In Focus: Systems and Financing
Apr 23, 2013 | Permalink »
Write a Letter Thanking the President for His Historic Early Childhood Investment
Recently, President Obama released his 2014 budget proposal. This budget includes historic investments across several early childhood programs including increased investment in a comprehensive birth-to-five early education continuum built upon child care, home visiting, Head Start, Early Head Start, and preschool - all critical programs for children, especially the most vulnerable children.
With our partners from the Strong Start for Children - Building America's Future campaign, CLASP will be collecting thank you notes from across the country and delivering them to the White House. Please join us in thanking President Obama for making investments in young children a priority!
Mail us your hard copy letters (a drawing or hand print by a child on your letter would be great) to deliver to the White House. We must receive all letters at CLASP by Monday, April 29. Please send your letters and drawings to: Emily Firgens, CLASP, 1200 18th ST NW, Suite 200, Washington DC, 20036. You can also email your letters to efirgens@clasp.org. We are collecting them rather than asking you to send them directly to the White House due to security protocols.
We hope you will join us in thanking President Obama for his early childhood initiative by sending CLASP your letters by May 2!
Thank you, and please contact Emily Firgens at efirgens@clasp.org or 202-906-8031 if you have any questions.
Apr 11, 2013 | Permalink »
The President’s Budget: Historic for Early Childhood
Yesterday, the President released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Budget. For young children and the child care and early education community that supports them, the budget comes as a much anticipated follow-up to the President's State of the Union address where he outlined early learning as a priority. This budget includes historic investments across several early childhood programs.
The President's budget includes increased investment in a comprehensive birth-to-five early education continuum including child care, home visiting, Head Start, Early Head Start, and preschool-all critical programs for children, especially the most vulnerable children.
Through companion investments in the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, the President's proposal introduces new details to what the White House is calling its Preschool for All initiative. These investments include:
- Preschool -$75 billion in mandatory funding across 10 years to support state preschool programs. $1.3 billion of the $75 billion would be allocated in FY 2014. Additionally, $750 million in discretionary funding would be available in FY 2014 as development grants to states to create or strengthen their early education systems in preparation for the Preschool for All initiative.
- Home Visiting- $15 billion over 10 years to expand home visiting programs. Home visiting programs provide family support and connect children and their parents to resources during a critical development period for young children.
- Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships- $1.4 billion to support Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships. These will provide increased access to comprehensive, high quality child care for infants and toddlers.
Apr 03, 2013 | Permalink »
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 >>