Author: Deborah A. Ziegler
Contributors: DaSy’s Early Childhood National Data Partners Activity Team

The DaSy Center recently published Exploring National Data About Young Children with Disabilities, a new brief designed to help states identify and use national data resources to strengthen early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) services. The brief highlights how these data can be shared, linked, and integrated to support better outcomes for young children with disabilities and their families.

This blog post focuses on one national data resource: the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program Outcomes Dashboard. This post describes how state leaders of IDEA (EI and ECSE) and MIECHV programs can collaborate to use this data resource to improve program outcomes.

Why is data sharing and use so important to state work?

Children with disabilities are often served by multiple early childhood programs that frequently are not coordinated. This siloed approach to service delivery may affect the quality of services provided.

To ensure high-quality and appropriate services and supports for young children with disabilities and their families, it is critical to develop strong partnerships across early childhood program sectors and to share and use data to inform policy and practice. By doing so, state leaders can identify possible areas of cross-sector collaboration and inform continuous improvement efforts across the entire early childhood system.

How can state leaders start to explore data resources?

When exploring and using any data resource, state leaders can start by considering a few DaSy Critical Questions About Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education. These selected questions are intended to spark discussion with cross-sector state partners and support the long-term goal of improving access, services, and supports along with positive outcomes for all young children and their families.

What are some recommended critical questions that our team should consider?

• To what extent are children with Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs) or Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) attending general early care and education programs?
• What characteristics of services are related to better outcomes for children and families?
• What is the relationship between IDEA service setting and child outcomes?

What is the MIECHV Program?

The MIECHV Program provides federal funding for home visiting programs to help families improve their health and well-being. The MIECHV Program is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HRSA is the primary federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated, or medically vulnerable.

Recipients of MIECHV funding are states, jurisdictions, and nonprofit organizations. HRSA requires funded recipients to collect and report performance data. The MIECHV Program Outcomes Dashboard shows data from home visiting programs that are funded by MIECHV.

How can state leaders use the MIECHV Program Outcomes Dashboard?

State leaders can use the dashboard to explore a variety of national and awardee-level data, including:

• Program size and reach, participant characteristics, information on the home visiting model used, and information on the awardee needs assessment
• Benchmark performance data, including the most recent annual outcomes achieved on performance measures organized by benchmark area, details on each benchmark measure and historical data, and demonstration of improvement assessment results
• A profile of each evidence-based home visiting model implemented with MIECHV funds

How can state leaders in IDEA (EI and ECSE) and MIECHV collaborate?

Using the data from the MIECHV dashboard, state leaders can collaborate to:

• Understand partner data and establish a relationship between program areas
• Articulate data sharing goals, including answering critical questions important to improve both IDEA early childhood and MIECHV programs
• Obtain commitment from agency partners
• Develop a data sharing agreement
• Establish processes to facilitate the security and use of shared data

What technical assistance can DaSy provide to states?

Contact your DaSy TA Liaison for additional support. Examples of the individualized TA DaSy can provide for states include:

• Facilitating state leadership teams or stakeholder meetings related to data systems work
• Consulting and problem-solving
• Providing guidance by asking questions to promote reflection and decisions
• Sharing information (e.g., literature, products) and resources from other states (e.g., existing forms/policies)
• Providing feedback on state documents or materials being developed
• Assisting states in developing data sharing agreements

What DaSy resources are available for ongoing learning?

• Exploring National Data About Young Children with Disabilities
• DaSy Data System Framework
• Critical Questions About Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education
• DaSy Data Governance Toolkit
• DaSy Data Linking Toolkit
• DaSy Data Visualization Toolkit

About the Author

Deborah A. Ziegler, Ed.D. is a DaSy TA provider specializing in disability policy and practice. She has broad public policy experience at the international, national, state, and local levels. Dr. Ziegler’s interests include policy development, implementation, and analysis; knowledge development; and information collection and dissemination. She has expertise in systems design focused on organizational leadership and collaborative partnerships. Currently, she consults with international and domestic organizations, associations, governments, and universities.

Published July 15, 2026.