A study was conducted to: (1) enrich the knowledge of collaboration among child and family services providers by identifying and describing effective early care and education collaborations; and (2) create an analytic framework for the study of critical issues affecting the ability of collaboration to improve the quality, comprehensiveness, and availability of services to children from birth to 8 years of age. Collaboration refers to systematic multilateral efforts that seek to improve services rendered by all collaborative parties. Chapter I sets the context of the study and identifies study goals. Chapter II delineates methods and limitations of the study. Chapter III discusses the sample of collaborations studied and their general characteristics. Chapter IV analyzes the ways in which the collaborations function. This chapter also covers the developmental process of the collaborations and the variables that mediate that process. These variables include goals, resources, power, and leadership. Chapter V delineates the outcomes of collaboration, particularly quality, access, comprehensiveness, equity, public information, advocacy, and cost-effectiveness. Chapter VI discusses the findings. Chapter VII discusses implications for practice, policy, and research. Chapter VIII profiles the 72 collaborations studied. Related materials are appended. (RH)