Systems and Financing
Quality child care and early education programs address the full range of child development needs, which requires their linkage with health and nutrition services, family support, and early intervention at both the state and local level. States may need to develop new governance and financing structures that assure that all the parts of a system are working in a coordinated way. Such systems encourage horizontal connections across systems--for example, child care, Head Start, state pre-kindergarten programs, and early intervention services--as well as vertical connections of services from birth to 5 to provide continuity and coordination for children as they grow. CLASP encourages states to move toward more integrated governance and financing systems and to think across systems to make the best use of resources and design an early childhood system that best meets the needs of all children and families.
States Strengthen Work Support Strategies in First Year of Initiative
In the midst of tighter budgets and cuts in benefits spending, some states are focusing on more effective administration of public benefits that support working families. They're doing so because they know that these benefits, which include programs focused on nutrition, health care and child care, help families become and stay employed and promote children's success in school and life. By streamlining eligibility processes and cutting red tape for these programs, states can reduce administrative costs and make it less daunting for working families to get the help they need.
For example, states involved in the Work Support Strategies (WSS) project are making administrative and programmatic decisions that help families more easily acquire benefits for which they're eligible. Reports on the initial planning year of the project (2010-2011), released by the Urban Institute today, indicate that participating states have made progress in simplifying application processes, streamlining eligibility policies, and coordinating the administration of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP - formerly Food Stamps), Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and child care assistance.
As a partner in the WSS project, CLASP provides technical assistance to states to strengthen the administration of their child care assistance programs in the context of the broader WSS focus on coordinating across multiple programs. In the first year of the project, WSS states took steps to reduce barriers to families' enrollment in child care assistance programs and to improve continuity of care for children. Read More >>
- Christine Johnson-Staub | Nov 20, 2012 Planning Funding Partnerships: A Worksheet to Help States Get Started in Putting it Together
- Stephanie Schmit and Jamie Colvard | Sep 13, 2012 Expanding Access to Early Head Start: State Initiatives for Infants and Toddlers at Risk
- Hannah Matthews | Sep 11, 2012 At Risk: Early Care and Education Funding and Sequestration
- Christine Johnson-Staub | Aug 23, 2012 Putting it Together: A Guide to Financing Comprehensive Services in Child Care and Early Education
- Christine Johnson-Staub and Stephanie Schmit | Jun 05, 2012 Home Away From Home: A Toolkit for Planning Home Visiting Partnerships with Family, Friend, and Neighbor Caregivers
- Christine Johnson-Staub and Stephanie Schmit | Feb 19, 2013 Putting it Together: Financing Comprehensive Services in Child Care and Early Education
- Child Care and Early Education | Feb 08, 2013 Early Childhood Education Update - February 2013
- Jan 23, 2013 After the Fiscal Cliff, What's Next for Early Childhood?
- Hannah Matthews, Christine Johnson-Staub, and Leanne Barrett | Nov 16, 2012 Reaching Children Through Comprehensive Services: Exploring Local Partnerships and Federal Funding
- Christine Johnson-Staub | Nov 13, 2012 Planning Funding Partnerships: A Worksheet to Help States Get Started in Putting it Together