A state roadmap
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Building supply, enhancing quality, and advancing equity: the Early Head Start-child care partnership series
- Author(s):
- Cardona, Mario, (Of Children's Equity Project), author Meek, Shantel, author Smith, Linda K., author Sanchez Fuentes, Yvette, author Bucher, Eric, author
- Contributor(s):
- Bipartisan Policy Center, issuing body. Children's Equity Project, issuing body. Start Early, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Washington, DC] : Bipartisan Policy Center, [2022]
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Child Care Child, Preschool Early Intervention, Educational Financing, Government Infant United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- High quality infant and toddler care is accessible to very few families, and it is particularly challenging to attain in under-resourced and historically marginalized communities. Quality is variable, and costs are simply unaffordable for most families. State licensing standards which regulate the baseline standard of infant and toddler child care operations vary substantially from state to state. For example, in Texas, licensing rules require one adult for every eleven toddlers. Whereas in Oregon, it is one adult for every five toddlers. Health and safety and facility requirements, professional development and credentialing, and programmatic operation requirements also differ across state lines, creating an uneven landscape and making it so that babies in some states have greater access to quality care than those in other states. This is particularly concerning given the rapid and consequential brain development unfolding in the earliest years of life and the strong impact warm, responsive, and enriching relationships have on children’s development, health, and wellness. Without common quality standards in place and resources to meet those standards, quality environments and experiences are less consistent and more difficult to implement. It is simply impossible, for example, for a single person to provide warm, responsive, and enriching interactions with 8 or 10 babies at a time. Policies and funding set the conditions under which providers can do their jobs well and under which children are well taken care of and supported in their development. The Early Head Start (EHS) model, by comparison, has a common set of standards aligned with research that support holistic development and early learning and are implemented in settings in nearly every zip code in the United States. The Head Start model, including EHS, has an established track record pointing to positive outcomes for children and families who participate, across health, education, parent engagement, and employment. Compared to child care licensing and rules in every state in the nation, Head Start Program Performance Standards are robust and supportive of child and family health, wellness, and learning. The EHS standards are implemented consistently among diverse programs and contexts across the United States, helping even out the shared expectations for quality above and beyond state licensing regulations. That said, it is important to note that the Head Start model and implementation of the model are two different things, and there is substantial room to grow in ensuring consistent, quality implementation of the Head Start model.
- Copyright:
- The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (7 pages, 1 unnumbered page)) : illustrations
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918645386706676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918645386706676