http://www.clasp.org/issues/rss/highlights.xml?type=child_care_and_early_education Featured Highlights from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) en-us Sat, 25 May 2013 06:14:06 -0500 info@clasp.org webmaster@clasp.org 40 Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/issues/in_focus?type=child_care_and_early_education&id=0440 http://www.clasp.org/issues/in_focus?type=child_care_and_early_education&id=0440 Thu, 13 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1183&list=publications#Access 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. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1183&list=publications#Access Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1157&list=publications 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. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=1157&list=publications Thu, 23 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/A-Guide-to-Financing-Comprehensive-Services-in-Child-Care-and-Early-Education.pdf 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. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/A-Guide-to-Financing-Comprehensive-Services-in-Child-Care-and-Early-Education.pdf Tue, 05 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Home-Away-from-Home.pdf 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. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/Home-Away-from-Home.pdf Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.clasp.org/babiesinchildcare/recommendations?id=0011 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. http://www.clasp.org/babiesinchildcare/recommendations?id=0011 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.clasp.org/babiesinchildcare/publications?id=0010 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. http://www.clasp.org/babiesinchildcare/publications?id=0010 Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/QRISandlicensing-NARA-091411-final.pdf 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. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/QRISandlicensing-NARA-091411-final.pdf Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/issues/topic_highlights?type=child_care_and_early_education&id=0016&recent=true 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. http://www.clasp.org/issues/topic_highlights?type=child_care_and_early_education&id=0016&recent=true Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/babiesinchildcare/recommendations?id=0009 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. http://www.clasp.org/babiesinchildcare/recommendations?id=0009 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.clasp.org/issues/in_focus?type=child_care_and_early_education&id=0349 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. http://www.clasp.org/issues/in_focus?type=child_care_and_early_education&id=0349 Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/What-State-Leaders-Should-Know-About-EHS.pdf http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/What-State-Leaders-Should-Know-About-EHS.pdf Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/system_components.pdf 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. http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/system_components.pdf Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/news_room/clips?id=0157 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. http://www.clasp.org/news_room/clips?id=0157 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/issues/in_focus?type=work_supports&id=0036 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. http://www.clasp.org/issues/in_focus?type=work_supports&id=0036 Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/issues/pages?type=child_care_and_early_education&id=0040 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 donaEUR(TM)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 BureauaEUR(TM)s national estimates of income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in 2010. http://www.clasp.org/issues/pages?type=child_care_and_early_education&id=0040 Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/federal_policy/pages?id=0024 http://www.clasp.org/federal_policy/pages?id=0024 Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=0934&list=publications 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. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=0934&list=publications Wed, 27 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=0824&list=publications 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. http://www.clasp.org/resources_and_publications/publication?id=0824&list=publications Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/SIR-Fact-Sheet.pdf http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/SIR-Fact-Sheet.pdf