Child Success Act:
Investing in the First 1,000 Days
When parents and caregivers have the resources they need to give their child a strong start, the positive outcomes strengthen entire families and communities for generations.
Resourcing the Regional Upstream Initiative Demonstration Pilots
The Child Success Act (SB 1167) invests $12,118,200 in local Child Success Models that will fundamentally shift how families access vital resources, improve access to health care and deepen social connections during pregnancy and a child’s first 1,000 days of life.
The funding will support the Upstream Initiative’s seven regional demonstration pilots as they move their Child Success Models from blueprint to implementation:
Marion-Polk Early Learning Hub
Yamhill Community Care Early Learning Hub
Blue Mountain Early Learning Hub
Early Childhood Hub of Lane County
The Black Birthing Village led by Black Futures for Perinatal Health Collective
Early Learning Hub of Linn, Benton and Lincoln Counties
Southern Oregon Success and the Southern Oregon Early Learning Hub
Total funding request: $12,118,200 over 2025-27 biennium
Local Needs, Local Solutions
As part of the Upstream Initiative, local health, education and social services practitioners across Oregon engaged with their communities over the course of a year to answer the question:
If anything were possible, how would our community ensure that every child has an equitable opportunity to thrive during the first 1,000 days of life?
This budget allocation will fund the Child Success Model that each community identified in response to that question, supporting a more effective way to coordinate agency actions and investments that address their unique local circumstances. The outcome will be improved maternal, infant and early childhood health and education outcomes.
Bi-partisan Support
Sponsors for the bipartisan Child Success Act include:
Senator Floyd Prozanski (chief sponsor)
Senator Deb Patterson (chief sponsor)
Senator Jeff Golden (co-sponsor)
Representative Lisa Fragala (co-sponsor)
Representative Shannon Isadore (co-sponsor)
Representative Bobby Levy (co-sponsor)
Representative John Lively (co-sponsor)
Representative Kevin Mannix (co-sponsor)
Representative Travis Nelson (co-sponsor)
Representative Courtney Neron (co-sponsor)
The Challenge
In Oregon, we believe every child deserves a strong start in life, no matter where they live, their ethnic or cultural background, or their family's economic situation.
But for too many families, this strong start is undermined by the toxic stress of living with poverty, which is the result of systemic inequality that is closely associated with race and, increasingly, living in a rural community.
Poverty in our communities is not a personal failing—it is a policy choice, which means we can choose to fix it.
The Solution
Oregon has led the nation in developing community-based infrastructure by establishing regional CCOs and Early Learning Hubs that bring together health care providers and community partners. Together they align services and direct resources to where they are needed most: support for children and families.
To ensure every child has an opportunity to succeed, we need to take this innovation to the next level. By making upstream investments that connect pregnant and birthing people, 0-2 year olds and their caregivers with resources, health care, and supportive social connections, we can prevent urgent downstream challenges like entering the foster care system, academic struggles, and substance use disorder from developing in the first place.
Together, we can build compassionate and connected systems that help families find the support they need with ease, and without shame, so their children can thrive.
About the Upstream Initiative
The Upstream Initiative, convened and led by the Oregon Health and Education Collaborative, aims to transform early childhood and perinatal support systems in Oregon by focusing on the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, from pregnancy to age 2. We know this is a critical and precious period for brain development, early relational health and long-term well-being.
This community-driven effort brings together health, education, and social service partners to address the root causes of poverty, racism, and housing instability through proactive, upstream investments.