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Part II: Program Description and Performance Analysis
STRATEGIC GOAL 2: IMPROVE HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT, SAFETY AND WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH
RATIONALE
America’s future – its civil society, economy and social fabric – depends upon how well the nation protects and nurtures its children. In ACF, Head Start, child care, child welfare, youth, and TANF programs together provide a broad range of services that contribute to cognitive and social development, school readiness, health, and safety of children and youth.
ACF provides leadership and support for programs across the Nation that shelter runaway and homeless youth and promote positive youth development. These programs help the nation’s young people to meet the challenges of adolescence and grow into adulthood.
In FY 2005, ACF is requesting an increase in Head Start funding of $168.8 million to provide a cost-of-living increase and maintain competitive salaries for teachers and other staff to assure that programs are able to attract and retain high quality staff.
An additional $20 million in funding for the Child Abuse Basic State Grant program would provide significant increases in child abuse and neglect prevention programming.
An increase of $31.8 million for the Community-Based Family Resource and Support Grants would allow for significant increases for child abuse and neglect prevention activities as well as efforts related to responsible fatherhood, healthy marriage, and the expanded use of community and faith-based organizations.
An additional $50 million would fund the promotion and support of responsible fatherhood and healthy marriage through increased state and community level approaches to assist fathers to be more actively involved with their children.
An increase of $111.9 million for Community-based Abstinence Education will provide support for the new Presidential initiative focused on educating teens and parents about the health risks associated with early sexual activity and to provide tools needed to help teens make responsible choices and will expand the availability of abstinence education for adolescents. An increase of $20.1 million for the Adoption Incentives program will allow ACF to fully pay any incentives due to states under the newly authorized system. An increase of $101 million for Safe and Stable Families will support the Administration’s commitment to helping families in crisis and protecting children from abuse and neglect.
A $15.3 million increase for Independent Living Vouchers will expand our ability to provide vouchers for youth who “age out” of foster care for college tuition or vocational training. This increase will provide an additional 3,000 youth with resources to prepare for independent living, increasing the prospect that they would be able to secure jobs and become contributing members of society.
A $10 million increase for Maternity Group Homes will establish a separate stream of funding for this program to assist in breaking the cycle of abuse and poverty often faced by young pregnant women and their children who lack safe and stable environments in which to live.
OBJECTIVES AND MAJOR PROGRAM AREAS
- Promote early childhood development
Child Care: Quality
Head Start - Increase safety, permanency, and well-being of
children and youth
Child Welfare
Youth Programs
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Child Well-Being
5. PROMOTE EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
Approach for the Strategic Objective: Provide high quality early childhood programs, such as Head Start and accredited child care programs, so that early childhood experiences enhance children's development and school readiness.
5.1 CHILD CARE: QUALITY
| Request, Full Costs, & Annual Measures ($ in millions) |
FY 2003 | FY 2004 | FY 2005 |
| Budget Request (Program Level) | $4,837.1 | $4,837.9 | $4,816.7 |
| Estimated Full Cost | $4,847.9 | $4,849.2 | $4,828.8 |
| Program Goal: Improve Child Care Access and Quality Access - Incorporates measure: FY 2003-2005: 4.1a (90% of full costs) Quality – Incorporates measures: FY 2003-2005: 5.1a, e, f (10% of full costs) |
$4,363.2
$484.8 |
$4,364.3
$484.9 |
$4,345.9
$482.9 |
* The distribution of full costs to performance measures may not equal the full cost of the performance program area.
ALLOCATION METHODOLOGY EXPLANATION: Performance measures represent 100% of full cost of program.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND CONTEXT
Total Program Resources: See chart at beginning of Child Care: Affordability, Strategic Goal I.
In ACF’s efforts to break the cycle of poverty and dependency, it is essential to focus both on parents and the next generation. Parents are more likely to succeed in employment and self-sufficiency if they have confidence in their child care arrangements. Beyond issues of health and safety, child care influences the cognitive, emotional, and social development of children. This section will focus on the ACF’s efforts to increase child care quality in order to enhance children’s development and school readiness. (For an overview of ACF’s efforts to increase access to affordable, quality child care for low-income earning families, see information under Strategic Goal 1, Child Care: Affordability.)
ACF’s Child Care Bureau (CCB) works with state administrators, professional groups, service providers, and others on the following objectives:
- Incorporate efforts to strengthen families and promote positive youth development into every project and initiative;
- Identify and focus on elements of quality, especially those related to early literacy;
- Encourage state policy decisions that support child care quality and family self-sufficiency through relevant research, training, and technical assistance;
- Address quality and supply for infants and toddlers;
- Expand school-age child care infrastructure, particularly through collaboration with education agencies and organizations; and
- Strengthen linkages with health care services and Head Start.
