, Our Future,” in which members of the NC Child Youth Advocacy Council (YAC) shared their stories and experiences around the youth mental health crisis and their vision for a healthier future for themselves and their peers. Moderated by psychotherapist Rwenshaun Miller from The Good Stress Company, Eustress Inc., young people were able to speak directly to adults as to how they wanted to be supported in navigating today’s complex journey toward adulthood. The culminating event, “The Way Forward,” saw participants gather in small and large group discussions to strategize about collaborations and opportunities to change outcomes for North Carolina’s more than two million children.

As next steps, the B-3QI management team plans to reach out to Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt’s office as she prepares to go on a statewide tour of child care facilities and family child care homes to better understand what providers, children and families need that will inform her efforts with the Governor’s Early Childhood Task Force. B-3QI management is also involved in collaborative discussions around House Bill 389, An Act to Establish the Child Care Workforce Academy Pilot Program. In these ways, NC B-3QI remains informed on issues affecting young children and their caregivers, and offers strategies for creating a workforce that is well-prepared to build and maintain nurturing and healthy environments for infants and toddlers.