National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment Resource Library

This report from the Urban Institute explores the use of CCDF child care subsidy payment rates and practices to try to expand the supply of specific types of child care that are in shorter supply (e.g., infants and toddlers, children with special needs, those needing non-traditional hour care, in communities of color). The report is the result of a literature review, expert interviews, shared preliminary findings with child care providers and provider organizations, and small group interviews with child care leads. The report finds that while CCDF funds and raising payment rates are necessary, this will not be sufficient, given that only a fraction of eligible children receive subsidies.    

On September 14, 2022, the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment hosted the “Addressing School-Age Needs in Licensing Regulations” webinar to introduce a new NCASE resource, hear state examples, share strategies and discuss promising practices related to licensing for school-age childcare programs.

This Workforce Wednesday webinar on September 14, 2022 by the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance explores strategies to increase compensation and benefits for the early childhood workforce to insure that we are able to attract, prepare, and support our workforce. The webinar includes a panel with state examples from KY, MT, and VT, as well as remarks from Katie Hamm, Deputy Assistant Secretary from ACF and Dr. Ruth Friedman, Director of the Office of Child Care. 

This issue brief from the Government Alliance on Race and Equity focuses on unifying strategies and structures that facilitate a deep, widespread, and sustained commitment to racial equity across the whole of government. It outlines four basic strategies and each one includes actions that specific agencies can take: (1) Use an inside/outside strategy by building partnerships between government and the communities experiencing systemic racism; (2) Build capacity for lasting organizational change by providing training from experts and build Racial Equity Core Teams; (3) Build networked structures across the whole of federal government for long-term change through a centralized office and lifting up high-achieving agency practices; and (4) Prepare for and learn from internal and external backlash. This resource supports equity.

On August 11, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control updated the COVID-19 guidance for schools and early care and education programs. There are changes on cohorts, quarantines, test to stay, and how to respond to outbreaks. This resource supports the COVID-19 response.

This guide/toolkit, created by EducationCounsel and the Wallace Foundation, can help district leaders, OST providers, and intermediaries identify federal funding streams to support equitable access to summer and afterschool learning. It groups funding streams into three broad headings: (1) creating and sustaining equitable conditions for learning; (2) preparing for program delivery; and (3) building and aligning ecosystems of support. Within these categories, the guide identifies funding streams for seven elements that emerged from a review of research and conversations with national and local out-of-school time leaders. The companion webinar is available here:  Using Federal Funds for Summer Learning and Afterschool: A new Guide for Providers, School Districts, and Intermediaries.  This resource supports equity.  

This tool kit by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, North Carolina Child Care Resource and Referral Council, and Southwestern Child Development Commission defines food insecurity and how school-age programs can support children and families that may be experiencing food insecurity. While this resource is designed for North Carolina, there is much that is relevant to school-age programs in any state. It includes information on the effects of food insecurity, how to recognize signs of hunger, and how to combat hunger in an afterschool program.  This resource supports equity.  

This series of four reports on LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) students of color by GLSEN (Gay,  Lesbian and Straight Education Network) examines the experiences of Black, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Latinx, and Native and Indigenous LGBTQ youth. Each report includes information on the experiences of LGBTQ students of color in middle and high school, examining indicators of negative school climate as well as supports and resources. The reports are presented in multiple languages. This resource supports equity.

This webinar by the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance and the National Center on Subsidy Innovation and Accountability provides an overview on the impact of improved subsidy practices on provider budgets and CCDF budgets. It includes how the Provider Cost of Quality Calculator (PCQC) can be used for a narrow cost analysis or to estimate program costs associated with various policy decisions. The focus is on the Lead Agency steps for internal use of the PCQC, and considerations for using the default values for operating costs or incorporating Lead Agency-specific data. 

This report by the Children's Equity Project, Child Care Aware of America, and Equity Research Action Coalition addresses the flaws in Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) around equity by reviewing 11 of the 14 equity indicators developed by the Children's Equity Project. States can use these indicators to inform QRIS redesign efforts to advance equity and improve transparency for families. This resource supports equity.