Project LAUNCH

URL: http://www.healthysafechildren.org/grantee/project-launch

Nationwide, grantees are pioneering new ways to promote young child wellness through Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health), a federal initiative funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The population of focus is children ages birth to 8. The goal is for all children to enter school with the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical skills they need to succeed. Over five years, Project LAUNCH grantees work to increase the quality and availability of evidence-based programs for children and families, build infrastructure, and improve coordination across child-serving systems. All Project LAUNCH grantees are expected to demonstrate local policy and practice improvements that can be sustained across the state, tribe, or territory. 

• A November 2016 publication, Implementation of Young Child Wellness Strategies in a Unique Cohort of Local Communities, describes the innovative, community-level strategies used by six grantees used to improve outcomes for children, families and communities, and shares their lessons learned as they sought to bring policy and practice improvements to scale, enhance infrastructure, and implement direct services. The e-Book is rich with creative approaches, lessons learned, and illustrative data from communities that can inform future early childhood efforts both within and outside of the LAUNCH community.