Child Care and Early Education at CLASP

CLASP and ZERO TO THREE release federal policy recommendations for infant/toddler child care

2008-11-17T12:13:59-05:00

In the conversation about young children in America today, babies and toddlers are often left out. Yet research shows the critical importance of the first three years of life in laying the groundwork for a child’s healthy development. The nearly six million children under age 3 who spend some or all of their day being cared for by someone other than their parents need to be part of these conversations.

CLASP and ZERO TO THREE have taken an important first step in raising awareness and proposing solutions for improving child care for infants and toddlers in their newly released policy brief. The recommendations specifically address improvements in the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), tax policy, and appropriations. The brief and the recommendations also take into account the multiple aspects of the child care system, such as: addressing parents’ ability to pay, having a qualified and well-compensated workforce, improving the quality of care, supporting babies and toddlers in all child care settings, strengthening child care licensing standards, increasing subsidy payment rates, and expanding access to CCDBG and other programs. The brief also summarizes research that shows high-quality child care promotes positive development in multiple domains and is especially important for low-income children.

Resources for states in supporting the early childhood workforce

2008-11-10T13:31:14-05:00

With the continual headlines about economic concerns and jobs being cut, an important economic sector is not getting enough attention – the early childhood workforce. For working families with children, child care is a necessity. Having stable and high-quality child care arrangements enables parents to go to work with peace of mind that their children are safe and in stimulating environments. Yet the low wages and lack of support for many early childhood professionals challenge the stability and quality of the workforce.

New materials from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) provide resources to states looking to shore up their systems for early childhood workers. The report Workforce Designs: A Policy Blueprint for State Professional Development Systems presents “principles for policy making” and “essential policy areas” aimed at developing and retaining effective, diverse, and adequately compensated early childhood professionals. NAEYC is also developing an online matrix that examines each policy area by state, with links to appropriate state documentation and analysis of whether the state’s activities in this policy area meet the principles for policy making. The principles and policy areas address important issues that states must consider when planning for developing their early childhood workforce, such as quality, diversity, access, compensation, career pathways, and financing, to name a few.

In the continuing discussions of economic stimulus and recovery, sound investments in the early childhood workforce shouldn’t be overlooked.

We're at NAEYC this week

2008-11-05T15:03:17-05:00

All this week, CLASP's Child Care and Early Education team is in Dallas at the National Association for th e Education of Young Children's (NAEYC) Annual Conference. Among the issues we're talking about this week are: family child care (Wednesday), early childhood research and data (Thursday), infant/toddler child care policies (Friday) and cultural competency (Saturday). You can see a list of our workshop sessions on our Presentations page. When we return, we'll post our handouts there as well.

In more news from NAEYC, this week, CLASP’s Danielle Ewen will launch her candidacy for At Large Member of the NAEYC Governing Board. Look for her position statement at the conference.

We hope to see you in Dallas!

Child Care Assistance in 2006: Insufficient Investments

2008-11-05T10:15:02-05:00

CLASP's new policy brief shows that spending on child care assistance increased slightly in 2006. Thirty-two states increased spending, while 19 states made cuts to their child care programs. Meanwhile, federal funding for child care has remained nearly flat for six years. Analysis of expenditure data from the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant show that states will need more help just to maintain current service levels.

Look for state-by-state child care assistance profiles coming soon!

CLASP Federal Policy Recommendations for 2009 and Beyond

2008-10-31T14:39:20-04:00

CLASP has developed an extensive federal policy agenda for the next President and Congress directed at improving the lives of low income people. The detailed agenda makes recommendations for changes in policy at all levels of the federal government: the White House, Federal departments and agencies, the budget and appropriations’ process, and the law-making process in Congress. This publication provides an overview of our agenda organized into eleven key recommendations. Taken as a whole, the eleven recommendations call for increasing investments in effective programs and funding streams that concretely help children, youth, and families thrive; strengthening and modernizing the nation’s safety net; and building supportive pathways for low-income youths and adults to good jobs that sustain families and communities.

Minnesota drafts plan for eliminating poverty

2008-10-23T14:03:48-04:00

In 2006, the Minnesota Legislature established an ambitious commission, the Legislative Commi ss ion to End Poverty in Minnesota by 2020, composed of members from both the state Senate and House of Representatives. This month, the commission released its draft plan on how to support low-income Minnesotan families move towards economic self-sufficiency. The plan identifies a set of major challenges that low-income families face and provides a set of recommendations to address those areas. One of the clearly identified challenges is access to affordable, high-quality child care for working families:

“We see that a significant barrier to employment for all families is access to affordable, high-quality child care and that many families have to make the difficult choice on whether or not to work, based on the availability of child care. Meeting families’ needs for affordable, high quality child care will benefit all families and have a major impact on reducing poverty in Minnesota.”

The plan stresses the need for increased investment in child care and early education as part of an anti-poverty strategy. Among its recommendations, the plan echoes the Center for American Progress Task Force on Poverty and calls for guaranteed access to child care for all low-income Minnesotan families. In addition, the plan recommends that children from low-income families have guaranteed access to high-quality preschool programs and programs with positive track records, such as Head Start and Way to Grow. The plan observes that early childhood education is crucial to providing children with a strong start towards life-long learning.

A new safety net for the least fortunate

2008-10-20T10:46:59-04:00

There has been much discussion the past few weeks in Washington about Wall Street and Main Street. Since Congress passed the large economic rescue bill, there has been more talk about the need to provide economic relief for the middle class. But there has been little discussion about how any economic relief package would help the most disadvantaged.

