ACF Announces Preliminary Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership Grantees

From the Department of Health and Human Services:

“HHS’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) today announced preliminary winners for its Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships grants to improve the quality of existing child care programs and expand access to high-quality care for infants and toddlers.

Thus far, 234 preliminary selected grant applicants in 49 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands will receive over $435 million in funding to help offer care and services to ensure that infants and toddlers have access to Early Head Start services in their communities.”

To read the release from the Administration for Children and Families, click here: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/media/press/new-hhs-grants-increase-improve-learning-opportunities-for-young-children

To see the full list of preliminary EHS-CC grantees, click here: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ecd/early-learning/ehs-cc-partnerships/grant-awardees

Appropriators Release Spending Bill for Fiscal Year 2015 (CRomnibus Edition)

Tonight, Senator Mikulski and Rep. Hal Rogers announced a spending agreement for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2015.  See the excerpt from the official summary released by the appropriators below for early childhood programs:

“The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee today released highlights of the fiscal year 2015 omnibus appropriations bill, “Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015,” that totals $1.014 trillion in discretionary spending in compliance with the bipartisan Murray-Ryan budget agreement. The bill funds the government through
September 30, 2015.

In addition, it includes: $5.4 billion of emergency funding to prepare for and respond to the Ebola outbreak; $73.7 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations; and $6.5 billion of disaster aid.”

…

“Supports Continued Investment in High-Quality Early Childhood Care and Education
High-quality early childhood care and education has been proven to have positive, lasting effects for children and families.  It also supports the nation’s long-term economic security by preparing our next generation of workers, entrepreneurs and business leaders. This bill supports the key federal investments in early childhood care and education, for children and their families from before birth through age five, including:

Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)—The bill includes $2.435 billion, a $75 million increase, for the CCDBG. In November, Congress overwhelmingly passed the CCDBG Act of 2014, the first reauthorization of the program since 1996. This reauthorization included key updates and reforms, including requiring states to strengthen health and safety standards. Improving the quality of child care programs while maintaining working families’ access to quality child care options will require significantly more resources, but the increase in funding for the CCDBG is an important step in helping states implement these key reforms and support working families’ access to quality, affordable child care.

Head Start—The bill includes $8.598 billion for Head Start, maintaining support for key investments in Head Start and Early Head Start, including Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships, made last year.

Preschool Development Grants—The agreement provides $250 million to continue support for Preschool Development Grants. The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services (HHS) awards $250 million to states through grants designed to help states initiate or implement high-quality public preschool programs for low- and moderate-income families. The funding in this bill will support the second year of what is expected to be four year awards. Research is clear that the benefits of high-quality early childhood education programs exceed costs by varying but significant amounts”

The full summary can be found here: http://www.appropriations.senate.gov/sites/default/files/12_09_14%20fy15%20omnibus%20summary.pdf

The full text of the bill can be found here: http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20141208/CPRT-113-HPRT-RU00-HR83sa.pdf

CCDBG Moving Forward – Helpful Resources on the New Law

With the signing of S.1086, the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 into law, now the focus will shift to ensuring that those across the country which these changes will directly impact, are aware of when and how this law will affect them.  In order to assist states and child care resource and referral agencies across America, Child Care Aware of America will be providing resources to help provide a better understanding of what’s in the law and what changes are going to be necessary to be made.

In addition to our four-part CCDBG Moving Forward Webinar Series, which focused on implementation and concluded in early-November, Child Care Aware of America is excited to share new resources on CCDBG, including:

NEW RESOURCES for Implementation of new CCDBG Law:

CCDBG Moving Forward Resources:

One-Pagers/Subject Briefs:

Summary and Background
Timeline for Implementation
Impact on Child Care Resource and Referral Services
The Quality Set-Aside
Quality Rating and Improvement Systems
Health, Nutrition, and Obesity Prevention

CCDBG Moving Foward Webinar Series Slides:

The history and current status of S.1086
What S.1086 means for families & child care providers
What S.1086 means for quality set aside and QRIS
Funding, appropriations, & timelines for implementation

To view any of the recorded webinars, check out our Youtube page:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CCAofAmerica

and much more to come!

Coming Soon!

• Information on Funding and Appropriations
• One-pager on Emergency Preparedness and Response
• Answers to Frequently Asked Question about the New Law
• White Papers on implementation and challenges