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This updated policy statement from DHHS and the U.S. Department of Education underscores the urgency in improving services for children with disabilities. It includes the science-based benefits and the legal foundation for inclusion, recommendations for state policies to strengthen inclusion, as well as state examples of promising practices. This resource supports resiliency. This resource supports equity.
Spurred by unprecedented federal funding and a national call to counter covid-related learning loss, this Westat report provides a summary of how states responded to ARPA funds for summer learning and enrichment programs. The results are presented in 34 slides, based on a review of plans that states created and interviews with 37 states on the vision they developed, and how they engaged partners, implemented priorities, and evaluated results.
This case study highlights the historical context behind the Pay Equity Fund, the vision and goals of the fund, early implementation successes and challenges, and future goals based on interviews with key informants, parents and guardians, center directors, and home-based providers. The goal of the Pay Equity Fund is to improve staff recruitment, retention, and morale and mental health, as well as program quality improvement and child outcomes. These findings can inform jurisdictions across the country as they design and implement compensation improvements for the child care workforce.
The Urban Institute engaged in a yearlong project to document how states access and strategically use federal funds to support early childhood systems and compensation. Five states including GA, IL, NM, TX, WA and other leaders joined in a convening to discuss their experiences. States shared challenges and the innovative strategies they are employing that include tailoring strategies to state context to address fragmentation; using philanthropic or private TA organizations to build state leaders' knowledge of how to access funds; and using cost models to advance child care compensation.
This report offers practical guidance for out-of-school-time (OST) programs and intermediaries that wish to incorporate social and emotional learning (SEL) activities into their programming for youth. The lessons are derived from RAND’s study over four years of more than 100 afterschool programs across six communities participating in the Wallace Foundation’s Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative (PSELI). The cities are Boston, Dallas, Denver, Palm Beach County, Tacoma, and Tulsa.
This report from the Afterschool Alliance summarizes the results of a survey from Fall 2022 of 1,016 providers representing 7,400 centers. The survey found that 1 in 4 providers have not been able to return to pre-pandemic program capacity due to difficulties recruiting and retaining staff; increased costs of running programs; and some issues with demand since many parents are working from home. When asked about supports that would be helpful, the priority was advice about preventing staff burnout and keeping teams engaged.
This 2021 study provides updates from a 2018 clearinghouse of data on supports for early childhood program leaders in state-by-state profiles. The most relevant for school-age is data on administrator qualifications in child care licensing standards and in QRIS, as well as which states have administrator credentials. It offers a national overview, data on states, and policy recommendations.
This study by the Institute for the Study of Resilience in Youth, commissioned by the National Summer Learning Association, was designed to help practitioners, policymakers, and researchers understand the youth perspective on two kinds of summer experiences—structured and unstructured. This representative sample of youth found that youth in structured programs reported feeling more happiness, positive emotions, interest, and better school preparedness than youth in unstructured settings. This could be used to help build the case for more structured summer learning opportunities for children and youth.
This report from the Department of the Interior documents the history and impact of the Indian Boarding School Initiative. Between 1819-1969, U.S. operated or supported 408 boarding schools across 37 states in pursuit of a policy of cultural assimilation and to dispossess Indians of their territory. The Department has recognized that targeting Indian children contributed to the loss of the following: (1) life; (2) physical and mental health; (3) territories and wealth; (4) Tribal and family relations; and (5) use of Tribal languages. This policy also caused the erosion of Tribal religious and cultural practices. This report includes recommendations for further investigation and actions to recognize the intergenerational trauma and the need to support revitalization of Tribal languages and cultural practices and to help begin the healing process. There is a 5-page Executive Summary at the beginning of the report that can provide a reader with an overview of the initiative. This resource supports equity.
In this series of reports, Child Care Aware of America explores child care challenges and how to accelerate needed changes to offer accessible, affordable, and quality care. The first report provides state-by-state information on Supply and Quality Trends. In this first report, some states provide data on the number of school-age only programs or spaces, as well as centers and FCC homes and QRIS participation. The second report looks at Price of Care, and although it doesn't include school-age costs, it captures that the cost of early childhood care is exceeding the rise in inflation.