Engaging Rural Communities
According to the State of Babies Yearbook, in 2018 nearly 1 in 11 of America’s children younger than 3 years lived in a rural or nonmetropolitan area of the United States. It is important for states to create solutions and strategies to address gaps and challenges in the provision of high quality services to children birth to five in rural communities. Partnerships at the state, region, and local level in a mixed delivery system can help address challenges and create opportunities that meet the needs of these children and families. For more information on an early childhood mixed delivery system, contact the PDG B-5 technical assistance specialist for your region.
Resources
The following resources cover strategies to meet the needs of children and families in rural communities.
Rural Communties - Access to Services
This webinar focuses on state capacity to quantify access to early childhood programs in rural communities, highlighting data, analyses of early childhood services, and assessment of strengths and gaps.
Supporting Access to High-Quality Family Child Care: A Policy Assessment and Planning Tool
This tool helps states and PDG B-5 Grantees assess policies that support access to Family Child Care (FCC) and identify their priorities, goals, and next steps.
Health Care Access for Infants and Toddlers in Rural Areas
This brief shares a few recommendations for policymakers to help ensure equitable health care access for infants and toddlers living in rural areas.
Remote Service Delivery and Distance Learning
This page covers remote service delivery for children with developmental delays and disabilities, geared toward Part C and IDEA Part B Section 619 programs.
This brief shares initiates that use virtual tools to deliver home visiting services, connect parents to resources, and facilitate visiting supervision.
This brief shares the needs of children and families in rural communties, their strengths, and how professionals can best help this population.
Strategies for Outreach to Families Living in Rural or Remote Areas
This resource, part of a series, can help states, territories, and tribes learn strategies for outreach to families living in remote or rural communties.
CAP's Interactive Child Care Desert Map
This tool shows variation in child care supply adjusted for population density and reveals provider capacity near given locations, accounting for nearby demand.
Access to Quality Child Care for Families Living in Rural Areas
This brief shares policy recommendations to improve families' access to high-quality subsidized care across child care settings in rural communties.