All Featured Highlights

• Sep 13, 2012  |  Stephanie Schmit and Jamie Colvard Expanding Access to Early Head Start: State Initiatives for Infants and Toddlers at Risk All babies need good health, strong families, and positive early learning experiences to foster their healthy intellectual, social, and emotional development. Unfortunately, far too few young children receive the supports they need to build a strong foundation for future growth. The federal Early Head Start (EHS) program was created in 1994 to address the comprehensive needs of children under age 3 in low-income families and vulnerable low-income pregnant women. Research shows that EHS positively impacts children's cognitive, language, and social-emotional development; family self-sufficiency; and parental support of child development. This report highlights how states are using innovative funding, policies, and partnerships, to expand the critically important EHS program and better meet the needs of more low-income children and pregnant women living in their state. Read Online
• Sep 11, 2012  |  Hannah Matthews At Risk: Early Care and Education Funding and Sequestration Sequestration was created in August 2011 as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011, which ended that year's showdown over raising the federal debt ceiling. Because Congress failed to come up with a deficit reduction plan, the Budget Control Act calls for $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts over the next decade, divided equally between defense and "non-defense discretionary" programs. This fact sheet explains how these cuts will impact federal early care and education funding and what can be done to prevent them. Read Online
• Aug 23, 2012  |  Christine Johnson-Staub Putting it Together: A Guide to Financing Comprehensive Services in Child Care and Early Education This guide provides state policymakers and advocates with strategies to maximize resources and make policy changes that drive funds, resources, and community partners to child care and early education programs to benefit young children and families. Separate from blending and braiding funding streams at the local or program level, the strategies described in this guide focus on state policy decisions that can facilitate the innovative use of funds, encourage partnerships at the state and local level, and replicate promising models from other states. Download PDF
• Jun 05, 2012  |  Christine Johnson-Staub and Stephanie Schmit Home Away From Home: A Toolkit for Planning Home Visiting Partnerships with Family, Friend, and Neighbor Caregivers Home visiting and family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) partnerships hold great opportunity to reach more children with family support services during the critical early years. This tookit provides states with an overview of FFN and home visiting partnerships, a tool to help states explore and establish this type of partnership, and case studies of existing home visiting and FFN partnerships. Download PDF
• Feb 10, 2012  |  Christine Johnson-Staub Promote Access to Early, Regular and Comprehensive Screening Very young children develop in the context of their physical and mental health and the capacity of their families and other caregivers to address the full range of early childhood development. All babies and toddlers in child care need parents, providers, and caregivers supported by and linked to community resources. To support this goal, CLASP recommends that early, regular and comprehensive health, mental health, and developmental screenings and related services are made available at recommended ages for vulnerable infants and toddlers through connections with all infant and toddler providers and caregivers. This document presents research supporting the recommendation to promote access to early, regular, and comprehensive screening. Read Online
• Jan 23, 2012  |  Child Care and Early Education A Tool Using Data to Inform a State Early Childhood Agenda This tool is intended for state advocates and policymakers to use as they work to develop a state early childhood agenda. It includes a series of key questions to understand the context and conditions of young children, birth to six, in the state. It also includes questions specific to infants and toddlers. Read Online
• Sep 15, 2011  |  Christine Johnson-Staub The Relationship Between Licensing and QRIS: Challenges and Opportunities More than half of the states currently have child care Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) up and running, and more are under development. As states develop these promising systems they are grappling with several questions around the relationship between child care licensing and the QRIS rating levels, including: defining program eligibility for QRIS participation, setting standards that align with licensing, deciding how licensing fits into QRIS levels, defining the role of licensing staff in rating and monitoring, and developing strategies for supporting programs through technical assistance. This presentation was given at the 2011 NARA Licensing Seminar in Pittsburg, PA. Download PDF
• Sep 19, 2011  |  Child Care and Early Education Meeting the Early Learning Challenge Paper Series: Child Care Subsidies, QRIS, and ELLs CLASP's "Meeting the Early Learning Challenge" series provides information and policy options for states as they develop their applications for the Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge. Read Online