An op-ed in the Washington Post yesterday, highlighted the need to consider the country's most vulnerable during the current economic downturn. It is the least skilled, low wage laborers who are most vulnerable to job loss and unemployment. Moreover, the country's safety net is limited and fails to protect many disadvantaged youth, adults, and families:

“...As welfare has become far more restrictive, perhaps a fourth of all low-income single mothers are "disconnected" from both work and welfare during any given year. That fraction would rise during a serious recession, with many of their jobs disappearing while welfare is less available than before. Public assistance would also be very limited for other low-earning groups, including legal immigrants, when their jobs disappear in the downturn.

“Disadvantaged young people, who are much more likely to drop out of high school and less likely to attend or finish college than those from families with higher incomes, will face severe employment challenges in a much weaker job market."

Authors Mark Greenberg, Peter Edelman and Harry Holzer recommend improvements to the country’s “safety net” so that more workers and families receive the help they need, through expansions to the food stamp and unemployment insurance programs and the earned-income tax credit.

In addition to these critical supports, we know that workers will need affordable child care to find and retain employment, and now, more than ever, child care costs are squeezing household budgets. State and federal governments should consider investments in child care assistance as another means of supporting low-income workers in a weak economy. Ultimately, an improved, modernized safety net should consider the needs of disadvantaged children, youth, and adults by improving access to a wide-range of necessary supports and with a focus on prevention, rather than crisis-driven interventions.

Upcoming webinar: An agenda for affordable child care

2008-10-17T15:58:10-04:00

For the past several months, CLASP has worked in partnership with a broad group of national and state organizations to craft a shared agenda for the future of child care: Developing America's Potential: An Agenda for Affordable, High-Quality Child Care. This document is intended to guide the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant, and other opportunities for child care improvements when the new Administration and Congress take office next year.

The child care agenda recognizes that high-quality child care helps children, families, and communities prosper. It helps children learn and develop skills they need to succeed in school and in life. It gives parents the support and peace of mind they need to be productive at work. And it helps our nation stay competitive, by producing a stronger workforce now and in the future.

You can learn more about the agenda in a webinar hosted by the National Women's Law Center on Monday, October 27, at 2:00 pm eastern (1:00 pm central, 12:00 pm mountain, and 11:00 am pacific).

Click here to register!

Who's Caring for Babies? North Carolina Answers the Question

2008-10-14T14:29:03-04:00

Many states are trying to improve the supply and quality of child care babies receive and track whether state polices are making a difference. One strategy states are trying is the child care Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), which can be a means to improve access to quality. QRIS cannot be effective for babies and toddlers at risk unless: they are designed to address babies’ needs, infant/toddler providers participate, and low-income parents have financial assistance to afford higher rated care. A key issue for all states is the need to increase supply by providing resources and supports so that more providers choose to meet high standards AND care for children under age three. Research by Zero To Three suggests that very few QRIS address the needs of infants and toddlers.

In North Carolina, the state’s star rated license means all regulated centers and homes must participate, and the state can collect data on whether children receiving child care subsidy are accessing highly rated providers. A new report by the Child Care Services Association (CCSA) found an increase in the percentage of North Carolina babies and toddlers in regulated care that were enrolled in highly rated programs since 2005. Supply remains an issue, with just 44 percent of 5-star centers enrolling babies and toddlers, compared to 98 percent enrolling preschool-age children. North Carolina’s data showed great differences in the proportion of low-income babies and toddlers receiving child care subsidies who are enrolled in four- or five-star programs, ranging from 13 to 73 percent depending on which region of the state they live.

The supply of high quality care for infants and toddlers is limited. Quality Rating and Improvement Systems offer an opportunity for states to improve access to and the supply of high quality care, but the North Carolina research demonstrates that to do so, states do need to actively take into account the specific needs of infants and toddlers and provide supports and technical assistance to providers working with these children. North Carolina knows who is caring for babies and how that care rates on established quality measures. Other states should follow their lead.

President signs bill to help children and youth in foster care

2008-10-10T10:38:58-04:00

It’s not often that we get to report success on legislation that impacts the nation’s most vulnerable children, yet in September Congress passed and in October the President signed the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. In the words of Senator Grassley (R-IA), “This package is the most far-reaching child welfare reform measure to be enacted in a decade. Now, foster children and families will have access to a better foster care and adoption system.” It is, as Representative Weller (R-IL) summarized, “good for children, good for families, good for communities and good for taxpayers.”

This new law will help hundreds of thousands of children and youth in foster care by promoting permanent families for them through relative guardianship and adoption. The Act allows more children with special needs to receive federally supported adoption assistance and, for the first time, give states the option to offer assistance to children who leave foster care to live with relatives who are legal guardians. In addition to enhancing the options for exiting foster care, the Act makes a number of important improvements to foster care:

It gives states the option to extend federal foster care support for youth up to age 21, so they don’t have to move out on their own on their 18th birthdays.
The Act offers many American Indian children important federal protections and support for the first time.
The new law requires reasonable efforts be made to place siblings together and to maintain visitation and connections when placement together is not possible.
The Act strengthens educational stability and access to health care for children in foster care.

As Representative McDermott (D-WA) noted: “This landmark . . . legislation is bi-partisan and bi-cameral and a testament to our ability to work together for the common good.” The Act is an important first step toward reforming the child welfare system. CLASP agrees with Senator Baucus (D-MT) that “we must next turn our attention to child welfare finance reform and finish the job.” We look forward to working with state and federal partners to reform the child welfare system by investing adequate resources and providing critical leadership to develop the capacity to provide services that not only intervene after abuse and neglect have occurred but prevent maltreatment from occurring in the first place.