Proposals for Head Start and Child Care & Development Block Grant: How They May Impact Children with Disabilities Adele Robinson, NAEYC February 8, 2005

State of Early Childhood Education 12 million children in out of home care before school age Funding for early childhood education largely through parent fees; public funding is primarily federal dollars 1 in 7 eligible children receiving CCDBG assistance; 3 in 5 Head Start preschools and only 3% of Early Head Start children are receiving services

State of ECE Average child care provider earns less than $18,000 a year and staff turnover nationally is 40% a year Most states do not require child care teachers to enter the field with any degree, training or experience

Child Care & Development Block Grant (CCDBG) CCDBG and TANF are the largest sources of public funding for child care assistance to low-income working families, families on TANF, and families leaving TANF Every state receives CCDBG funding and must use at least 4% for quality initiatives (licensing, monitoring, resource and referral, professional development, e.g.) No federal standards

CCDBG Funded through mandatory and discretionary funding No increase since fiscal year 2002 States have reacted by growing waiting lists for assistance, raising parent co-payments, lowering income eligibility, and cutting initiatives

Head Start Program performance standards and Outcomes Framework: Comprehensive standards for the conditions of learning and service delivery and for child outcomes in 8 domains Children assessed at least 3 times a year to improve services and instruction

Children with Disabilities in Head Start Within the first 45 days of enrollment, all Head Start children undergo a series of screenings to identify any potential difficulties that could affect learning. In the cases where a child is referred for further assessment, teachers and parents are assisted in completing the documentation. The Disabilities Specialist attends all ARD meetings and keeps the management team included in coordination efforts for the IEP service delivery.

Head Start Roughly 3 in 5 eligible children served in preschool years Roughly 3 percent of infants and toddlers served in Early Head Start Over 50% of Head Start teachers nationally have an Associate’s degree

Head Start NRS Test Administrative requirement for all 4 and 5 year olds in Head Start to undergo the Head Start National Report System (NRS) test Includes children who speak English or Spanish and children with disabilities Vocabulary, letter recognition, and math questions Parent opt-out rarely used

NRS Concerns Too narrow a set of domains Issues of instrument’s technical adequacy remain Questions of cultural and linguistic appropriateness remain Purpose is not clear: began as way to evaluate national effectiveness, now say to help focus TA and professional development The issue is not whether to assess; the issue is how to assess and how to use the results

TANF Reauthorized concurrently with CCDBG Mandatory funding program to states States may transfer up to 30% of TANF funds to CCDBG, and the funds then follow CCDBG rules (including use for quality) States may use TANF funds directly on child care assistance

FY 2006 Budget Request Head Start: $45 million increase but only for the 9 states in the proposed state demos CCDBG: frozen since FY 2002 – Administration budget tables show 200,000 children lost assistance between FY 2003-04; another 300,000 lose assistance by FY 2009

Head Start Proposals IF the same as 108th Congress House bill: States would receive Head Start funds to create their own preschool programs States would need to “generally” meet the Head Start standards Senate bill: Retain federal-local stream; increase attention to coordination, cognitive development, BA teacher degrees

Head Start Status In 108th, House bill passed by one vote and Senate never took the bill to the floor 109th Congress – no bills introduced; bipartisan bills? Same as 108th or different bills?

TANF Status Expires end of March 2005 unless extended or reauthorized Administration proposals: raise work hours of TANF recipients, use funding for marriage initiative House and Senate bills differ on increase on work hours requirements

CCDBG Status Expires end of March with TANF unless extended Last year, vote of 78-20 in favor of amendment by Senators Snowe and Dodd to increase by $7 billion over 5 years – SAP opposed amendments that would increase funding TANF/CCDBG extensions expire end of March 2005 Bills introduced by Republican Leadership are same as last year’s bills

CCDBG Status Good Start Grow Smart administrative requirement that state child care plans to address Voluntary early learning guidelines in literacy and math for 3-5 year olds Professional Development Plans Coordination plans

CCDBG Proposals Extent to which CCDBG funds should cover non-TANF, low income working families Quality set aside dollars could only be used on programs with subsidized children Quality set aside dollars would have to show measurable results in school readiness and child well-being

Considerations Affordability and quality of child care for children with disabilities Directives and TA to provide inclusive programs Comprehensiveness of services and participation in Early Head Start and Head Start Coordination with Part C and 619 No increase in federal dollars puts pressure on states to find state and local dollars or serve fewer children or reduce nature/level of services