State and Territory Child Care Consumer Education Website: Self-Assessment Checklist

This checklist is designed to be utilized as a self-assessment tool by states and territories as they review their child care consumer education website for 1) alignment with CCDF consumer education website requirements; 2) recommendations within the preamble to the CCDF Final Rule; and 3) additional best practice considerations for user-friendly website design. The items within each section of the checklist reference the regulatory requirements within the CCDBG Act of 2014 and the CCDF Final Rule at 45 C.F.R. 98.33.​

Strengthening State and Territory Infant/Toddler Child Care System Policies and Practices: A Tool for Advancing Infant/Toddler Child Care Quality

This tool is designed to support state child care leaders and infant/toddler stakeholders as they assess, prioritize, plan, implement, and evaluate state policies in order to strengthen the quality of child care services infants, toddlers, and their families receive. The tool also aims to assist infant/toddler child care leaders as they create strategies, policies, protocols, and systems that:

• identify relationship-based care as essential to quality infant/toddler child care
• engage, inform, and connect with families of infants and toddlers
• strengthen the quality and conditions of the infant/toddler workforce to help meet the unique needs of infants and toddlers in child care settings
• increase the supply, health and safety, sustainability, and quality of infant/toddler child care settings
• coordinate and integrate cross-sector systems that serve infants, toddlers, and their families

State and Territory Approaches to Improving the Supply and Quality of Child Care Programs and Services for Infants and Toddlers

This resource provides a snapshot of some of the ways States’ and Territories’ Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Plans reflect infant/toddler quality efforts and initiatives. The purpose of this resource is to provide a synopsis of plans to improve the supply and quality of child care programs and services for infants and toddlers to meet CCDF 3 percent set-aside requirements. The examples and approaches highlighted are extracted from the approved 2016–2018 CCDF Plans published June 16, 2016, on the Office of Child Care website. States and Territories can use this document to identify strengths and opportunities for infant/toddler child care quality improvement, to review other state and territory approaches to using their infant/toddler set-aside funds, and to learn about state and territory practices intended to improve the supply and quality of infant/toddler child care programs and services.

Resources from Our Partners

Frein B. (2016). Strategies for building quality infant-toddler supply. Paper presented at the Quality Rating and Improvement System Annual Conference—Establishing an Ecosystem for High-Quality Early Learning, New Orleans, LA.

National Center on Child Care Professional Development Systems and Workforce Initiatives, Office of Child Care and Office of Head Start, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2012). Infant and toddler continuity of care assessment tool. Retrieved November 21, 2016, from
https://childcareta.acf.hhs.gov/resource/infant-and-toddler-continuity-care-assessment-tool

Stoney, L. (2015). Financing high-quality center-based infant-toddler care: Options and opportunities. (Report by Early Educator Central to the Office of Child Care and the Office of Head Start, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Retrieved November 21, 2016, from
https://earlyeducatorcentral.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/resources/Financing.pdf