State’s Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) plans for 2022-2024 have been submitted to the Office of Child Care to meet the July 1 deadline. The plans which will be reviewed by the Office of Child Care go into effect October 1 of this year.
Child Care plans in this round have the additional responsibility of thinking through how states will spend the large influx of CCDF Supplemental and Stabilization funds, provided in the American Rescue Plan in March. The $40 billion in additional funds to states on top of the $5.9 billion in annual discretionary funds has the potential to change access, affordability and quality for the child care field, including out-of-school time, afterschool and summer provider serving youth ages 5-13.
The State CCDF 2022-2024 Draft plans offered a number of insights into how state CCDF administrators are planning to work with school-age providers and statewide afterschool networks to build systems of quality care. The plans show growing recognition of the importance of meeting the often distinct of the school-age child care sector, which serves about 44% of all children and youth supported with CCDF funds. Below we highlight a few excerpts and summarized examples from across the states:
- In Connecticut, in a comprehensive approach to planning for families with children of all ages 0-13 the Office of Early Childhood contracts with the Statewide afterschool network and supports coordination between the network and the Early Childhood Initiative.
- In Indiana, the state Office of Early Childhood and Out of School Learning (OECOSL) funds a school age specialist who collaborates with the Indiana Afterschool Network including offering program support programs, consumer information and an analysis of school-age specific licensing and technical assistance needs.
- In Nebraska, the state agency coordinates with the Statewide Afterschool Network (Beyond School Bells) and offers technical assistance to afterschool programs as they work through state licensing and CCDF subsidy requirements.
- New Jersey, coordination with the statewide afterschool network (New Jersey School Age Care Coalition –NJSACC) provides program support with implementation of the New Jersey Quality Afterschool standards, school-age conferences, workshops and technical assistance. The state has also expanded school age professional development offerings in its workforce registry.
- In Vermont, the Child Development Division funds the network, Vermont Afterschool, Inc, to offer two tuition-free college courses (at the Community College of Vermont) for individuals who work in afterschool programs. The courses can be applied to a Vermont Afterschool Professional Credential. The network also provides an Individualized System of Support for Afterschool Programs (ISS-AP), a 45-hour introductory-level training for afterschool, STEM and other content-specific training.
- In Utah, the state agency offers 4, 10-hour career ladder courses specific to care for school-age children. Topics include: school-age development across domains, observational practices to support curriculum and program effectiveness, positive guidance, trauma informed care, and connecting families to additional community resources.
- Alaska’s school-age training courses include: Training offered in FY20 included: Back to School, What We All Need to Know; Prevention of Harassment and Bullying; LGBTQIA + Me- Why it is Essential to Know your Identity Alphabet; and The Promise of Adolescence.
- Georgia’s school-age training aligns to the National Afterschool Association Core Knowledge and Competencies. The lead agency coordinates funding with the state’s federal 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant to provide training and technical assistance to providers caring for school-age children on topics such as parent engagement, conflict resolution, active learning, and youth voice.
- Pennsylvania uses the School-Age Program Quality Assessment (SPQA) to allow school-age programs to participate in the state’s QRIS system.
- In Virginia, the state’s "Career Pathways for Early Childhood and Out-of-School Time Practitioners" includes nine educational achievement levels showing upward movement toward a doctoral degree. The Virginia Child Care Provider Scholarship Program helps practitioners pay for undergraduate college-level courses that lead to degrees and certificates in early childhood or school-age care.
- South Carolina’s lead agency works in partnership with the United Way Association of SC(UWASC) to coordinate and provide support for local community-based initiatives including afterschool programs and support children with special needs, and infant/toddler care.
Plans also mentioned future work on school-age care. Here are some examples of what plans suggest is on the horion:
- North Carolina, will be working with the YMCA and other Out-of-School (OST) providers to review the school-age standards in order to ensure accessible participation from diverse organizational models to increase the supply of available licensed school-age care.
- Idaho is working with the Idaho Out of School Network (ION) on the Idaho Building Blocks, a foundational, self-assessment-based standard system for out-of-school time quality. The project included statewide roundtable tours in development and a presentation at a summit followed up with webinars to providers on each standard and indicator. 21st Century and IdahoSTARS are coordinating to crosswalk systems and standards, and 21st Century is beginning the process to include the Building Blocks into their monitoring process. ION is also developing a new Quality Impact Map with the Quality Workgroup.
- In Tennessee, the lead agency is working with the Tennessee Afterschool Network (TAN) to formally recognize a final draft of developmental school-age standards and transform the QRIS system and Quality measures.
- Washington is planning pay school-age providers in the 85% percentile of the state’s market rate study.
- Georgia is offering school-age child care grants to help programs recue the impacts of the pandemic
- Minnesota will have a new component of Minnesota’s MRS that focuses on school age care programs. The department staff held a stakeholder engagement session with administrators of school-age child care programs for feedback including on survey questions and data collection plans.
- South Carolina will be working to complete ABC Quality Standards Phase 2, focused on preschool and school-age process quality and seeking feedback in focus groups.
The Federal Office of Child Care is also collecting important state information surrounding the COVID-19 relief funds and state guidance. State information including links states are posting on their stabilization fund grant programs are being collected here: https://childcare.gov/covid-19/providers
Please reach out to us, your state administrative agency, and/or your statewide afterschool network to share questions, opportunities and challenges as these funds and plans get put into action on behalf of children and families across the U.S.
AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN FUNDS - Child Care Stabilization and Supplemental Grants
