The Coös Coalition for Young Children and Families works to promote optimal cognitive, physical, social and emotional development for children birth - 8 in the Coös region.

When making a contribution towards the Coös Coalition for Young Children and Families, please note that our PayPal link is that of our Fiscal Sponsor, North Country Education Services. All donations made to this link above will go directly towards supporting of the Coös Coalition's System's Plan. Thank you for your consideration.

🌟 Early Childhood Connections Summit: A Night of Connection, Learning, and Celebration 🌟 

Real strategies. Regional connections. Practical next steps.

On March 19, over 85 early childhood serving partners from across the region gathered for the Early Childhood Connections Summit at the Town & Country Inn. All participants received a copy of the book The Regulated Classroom, which was made possible by the Crotched Mountain Foundation Kids. The evening focused on:

• Connecting across early childhood settings
• Sharing practical transition strategies
• Celebrating what is working within each region
• Leaving with ideas participants could use right away

✨ Evening Highlights 

• Keynote on Interoception and The Regulated Classroom, presented by Emily Russell, School Psychologist
• Round-robin sessions featuring real examples from across regions
• Recognition of ECC facilitators and participants
• Celebration of the Coalition’s growing ASQ impact

 🎉 ASQ Celebration  

As part of the evening, Melinda Fauteux and Mariah Middleton from Gorham Community Learning Center shared a brief ASQ overview and helped celebrate important milestones:

• Nearly 400 children screened using our new online platform in 6 months
• 18 ECE programs engaged
• 45 active users across the ASQ Enterprise Platform

 💬 What We Heard 

Survey feedback showed strong appreciation for the Summit format, with participants describing it as extremely valuable. Topics participants most want to continue exploring include:

• Challenging behaviors
• Social-emotional learning
• Family engagement
• Trauma-informed strategies
• Stronger PreK–K transitions

Photo on left: Shelli Roberts, CCYCF Operations Coordinator, Joseph Kenney, Executive Councilor District 1, Kelly Dussault, CCYCF Executive Director and Emily Russell, School Psychologist, SAU 84.

Photo above: Representatives from TCCAP Head Start programs across the region.

 🧒ASQ Online: Growing a Shared Screening System

The Coalition’s pilot initiative, ASQ Online, continues to build momentum across the region. Leadership retreat materials noted that the Coalition’s enterprise ASQ online subscription has been successfully piloted with childcare centers, with about 85% of onboarded sites actively using the platform and 387 screenings completed as of the retreat.

 📋 ASQ Progress at a Glance

• ASQ Enterprise platform is active across childcare and Head Start partners
• Strong early adoption across Coös, Carroll, and Grafton counties
• Technical assistance and training have supported rollout across sites

 🌼 Spring Goal

The updated spring 2026 goal is for all childcare centers, pilot sites, and Head Start programs already onboarded through the Coalition’s ASQ Enterprise system to complete their spring screenings directly in the online platform rather than on paper. A cheat sheet with tips and lessons learned will also be shared with partners.

💻 What the Data Is Showing

The Coalition recently shared its first aggregate developmental screening report. Early trends point to:

• Social-emotional development in 4–5 year olds as the strongest shared area of need
• Emerging needs in:
• fine motor
• communication
• problem solving
• gross motor in some age groups 

 🗣️ Regional Spotlight: Carroll County’s ASQ Grant

We are excited to recognize Carroll County for securing a Granite United Way Responsive Grant to support the ASQ Online rollout. This is an exciting regional milestone and a strong sign that the Coalition’s work is helping inform broader screening efforts beyond Coös County.

Children Unlimited reached out to CCYCF to discuss how the Coalition could share lessons learned from the Coös rollout.

 🙌Why It Matters

• Regional interest in ASQ Online is growing
• Coös lessons learned are helping shape other county efforts
• Stronger alignment can support children, families, and providers across communities

 🤝 Leadership Retreat: Looking Ahead Together

On March 27, the Coalition’s Leadership Team gathered for its annual retreat to reflect on progress, review priorities, and plan ahead about sustainability and shared stewardship. The day focused on values, strategy review, budget planning, and the leadership roles that will guide the Coalition’s next phase of work.

