Early Childhood Education and Care
Author: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Date: 2018-12-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Early Childhood Education,Child Care,Federal Aid,Access to Education,Educational Quality,Agency Cooperation,Early Intervention,Federal Programs,Grants,Infants,Young Children,Family Programs,Student Needs,Neighborhoods,American Indian Education,Literacy Education,Instructional Effectiveness,Food,Barriers,Low Income Groups,Preschool Education,Federal Government,Government Role,Block Grants,Equal Education,Disabilities,Educational Legislation,Federal Legislation,Elementary Secondary Education,Welfare Services

Federal funding for early childhood education and care promotes three overarching policy goals: (1) increasing children's access to services; (2) raising the quality of early childhood programs; and (3) fostering greater coordination among the many providers--public schools, center-based child care, home-based child care, Head Start, and more--of early childhood services. This report summarizes 17 selected federal programs that are particularly important for early childhood education and care: (1) Seven programs for which early childhood education and/or care is the sole purpose: (a) Head Start; (b) Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF); (c) Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV); (d) Preschool Development Grants (PDG); (e) IDEA Grants for Infants and Families; (f) IDEA Preschool Grants; and (g) Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS). These programs are dedicated exclusively to supporting early childhood education and/or child care; and (2) Ten programs for which early childhood education and/or care is an allowable use: (a) Title I Grants to Local Education Agencies (LEAs); (b) Student Support and Academic Enrichment (Title IV) Grants; (c) Promise Neighborhoods; (d) Indian Education Grants to LEAs; (e) Comprehensive Literacy Development Grants; (f) Supporting Effective Instruction (Title II) State Grants; (g) Social Services Block Grant (SSBG); (h) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); (i) Family and Child Education (FACE); and (j) Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). These programs are not dedicated exclusively to supporting early childhood education and/or child care, but significant portions of their funding are used for that purpose. Key statistics: (1) Only 40 percent of 3-year-olds in the United States are enrolled in early childhood programs, far below the 70 percent average of other developed economies in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); (2) Access to these programs is particularly challenging for low-income families. Only 18 percent of children from such families are enrolled in high quality pre-kindergarten; (3) Meanwhile, approximately half of Americans live in &quot;child care deserts,&quot; with little or no access to quality child care; (4) On average, states provide child care subsidies to fewer than 1 in 7 children in low-income families, and these subsidies cover only a fraction of the cost of providing high-quality child care; (5) Congress has increased funding for Head Start, the Child Care and Development Fund, and IDEA Preschool Grants (Part B, Sec. 619)--all under the early childhood education and/or care is the sole purpose umbrella; and (6) Congress has increased funding for Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies (LEA)s, Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants, and Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP)--all under the early childhood education and/or care is an allowable use umbrella. While many challenges remain, there are hopeful signs of progress in all three early childhood and care policy areas. The federal government has made efforts to improve coordination among the nation's early childhood providers, and has maintained or increased funding for many of the 17 programs outlined in the report.