• Jun 14, 2011  |  Teresa Lim and Hannah Matthews Expanding Monitoring and Technical Assistance in Infant/Toddler Child Care Settings To protect and promote the growth and development of very young children, providers and caregivers need to demonstrate constant vigilance over signs of potential harm and maintain clean, nurturing spaces. All babies and toddlers in child care need healthy and safe environments in which to explore and learn. To support this goal, CLASP recommends that states conduct routine monitoring of infant and toddler child care in centers and family child care settings at least twice a year, provide technical assistance to help providers with licensing compliance, and use information on provider compliance to inform parents and ensure ongoing improvements in monitoring systems and child care quality. Read Online
• Jan 23, 2012  |  Hannah Matthews Creating Opportunity Starts with Children As this election year continues to unfold, we'll hear more and more about jobs, creating opportunity and the future of the nation. Children, too, must be part of that dialogue. Read Online
• Jun 02, 2011  |  Elizabeth Hoffmann & Danielle Ewen What State Leaders Should Know About Early Head Start Download PDF
• Jan 20, 2011  |  Child Care and Early Education Building Comprehensive State Systems for Vulnerable Babies CLASP has developed this resource to help state leaders strategize how to create or improve early childhood systems to meet the needs of vulnerable babies and toddlers, their families, and pregnant women. Every state has the pieces of a comprehensive early childhood system in place. This tool will help state leaders locate and build them into a system that meets the needs of children and families. Download PDF
• Sep 13, 2011  |  Danielle Ewen To Grow the Economy, We Must Pay Attention to Child Poverty Every day we hear about another economic indicator, another predictor about whether the economy is up or down, in recovery or in decline. But we don't hear about a more pressing indicator of our national health: the poverty status of our children. We don't see the faces of the many children who face tougher odds on the path to adulthood because more and more of them are growing up poor. Read Online
• Aug 16, 2011 Health Care Reform and Improving Access to Child Care Assistance New federal guidance will allow Child Care and Development Block Grant programs to benefit from important technological upgrades to eligibility determination systems without sharing in the full costs of their development. Read Online
• Sep 13, 2011  |  Hannah Matthews Paying Attention to Child Poverty Every day we hear about another economic indicator, another predicator about whether the economy is up or down, in recovery or in decline. But we don’t hear about a more pressing indicator of our national health: the poverty status of our children. These key facts are from the U.S. Census Bureau’s national estimates of income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in 2010. Read Online
• Mar 25, 2011  |  CLASP Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Guidance from HHS Read Online
• Mar 15, 2011  |  Hannah Matthews Financing a Birth to Five Program: The Appleton Area School District Model Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, also known as No Child Left Behind or NCLB) funds long have been used to provide preschool services for at-risk children. This paper focuses on the Appleton Area School District (AASD) in Appleton, Wisconsin and their efforts to use Title I funds to finance a comprehensive birth-five program. Read Online
• Oct 27, 2010  |  Danielle Ewen and Hannah Matthews Adopting 12-Month Subsidy Eligibility: Impacts on Children, Families, and State Child Care Programs Under federal regulations, states have a great deal of flexibility in setting child care assistance policies. Adopting 12-month subsidy eligibility, with limited interim reporting requirements, is one strategy states can implement to promote sustained access to subsidies and continuous care arrangements for children. This paper lays out the associated impacts of adopting an annual redetermination policy on children, parents, and state subsidy systems. Read Online
• Mar 30, 2011  |  Stephanie Schmit Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program: February 2011 SIR Analysis Download PDF
• Aug 31, 2010  |  Hannah Matthews and Danielle Ewen Early Education Programs and Children of Immigrants: Learning Each Other's Language This paper was written for the Urban Institute's roundtable on Young Children in Immigrant Families and the Path to Educational Success. It discusses the federal and policy landscape for serving young children of immigrants in early care and education and includes policy recommendations for improving access for immigrant families. Read Online
• Jan 06, 2011  |  Hannah Matthews U.S. Child Care Assistance Profile 2009 This fact sheet presents state reported information on child care spending through the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds used for child care. Download PDF
• Mar 01, 2011  |  Teresa Lim Early Childhood Education Update - March 2011 Read Online
