Early Childhood Initiatives

The Early Childhood Initiatives (ECI) program combines Public Health, Family and Community Services, and Mental Health Services to help ensure children have the best opportunity to thrive and to successfully meet the many learning challenges they face as they enter the public school system.

Under the Initiatives, the department’s objectives are to:

• increase parental knowledge and participation in child development;
• increase the number of pregnant women and children with healthy eating habits;
• increase parents’ decision making abilities;
• increase parents’ ability to meet the needs of their families, including improved parenting skills, increased ability to access supports, and effect positive change in their sense of independence and self-sufficiency;
• increase the percentage of newborns with a birthweight equal to, or greater than 2,500g;
• increase the proportion of high-risk pregnant women who are identified and who receive appropriate support;
• decrease the number of children who enter school with undiagnosed development problems;
• improve functioning in one or more of the following areas:
  • health or physical development;
  • cognitive development;
  • socio-emotional development.

Consult our factsheet series, Playing is Important, for more information in this regard. 

When required, ECI services may be provided even before a child is born. Expectant mothers who are most at risk for health problems that may impact their own health and that of their unborn child are eligible for ECI services. These services include pre-natal education, home visits by a Public Health nurse and/or nutritionist, and provision of nutrition supplements.

Public Health nurses and hospital maternity nursing staff assess all new mothers and their infants. Based on these assessment results, mothers and infants identified as moderate-to-high risk for developmental delay are offered additional ECI services. These priority families may receive postnatal intervention services such as home visits, parent education, counselling and nutrition supplements.