There is currently wide recognition that health outcomes can be largely driven by factors outside of health care. Among young children and their families, unmet social needs can lead to lifelong consequences for health and well-being. To address this issue, United Hospital Fund launched the Partnerships for Early Childhood Development (PECD) initiative in 2017.

PECD is a New York City-based initiative with two components:

• A grant initiative that provides funding to help hospital-based, child-serving primary care practices partner with community-based social service organizations. Together, the primary care teams and their community partners build a system of care for families that includes screening for psychosocial needs, referrals to community partner services, and effective feedback and follow-up. A portion of the grant funding supports the community partners.
• A learning collaborative that helps PECD grantees and community partners share best practices, troubleshoot challenges, and hold each other accountable for making progress by participating in regular reporting of measures.

Now in its third year, PECD currently involves eight New York City hospital systems and 16 social service organizations. United Hospital Fund leads the initiative in partnership with The Altman Foundation, The New York Community Trust, and the William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation.