Hoping to break down bureaucracy, use tax dollars more efficiently, and provide a central resource for parents, Washington state has created a new agency to oversee a variety of programs that serve its young children. The Washington Department of Early Learning pulls together more than a dozen services, including child-care licensing, a state-financed preschool program, a Head Start collaboration project, and a small early-reading initiative. Those programs are now run by three different state agencies. The goal of the initiative is to re-create the way states are delivering programs for children from birth through age 5. For example, child-care licensing is often handled by a social service department, while preschool programs are sometimes administered by state education agencies.