States are required to spend at least four percent of their CCDF funds on activities to improve the quality and availability of child care and offer additional services to parents. In addition, Congress earmarked small amounts of the Discretionary Fund to be used by states for school-age care, resource and referral services, improved quality, and expanded availability of quality infant and toddler care.
With CCDF funds, including funds earmarked for school-age care and resource and referral, states reported efforts to improve both the supply and the quality of school-age care. These efforts include incentives for providers seeking accreditation, specialized curriculum development, grants to programs seeking to improve the quality of their services, and development of specialized licensing standards for school-age programs. In many states, efforts to improve the quality and supply of school-age care target low-income neighborhoods, and non-English speaking populations.
The Child Care Bureau provides technical assistance and support to grantees in implementing the CCDF. Directly, and through its technical assistance (TA) contractors, the Bureau informs states about successful programs and models; offers on-site consultation; facilitates exchanges among peers; and sponsors meetings, conference calls, and conferences designed to provide training and peer linkages. The Bureau's TA efforts have included targeted TA and support to states in systems development. The Bureau has placed particular emphasis on helping states to collect, report, and manage child care data; improve quality; and meet Federal requirements for reporting and educating consumers. The network of contracted training and TA providers includes the Child Care Administration Project, the Child Care Information Systems Technical Assistance Project, the National Child Care Information Center, the Tribal Child Care Technical Assistance Center, the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning, Healthy Child Care America, Quality in Linking Together (QUILT), the National Infant and Toddler Child Care Initiative, and the After-school Investments Project.
Program Partnerships
Supporting the child care needs of children and their families requires partnerships among child care providers, Head Start, public and private early childhood education, health, nutrition, mental health, and parental employment preparation programs. To this end, ACF continues to encourage collaboration at the Federal, state, and individual program levels.
In their biennial CCDF Plans, states are required to discuss their coordination and collaboration efforts and the results of that coordination and collaboration. In their FY 2002-2003 State Plans:
- 20 states reported collaborating with the State Education Department or another public or private entity to expand services for school-age children;
- 37 states reported collaborating with their State Health Department;
- 45 states described collaboration with Head Start;
- 23 states reported joint efforts to promote early intervention for children with developmental disabilities;
- 25 states reported active collaborations with Tribal communities to improve service delivery to dually-eligible children; and
- 37 states reported that state and/or local councils, committees, and advisory boards, which are established by the state or through legislation, direct the planning and collaboration efforts.
ACF will monitor state progress toward the goal of collaboration through state plans. States submitted new plans on July 1, 2003, for the two-year period beginning October 1, 2003. These plans require states to describe the early learning partnerships they have developed toward improving the school readiness of young children.
The Child Care Bureau works to expand partnerships with states and among early childhood programs to improve quality in early care and education. With their infant and toddler earmarks, states are recruiting additional caregivers; providing health outreach, including training and consultation; offering incentives for provider accreditation and training; and sponsoring specialized training for infant and toddler caregivers. A number of states have implemented initiatives to improve the supply and quality of infant and toddler care—some through partnerships with Early Head Start.
In partnership with the HHS Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the Child Care Bureau sponsors the Healthy Child Care America campaign to develop and strengthen linkages between child care providers, health professionals, and families, and ultimately to improve the health and safety of children in child care settings. Other HHS health agencies that assist CCB with attaining health targets include Community Health Centers, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and their constituencies.
In addition, the Bureau coordinates with partners in ACF, HHS, and other departments to address barriers impeding states’ efforts to provide quality services to children and families. This coordination includes encouraging grantees to provide high quality, full-day, full-year early childhood services by linking CCDF with Head Start and state pre-kindergarten programs. The Bureau works with the Federal Interagency Coordinating Council (FICC) and others to ensure that children with special needs who are eligible for CCDF services receive assessments and early intervention services.
