Posted by Michelle Thomas, TCC Senior Policy Advisor
Happy New Year! 2019 started off with great news for the early education stakeholders: The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), in consultation with the Department of Education (ED) announced funding was recently awarded to 45 states and territories for one-year planning grants running through December 30, 2019.
The goal of the PDG B-5 grant is to empower states as they facilitate strategic collaboration and coordination among early childhood care and education programs in a mixed delivery system. States submitted applications that explained the activities they will pursue with ambitious goals to align and strengthen existing funding streams, coordinate delivery models, improve the use of existing resources, encourage partnerships among providers and stakeholders, and maximize parental choice in a mixed delivery system.
To see the list of awarded grants please visit the First Five Years Fund website: https://www.ffyf.org/45-states-and-territories-to-receive-preschool-development-grants/.
Data is a Key Component to Sustainability
These grants will bolster the hard work that States are already doing to implement data solutions that give them the information needed to make effective policy decisions and sustainable investment decisions. However, the early childhood mixed service delivery landscape makes it a challenge to collect, aggregate and analyze data about:
- Who is delivering services?
- What services are being delivered?
- Where are the services being delivered?
- Who is receiving services? How long do they receive services?
- Do public investments result in positive outcomes?
I will continue to follow the exciting work that States are doing. Specifically, I wonder how States may take this opportunity to revisit their vision for data system solutions that will effectively support and sustain the intended outcomes of these grants.
Reinventing the Way States Collect and Use Data
TCC developed the Ascend early childhood data system to assist state agencies with managing multiple aspects of early childhood programming. Our early childhood subject matter experts drove the requirements and development process. The result is a flexible system that grows with your State.
To learn more about TCC and our Early Childhood Solutions, please visit our website http://e-tcc.com/early-childhood.
Technology, Process and Expertise 