 🌄Priorities Lifted Up

Leadership members identified several priorities moving forward:

• Non-clinical behavioral health supports
• Fund development
• Relationship development and communications
• Stronger clarity around leadership roles and Coalition sustainability

🧠 Key Takeaways

• Members discussed strengthening Coalition values by more clearly lifting up community, sustainability, and family voice
• Shared agreement around the strong momentum of priorities and the impact despite a reduced budget this past year
• The group agreed on the need for a stronger long-term, diversified funding strategy
• Leadership also discussed clarifying how Coalition strategies are incubated, supported, and transitioned over time- including the role of the Coalition after transfer

Coös Coalition for Young Children and Families Leadership Team Members: Back Row: from left to right: Airole Warden, Joy Noel, Wendy Conway, Melanie Smith, Chuck Patterson, Shelli Roberts, Joanne Kawecki. Front row: Gabrielle Flanders, Kelly Dussault, Phoebe Backler, Allison Noel (Missing: David Backler, Bette Gilcris, Lori Langlois, Bridget Laflamme and Melinda Fauteux)

As I reflect on my first 15 months as Executive Director of the Coös Coalition for Young Children and Families, I am filled with deep pride in the work of our Coalition partners and the strength of the North Country.

Over this past year, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing so many positive and well-coordinated efforts. I’ve seen the steadfast commitment of our Raising Strong Families team as they support families in navigating complex systems while staying grounded and committed to the families goals. I’ve watched our early care and education workforce, including our Head Start partners come together to implement our new developmental screening program (ASQ Online), with strong commitment and early traction already helping us build a clearer regional picture of ongoing needs, among so many other examples.

Another highlight this year was coming together across two powerful regional summits. Our behavioral health summit created space to share relevant regional data on needs while partnering with families and caregivers to begin to build out non-clinical solutions. At our 9th annual Early Childhood Connections Summit, one of our largest yet, we shared regional updates, lifted up best practices around preK- kindergarten transitions, and engaged in meaningful professional development. Together, these gatherings reflected both the strength of our partnerships and the growing interconnectedness of our work across the region.

As we move into spring, I find myself reflecting on the role each of us plays in this work and how we continue to grow as a region. Each of us is a spoke in the wheel, contributing in our own way to building a more coordinated, sustainable system of support for families with young children. Whether your role is in an SAU, a childcare or early learning setting, a family-serving organization, a healthcare, behavioral health or public health agency, as a family member, or as a funder, each of us has a voice and an important seat at this collective table.

When we stay connected and aligned in these shared priorities, we create the conditions for children and families to grow and thrive. Take a moment to applaud your efforts. I see the dedication you bring, and it truly makes a difference!

With Appreciation,

Kelly

Real experiences help our region see the need, what helped, and what to do next. If you’re a parent, caregiver, youth, educator, healthcare professional, or community partner—we want to hear from you.

What to Share

💬 A moment when things felt hard—and what changed it

✨ A small win that gave you hope

🧭 A story about navigation help or a warm hand-off

🎒 A bright spot from pre-K → K transitions or a classroom/child care routine that worked

🤝 A time peer support or a caregiver circle helped you feel less alone

How to Share

📝 Online form: write a few sentences or a short paragraph

🎙️ Voice memo or Video: record 1–2 minutes on your phone and upload

🖼️ Photo + caption: one image and 2–3 lines about what it shows

Quick Prompts

👤 Who is the person/family? (first name or anonymous)

⚡ The hard part: what happened at the low point?

🌤️ Hope returns: what helped—big or small?

🧰 How support showed up: what did our community do?

🌊 The ripple: how could this help more families in Coös?

Where Stories Go

🌐 Website: selected stories on our “Share Your Story” page

📰 Newsletter: short, approved features so the whole network learns

🧭 Convenings & trainings: stories guide next steps (with permission)