• Jan 21, 2010  |  Hannah Matthews and Danielle Ewen FAQ: Using Title I of ESEA for Early Education This paper provides answers to frequently asked questions on using Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds on early education. Read Online
• Nov 02, 2009  |  Child Care and Early Education A Tool to Examine State Child Care Subsidy Policies and Promote Stable, Quality Care for Low-Income Babies and Toddlers This tool, part of CLASP's Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care project, is designed to provide a policy framework that lays out child care subsidy policies that can be implemented to better support babies and toddlers and their families. Users can download and save a copy of this tool, then fill in the appropriate columns with their state's current policies and opportunities for change. Read Online
• Apr 19, 2010  |  Elizabeth Hoffmann Extending Home Visiting to FFN and FCC - Webinar and Other Materials CLASP hosted a webinar to share findings regarding how major national models of home visiting are including family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) caregivers and family child care providers (FCC). Elizabeth Hoffmann presented findings from CLASP's interview project with national models and other stakeholders, such as detailed considerations for implementing home visiting with FFN and FCC, including matters of curricula, staffing, and service referral. The webinar also reviewed opportunities that result from serving FFN and FCC, concluding with recommendations for states. This webinar was made possible by generous support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Read Online
• Mar 15, 2010  |  Elizabeth Hoffmann A Tool Using Data to Inform a State Infant/Toddler Care Agenda This tool is includes a series of key questions to understand the context and conditions of infants and toddlers in the state, encompassing data on demographics and program/service participation, as well as the details of child care and early education settings in the state. Users can download and save a copy of this tool, then fill in their state's data. Read Online
• Jun 01, 2009  |  Hannah Matthews and Danielle Ewen Title I And Early Education: Models For Using ARRA Funds This page provides provides information on how Title I can be used for early education, the benefits of using Title I, and illustrative examples of school districts that have used Title I funds to invest in services from infant/toddler programs to pre-kindergarten classes to Head Start collaboration. Read Online
• Jun 23, 2009  |  danielle ewen and hannah matthews Early Childhood Education In The ARRA: Opportunities For Helping Low-Income Children And Their Families This presentation highlights funding opportunities in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for supporting young children and their families, quality early learning experiences, and healthy and supportive communities. Download PDF
• May 21, 2009  |  Child Care and Early Education An Economic Recovery Update: How States Can Use Economic Recovery Funds To Help Child Care (audio) Listen to an audio conference recording about how to best utilize the economic recovery funds. A conversation with state advocates is moderated by Helen Blank, National Women's Law Center, and Danielle Ewen, CLASP. Speakers include: Speakers: Bruce Liggett, Executive Director, Arizona Child Care Association; Sessy Nyman, Vice President of Public Policy & Government Affairs, Illinois Action for Children; Sheila Hansen, Policy Director, Child and Family Policy Center; Patty Siegel, Executive Director, California Child Care Resource & Referral Network; and Clare S. Richie, Senior Policy Analyst, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. Download Audio
• Jul 30, 2008  |  Hannah Matthews and Rachel Schumacher Ensuring Quality Care For Low-Income Babies: Contracting Directly With Providers To Expand And Improve Infant And Toddler Care The supply of high-quality infant and toddler child care is limited, particularly for low-income families. While most states provide child care assistance through vouchers or certificates, states have the option of contracting directly with providers to expand infant/toddler care for low-income families. Based on interviews with state policymakers, this paper explains how states are using contracts to create or stabilize care in particular communities or for specific populations; to create child care slots meeting quality standards important for infants and toddlers; to extend the day for infants and toddlers served in Early Head Start; and to improve the quality of infant/toddler family child care. Download PDF
• May 02, 2007  |  Hannah Matthews and Deeana Jang The Challenges Of Change: Learning From The Child Care And Early Education Experiences Of Immigrant Families 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 are. 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. Download PDF
• Jan 11, 2010  |  Danielle Ewen The Early Learning Challenge Fund - Metrics and Data This presentation provides an overview of the data-based metrics included in the House Early Learning Challenge Fund legislation (Title IV of HR 3221, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009). Download PDF
• Feb 03, 2011  |  Teresa Lim Early Childhood Education Update - February 2011 Read Online