AT-A-GLANCE

Financing Infant & Toddler Child Care
In order to achieve high quality infant and toddler child care, funding needs to come from private and public sources, including parents, employers, civic groups, government, and foundations. Federal, State, and community leaders are challenged to find, allocate, and effectively use funds for early childhood services. They face competing interests and priorities for limited resources. In order to make effective decisions, leaders need to know how funds are currently allocated and whether those allocations support high-quality care across ages and settings. There are key considerations for policy-makers when examining efforts to finance quality infant/toddler child care services. They include:

• Integration of funding for 0-3 services into other early childhood initiatives,
• Strategic and effective use of infant and toddler earmark funds and other investments to meet the developmental needs of infants and toddlers,
• Information for parents about the available supports (tax deductions, credits, subsidies) to help pay for the cost of care by the parent and other caregivers, and
• Development of public/private partnerships to improve services for infants/toddlers and their families.

Integration of Funding for 0-3 Services into Other Early Childhood Initiatives
Policy-makers are considering ways funds from Federal and State early childhood programs and initiatives can fund quality services for infants and toddlers. States are using:

Children's Trust Funds
The Michigan Zero To Three Secondary Prevention Initiative is a statewide, collaborative, community-based initiative aimed at developing an integrated system of services for Michigan families with children birth to 3 who are at risk of child abuse and neglect. The Zero To Three Secondary Prevention Initiative is supported by pooled funds from the Department of Community Health, Education, and the Family Independence Agency. The Michigan's Children's Trust Fund serves as the administering agency over these funds. Between FY 1998 and FY 2001, the State increased the number of 0-3 Secondary Prevention Grants from 24 to 64 and funding grew from an initial appropriation of $2 million to $7.75 million. Funded services include home visiting, parenting classes and child care.

Contact Information:
Children's Trust Fund
The Michigan Family Independence Agency
P.O. Box 30037, Lansing, MI 48909
Telephone: (517) 373-4320

Georgia Standards of Care Initiative
During the early years of pre-kindergarten implementation in Georgia, there was a recognition that additional funds were needed to improve the quality of infant and toddler classrooms in those programs served by the Pre-K program. In 1999, the Georgia Early Learning Initiative (GELI), a public-private partnership, now known as Smart Start Georgia, was formed to ensure that every child in the State is prepared to start kindergarten ready to succeed. In the 14 Smart Start Plus counties, all child care centers are now eligible to participate in Standards of Care (not just those in the Pre-K programs). Standards of Care is a voluntary program that provides training and technical assistance, grants to improve the quality of classrooms, and provides recognition when centers receive a special score in the ITERS and ECERS evaluation.

Contact Information:
Sharen Hausmann, Smart Start Georgia
Phone: (877) STARTGA
E-mail: info@smartstartga.org
Web Site: www.smartstartga.org