Pennsylvania
Shared Governance for Birth to 5
Pennsylvania is an example of how states can develop a comprehensive state plan for infants and toddlers and promote initiatives by governing jointly between state agencies. For additional information on state strategies for infants and toddlers and other state examples, see Starting Off Right: Promoting Child Development from Birth in State Early Care and Education Initiatives
Relationship to Other State Child Care and Early Education Initiatives
Additional Opportunities and Challenges
In the last couple years, Pennsylvania has undergone two significant structural changes in its approach to governing early care and education programs. The state has also developed new goals for improving services for children under age six. In September 2004, the governor created the Office of Child Development (OCD), housed in the Department of Public Welfare, to manage the child care subsidy program, regulation of child care facilities, and quality initiatives. In addition, the deputy secretary of OCD was also the policy director for the Department of Education, which managed the state pre-kindergarten, full-day kindergarten, and state-funded Head Start initiatives. The governor also created the Early Learning Team, which is comprised of representatives from several state offices, to advise him and to develop early childhood policy initiatives.
In January 2007, the governor established the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL). OCDEL is housed in both the Department of Public Welfare and the Department of Education and is managed by the deputy secretary, who holds this title in both departments. OCDEL manages the child care subsidy program; certification of child care facilities; family support programs; early intervention (0-5); and state quality early learning initiatives for child care, pre-kindergarten, and full-day kindergarten.
Pennsylvania participates in the Build Initiative, which provides support and technical assistance to state public and private teams interested in early childhood systems development.
OCDEL has been engaged in an intensive effort to ensure that child care is part of the early education vision in the state, using six key strategies:
1) Establish new early learning programs,
2) Build the capacity of child care as a partner for school readiness,
3) Improve professional preparation and development of teachers and administrators,
4) Ensure access for most disadvantaged children,
5) Engage parents and other stakeholders, and
6) Fully coordinate efforts of Welfare and Education departments.
Several new initiatives have been implemented. In 2004, the state established a funding stream that school districts can choose to use for quality pre-kindergarten, full-day kindergarten, and reduced class size in first through third grades. The Education Accountability Block Grant offers a choice of 11 activities to school districts, and more than two-thirds of the districts have selected one of the early childhood options. In addition, the state now appropriates state dollars to supplement the Head Start program. The Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program has more than doubled in three years. OCDEL has also fully implemented a state quality rating, professional development, technical assistance, and financial incentive system (Keystone STARS/Keys to Quality) for center-based and family child care settings for all children birth through age 15. In 2004, OCDEL partnered with several prominent Pennsylvania foundations to create Pre K Counts, an initiative that supports local pre-kindergarten partnerships among school districts, Head Start, child care, and early intervention to provide high quality pre-kindergarten in all settings.
More recently, OCDEL has moved to increase focus on improving both the quality and the coordination of infant and toddler services. OCDEL set out to develop priorities for infant and toddlers through several steps. The state:
Current state initiatives that target infants and toddlers include:
OCDEL has established evaluations for some of the initiatives to improve quality and coordination of infant and toddler services; this includes the mental health and systems specialists projects. In addition, an evaluation of the Keystone STARS initiative has been completed. The STARS evaluation showed that child care centers with a rating of STAR 2 or higher have experienced a sharp increase in quality since 2002. The full evaluation is available on the PA Key Web site, at www.pakeys.org.
Funding for early care and education initiatives for infants and toddlers in Pennsylvania comes from a number of sources, including Medicaid, the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding, Social Service Block Grant (SSBG), and state general revenue. New initiative funding is coming from a combination of federal and state dollars (e.g., a Nurse-Family Partnership expansion is funded through Medicaid) and private dollars (e.g., Heinz Endowments is funding mental health consultants and infant and toddler systems specialists, and the Build Initiative funded the planning and development of infant and toddler standards).
Relationship to Other State Child Care and Early Education Initiatives
The same offices and state leaders work on pre-kindergarten, state Head Start expansion, and infant and toddler programs. Initially, a cross-agency work group (the Governor’s Early Learning Team) was designed to inform the implementation of the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and its services. Over time, an external stakeholder group (Early Care and Education Advisory Committee) and work groups specific to program areas (e.g., Subsidy Advisory Group, Keystone STARS Advisory Committee) have become the primary sources of advice on initiatives and activities.
Recognizing that no one program can stand alone, state policymakers have focused on the entire birth to five age spectrum. Because of this, there has not been the usual tension between pre-kindergarten programs and initiatives for children under age three. Also, the joint leadership position across the OCDEL and Education agencies allows for coordination of efforts.
The state did not have a state funded pre-kindergarten initiative until the creation in 2004 of the Education Accountability Block Grant; and, due to a compromise in the legislature, that initiative makes funds available for multiple purposes—funds flow to schools to choose to use for pre-kindergarten or full-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes for elementary school children, etc. Only about 3,000 children receive pre-kindergarten through this funding. Pre K Counts is generating additional funding for pre-kindergarten in 30 communities and providing pre-kindergarten to more than 6,000 young children.
Additional Opportunities and Challenges
· Strong support from the governor for early learning has made the development of OCDEL possible.
· Legislative support for broad-based, statewide early childhood initiatives is lacking, particularly for work with infants and toddlers.
· Engage in systems planning; it just makes sense to do an audit of existing programs to see what is needed.
· Use a democratic process to develop a birth to five plan that includes stakeholders and the general public.
· Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning
· Pennsylvania Early Learning Keys to Quality
Interview with Harriet Dichter (Deputy Secretary, Office of Child Development and Early Learning, Departments of Education and Public Welfare) and Wendy Etheridge Smith (Director of Policy and Planning, Office of Child Development and Early Learning). Last updated on January 11, 2007.
Contact Information: wensmith@state.pa.us
For information on other state initiatives for infants and toddlers, visit www.clasp.org/publications/startingoffright.htm