The Intersection Webinar Recap: Creating an Integrated Efficient Early Care & Education System

Thank you to Linda Smith, Director of the Early Childhood Initiative at the Bipartisan Policy Center, for leading our April 24 Intersection Webinar. Linda reviewed their latest report, “Creating an Integrated Efficient Early Care and Education System to Support Children and Families: A State-by-State Analysis.”

There is significant variation as it pertains to the organizational structures through which states administer early childhood programs and funding streams. In the December 2018 report, the Bipartisan Policy Center analyzed and ranked state systems, highlighting efforts to create well-coordinated and efficient structures.

Key Takeaways

• The nation’s top-10 ranked states all have State Advisory Councils and all made efforts to group related programs together to promote coordination. Most of these states require child care providers serving children on subsidies to participate in Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS). Additionally, these states all have state-funded Pre-K programs. Five states transfer Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds to support the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), and three states applied for and received Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership grants.

  

• In the 10 states ranking most poorly, early childhood programming is split across multiple agencies, limiting coordination. Of these 10 states, eight did not transfer TANF funding to CCDBG, while seven states house child care, state pre-k, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) in different agencies. Four states do not have a functioning State Advisory Council, and three do not have a QRIS and/or a state pre-k program.

• While both Congress and the federal agencies are commonly blamed for the fragmentation, duplication, and overlap in early care and education (ECE) programs, much responsibility rests with states. Armed with this information, Governors should consider calling for independent reviews of their state ECE administration.

For our full conversation with Linda, please watch the webinar below:

Our next Intersection webinar is May 8 at 1 p.m. ET. Join us for a conversation with Cindy Cisneros, Vice President of Education Programs at the Committee for Economic Development and Grace Reef, President of the Early Learning Policy Group. They will provide an overview of CEDs latest report about the economic impact of the child care industry and discuss ways in which access to affordable child care increases labor force participation leading to economic growth and adding up to $99.3 billion in revenue. Register for our next webinar here. 

Stay tuned and follow us on Twitter for details on upcoming webinars.

See you at the Intersection,
The Hunt Team