Child Care and Early Education at CLASP

The Challenges of Change

CLASP's report, The Challenges of Change: Learning from the Child Care and Early Education Experiences of Immigrant Families, presents findings from two years spent gathering information about how immigrant families with young children access high-quality child care and early education settings. One of every five children in the United States is the child of an immigrant. Although these children stand to benefit from high-quality child care and early education programs, available data show that they are less likely to participate in all types of non-parental care than children of U.S.-born citizens. To explore the reasons for the lower participation of children of immigrants, CLASP conducted site visits across the country to learn first hand about the challenges that immigrant families face. CLASP sought out immigrant leaders and direct service providers, immigrant parents, child care and early education providers, and policymakers. This report identifies multiple barriers that impede immigrant families from accessing high-quality child care and early education. It also highlights promising strategies being used in local communities to break down those barriers and to improve child care and early education programs so that they are more responsive to the needs of diverse immigrant families. It concludes with a set of recommendations for federal, state, and local policymakers, advocates, private foundations, and researchers.

Readers can download the full report (196 pages), executive summary (9 pages), or individual chapters from the table of contents.

CLASP makes early education recommendations for No Child Left Behind

Unlike other early care and education funding sources, Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has seen some increases in funding levels since 2002. As a result, a number of policymakers interested in investing in high-quality early care and education programs have turned to Title I as a funding source. CLASP's Recommendations to Support High-Quality Early Education Programs Through Reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act draws from two years study of the relationship between Title I and high-quality early education. High-quality early education is one of the areas that CLASP staff are working on to improve NCLB.

What works for babies in child care

CLASP's research brief, Supporting Growth and Development of Babies in Child Care: What Does the Research Say? makes the case that state policies can promote the quality and continuity of early childhood experiences and positively impact the healthy growth and development of babies and toddlers in child care—the central tenet of the Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care project, conducted by CLASP with ZERO TO THREE. The majority of infants and toddlers will spend some time in non-parental care during these early years; and research shows that secure relationships with parents and caregivers are of primary importance for cognitive, social, and emotional development. The project will highlight how state child care subsidy, licensing, and quality enhancement policies can increase the odds that vulnerable babies and toddlers have positive early learning and development experiences when in child care settings.

Making Pre-kindergarten Work for Low-income Working Families

As of 2006, 38 states and the District of Columbia had pre-kindergarten programs, which vary considerably in their design. While low-income children stand to gain the most from early care and education initiatives, working families may not be able to access programs that are not responsive to their needs. This paper discusses research supporting the need to review initiatives to ensure maximum access for children in working families, especially low-income children; highlights key strategies to address the needs of low-income working families; and examines the extent to which state pre-kindergarten policies currently do so.

This paper is based on research conducted for the CLASP report All Together Now: State Experiences in Using Community-based Child Care to Provide Pre-Kindergarten.

Breaking Down Barriers Between Immigrant Families and Early Education: Project Overview and Preliminary Findings

CLASP’s Breaking Down Barriers project is intended to address the barriers immigrant families face in accessing high-quality early education programs. This presentation offers background and preliminary impressions from CLASP’s site visits in sample states across the country and interviews with immigrant-serving organizations, immigrant community leaders, policymakers, and others. Challenges and barriers identified include: too few connections between early education providers and immigrant-serving organizations; too few bilingual and bicultural providers; and a lack of affordable, high-quality programs in communities.

For CLASP's earlier work in this area, see Reaching All Children? Understanding the Early Care and Education Participation of Immigrant Families.

More Than Meets the Eye: Head Start Programs, Participants, Families, and Staff in 2005

This policy brief and accompanying fact sheet examine the latest data from the Program Information Reports (PIR) that all Head Start programs must submit to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2005, Head Start served fewer children than in previous years. At the same time, PIR data show that Head Start is increasingly a provider of last resort for low-income families. Despite a decrease in the number of families served, there was an increase in the number of families accessing an array of services through Head Start, including services for substance abuse, child abuse or neglect, mental health, and English as a Second Language courses. As in previous years, teacher education levels increased, but salaries remained stagnant. CLASP also analyzes data specific to the Early Head Start program, which serves children under age 3 and pregnant women.

Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care

Charting Progress Policy Framework Summary - Now Available!

CLASP’s Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care project is a multi-year effort to highlight state policies that support the healthy growth and development of infants and toddlers in child care settings, and to build an online resource to help states implement these policies. In the first year of this project, CLASP worked with ZERO TO THREE to develop a Policy Framework, drawing on the input of over one hundred experts around the country. The Framework sets forth four key principles that establish the foundation of supports that all babies and toddlers in child care need, as well as 15 recommendations that state child care licensing, quality, and subsidy policies should address.

The Policy Framework Summary is now available online. Check back for future products, including research-based rationales supporting each recommendation, and a new section on this website that will present the full Framework with sets of policies that may help states move towards each recommendation. To learn more about the research base for this project, see: Supporting Growth and Development of Babies in Child Care: What Does the Research Say?

This work is supported by the Birth to Five Policy Alliance, the Irving Harris Foundation, the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and an Anonymous Donor.

For more information, please contact Rachel Schumacher or Elizabeth Hoffmann.

Child Care and Early Education State-by-State Data

This set of state-by-state data includes new analysis of 2005 child care spending from Child Care Development Block Grant and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds and of 2005 Head Start Program Information Report data, along with data (published in March 2006) on states’ use of community-based child care to provide pre-kindergarten.  It also links to profiles of state infant and toddler initiatives highlighted in CLASP’s Starting Off Right report

The Potential of Title I for High-Quality Preschool

This powerpoint presentation provides a brief overview of Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act, explains how these funds may be used to support high-quality preschool, and offers several illustrative models of school districts using Title I funds for early education. It also provides background information making the case for investments in young, low-income children, along with relevant policy implications that may affect the availability of Title I funding for such programs.

Child Care Assistance in 2005: State Cuts Continue

This policy brief provides an overview of national expenditure data for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds directed towards child care. State-by-state child care subsidy data show that spending on child care assistance declined in 2005 for the second consecutive year. Twenty-two states made cuts to their child care programs, as the number of children living in low-income families that received help from these programs continued to decline. Many families turn to child care assistance programs to get help paying for the child care they need in order to work and to succeed.