The Elements of Virginia’s Early Childhood Care and Education System
The early childhood system is a structured support network and services designed to meet the developmental, educational, and social needs of young children. This system includes various components that work together to ensure that children have a strong foundation for lifelong learning, health, and well-being.
Building a Unified Early Childhood System
On July 1, 2021, the Virginia Board of Education became responsible for setting policy priorities for early childhood care and accountability, to be carried out by the VDOE. This creates a single point of accountability for school readiness in the Commonwealth. Key actions in Virginia beginning in 2021:
- Move oversight for all early childhood care and education programs to the VDOE,
- Establish a new Early Childhood Advisory Committee, and
- Create a Uniform Measurement and Improvement System.
Why is Early Care Important?
We know based on research that the first few years of a child’s life are a period of rapid brain development, setting the foundation for their future physical, emotional, cognitive, and social growth. For young children, early care is often the first opportunity for participation in school-readiness activities and skills. High-quality early care programs provide a foundation for learning and prepare students for success in kindergarten and beyond. School-readiness activities in high-quality preschools focus on physical, motor and social and emotional development.
A Skilled Early Care Workforce
Early childhood educators—largely women and often women of color—nurture and facilitate learning for millions of young children every day. Despite their important work, complex skills, and considerable experience, early educators’ working conditions currently undermine their well-being and create devastating financial insecurity well into retirement age. In turn, these conditions lead to high turnover rates and teacher staffing shortages, which limit the availability of care for families.
Workforce Innovation
The Fast Track program is an initiative that partners with early childhood care and education (ECCE) programs and Ready Regions to attract new talent into the early education workforce.
RecognizeB5 is a central activity of VQB5 that provides a financial incentive to eligible early childhood educators. RecognizeB5 aims to reduce teacher turnover in child care and family day homes, where wages are significantly lower than comparable settings.
How early educators are treated affects how our children learn. Ensuring educators’ working conditions and well-being enables them to thrive as teachers and caregivers during the most important years of a child’s life.
National Data
Virginia Data
Virginia’s Early Childhood Governance
Virginia has created two work groups to look at and evaluate early care policies.
The Early Childhood Advisory Committee (ECAC) advises the Board of Education on all matters related to the unified early childhood system at the VDOE. By law, ECAC membership reflects the full range and diversity of ECCE providers, advocates, and child development experts in the Commonwealth. The ECAC meets at least four times a year to review information related to the programs, systems, and regulations related to Virginia’s unified early childhood system.
The Commision on Early Childhood Care and Education is comprised of Virginia legislators and representatives of business, economic development, local government, school divisions, parents and early care and education programs. The Commission is charged with providing recommendations for and tracking progress on the financing of Virginia’s comprehensive birth-to-five early childhood care and education system.
Funding
The underinvestment in early childhood programs in the United States has profound consequences for the development of children, particularly those from birth to age five. The challenge is exacerbated by the complexity of the early childhood development system. Multiple stakeholders are involved, from local, state, and federal governments to private organizations and nonprofit groups. This fragmented system can make it difficult to coordinate efforts and direct resources effectively to the communities and children who need them most.
Policymakers, community organizations, and advocacy groups must work together to develop a more robust system of early childhood education, one that not only invests in early learning but also ensures equitable access to quality care and education for all children.
Federal
The Child Care and Development Block Grant is a 30-year-old funding stream for states that allows them to help low-income, working families afford child care, while supporting children’s learning and development (from birth through age 12). Popular on both sides of the aisle and given a record funding infusion in 2018 with bipartisan support, CCBDG is a key tool for states in supporting child development and improving families’ economic security.
State
The 2024 Virginia General Assembly Session significantly increased state funding for early childhood access. Combining with federal funding, Virginia will invest $1.1 billion this biennium to support access to early care programs for families.
Governor Glenn Younkin Launches Building Blocks for Virginia’s Families
With Historic Investments and Bipartisan Support for Early Childhood Care and Education, Virginia’s Mixed Delivery Program Continues to Provide Much Needed Choice for Families
Philanthropy
This investment can dramatically improve kindergarten readiness for at-risk children, and can provide high-return, innovative strategies when blended with other state and federal funding sources.
Business Leaders
The importance of business in early care systems is crucial for the sustainability, accessibility, and quality of services provided to children and families. Early care systems, which include early childhood education (ECE) and child care services, benefit significantly from the involvement of business principles and their supportive policies. By leveraging financial management, innovation, partnerships, and workforce development strategies, business expertise can help early care systems thrive, ensuring better outcomes for children, families, and communities.
Data
Thrive Birth to Five uses multiple sources of data to inform the work and support the ECCE system in Ready Region Central. This data is shared with partners in a variety of ways as we learn more about barriers to ECCE programing for families and children in our region.
Ready Regions ECCE Access Dashboard
Planning District 15 Council of Community Services Data Snapshot
Interactive Kids Count 2024 Data Book
2024 Virginia Workforce Survey Snapshot
2023 Virginia Family Survey Snapshot
Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program (VKRP) Data Snapshots
Child Care Aware of Virginia Child Care Supply Data by Locality
Early Childhood Dataset from 3Si
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