An initiative of the College of Education, the Early Childhood and Parenting Collaborative (ECAP) at the University of Illinois is home to a number of projects that focus on educating and raising young children. It consists of professors, academic professionals, and research assistants who collaborate on a variety of projects under the direction of faculty in early childhood education and special education. 

Pooling their expertise and experience enables these professionals to articulate, clarify and enhance the cooperative relationships among these projects and strengthen their contributions to the state of Illinois and beyond.

Pooling their expertise and experience enables these professionals to articulate, clarify, and enhance the cooperative relationships among projects and strengthen their contributions to the state of Illinois and beyond.

The three main grant-funded projects in ECAP are Illinois Early Learning Project, Illinois Early Intervention Clearinghouse and Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map. All of these projects have a focus on young children and their families, and each of these organizations has resources and information to help communities all over the state.

The Illinois Early Learning Project website is a source of reliable, evidence-based information on early care and education for parents, caregivers and teachers of young children in Illinois.