PROGRAM PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
| Performance Measures | Targets | Actual Performance | Reference (Relevant strategic goal in the HHS Strategic Plan) |
|---|---|---|---|
| PROGRAM GOAL – QUALITY: The quality of child care services and developmental outcomes for children will improve over time. | |||
| Objective: Increase quality as recognized by national accreditation and certification. | |||
| 5.1a. Increase by one percent (95) the number of regulated child care centers and homes nationwide accredited by a recognized early childhood development professional organization from the CY 2000 baseline. [O] |
CY 05: CY 04: 9,917 CY 03: 9,822 CY 02: 9,725 CY 01: 9,630 CY 00: NA |
CY 05: CY 04: CY 03: 10,945 CY 02: 9,241 CY 01: 9,237 CY 00: 9,535 |
HHS 7.2 |
| 5.1b. Increase by eight percent over the previous year the number of Child Development Associate credentials awarded nationwide. |
CY 03: Dropped |
|
|
| Objective: Increase child care quality through incentives. | |||
| 5.1c. Increase the number of states that encourage provider training and education through bonuses or other compensation. | FY
04: Dropped FY 03: NA |
||
| Objective: Increase the basic health, safety, and quality of child care. | |||
| 5.1d. Maintain the number of states and Territories conducting unannounced inspections of regulated providers from the FY 2000 baseline.* | FY
03: Dropped FY 02: 51 FY 01: NA |
FY 02: 47 FY 01: 47 FY 00: 43 Baseline |
|
| 5.1e. Increase the number of states that have established voluntary guidelines on literacy, language, pre-reading and numeracy for children ages 3 to 5 that align with State K-12 standards and are used in the education and training of caregivers, preschool teachers, and administrators. [O] (Developmental) | FY
05: FY 04: |
FY 05: FY 04: FY 03: Baseline |
HHS 7.2 |
| 5.1f. Increase the percentage of children from child care settings who enter kindergarten equipped with the skills needed to succeed in school. [O] (Developmental) | FY
05: FY 04: |
FY 05: FY 04: FY 03: Baseline |
HHS 7.2 |
| COSTS ASSOCIATED
WITH MEASURES 5.1a, e, and f % of Full Cost FY 2003: 10% FY 2004: 10% FY 2005: 10% OTHER: 90% supports Measure 4.1a |
|||
| *N=56 (50 states, the District of Columbia, and five Territories) (back) | |||
Summary of Program Performance
The Child Care Bureau exceeded its target to increase by one percent the number of regulated child care centers and homes nationwide accredited by a recognized early childhood development professional organization. The Child Care Bureau improved healthy development, safety, and well-being of children and youth in FY 2003 in several ways:
States continue to expand their innovative uses of CCDF quality improvement funds to assure more children are cared for in environments that support their developmental needs. In their FY 2002-2003 CCDF State Plans, states reported that they are using quality improvement funds to educate parents about making good child care choices; provide grants and loans to expand the number and quality of child care slots; increase child care provider wages, benefits, and training; and to monitor the safety and quality of care.
The trend continues toward states implementing systems of tiered reimbursement whereby providers are paid more if they can demonstrate that they offer higher quality care. In their Plans, 29 states indicated that they provide rate differentials for various levels of quality. Most states indicated they are working toward a system of professional development for child care providers and workers. Nearly a dozen states have implemented the North Carolina TEACH model combining professional development and training with salary enhancements. State-funded pre-kindergarten programs now exist in 42 states and nearly all states reported efforts to link child care, Head Start, and pre-kindergarten programs more closely together.
In the 2004-2005 CCDF biennial plans states submitted on July 1, 2003, they were required to include a description of state activities that support the President’s Good Start, Grow Smart (GSGS) initiative to ensure that children are equipped with the skills needed to enter school ready to succeed. The Child Care Bureau conducted regionally-based training on the initiative during which states developed strategies for early learning guidelines, professional development, and coordination of early childhood programs. The 2003 State Child Care Administrators’ meeting as well as 2003 Tribal training focused on key components of GSGS. Peer-to-peer learning opportunities for states and tailored consultation services will also be offered.
In FY 2002, the Bureau/ACF awarded a cooperative agreement to a university and its consortium of universities and early childhood organizations for the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. The purpose of this five-year project is to support the development of a national center to assist Head Start and child care programs to identify and implement practices that demonstrate effectiveness in promoting children's social and emotional competence.
In FY 2003, the Child Care Bureau awarded 43 new discretionary grants to local councils under the Early Learning Opportunities Act (ELOA). Each of these grantees is promoting early literacy as part of the projects. Grantees are using a variety of strategies to promote early learning including: promoting effective parenting; providing education and training for parents, providers, and caregivers to facilitate child development; promoting learning readiness; and developing better linkages among service providers within local communities. In addition, grantees plan to establish better connections between health and child care programs to expand the availability of care for special populations including infants and toddlers, children with special needs, and families that require non-standard hour care. Many grantees will also work to improve quality child care through recruitment and retention incentives, and increased compensation for providers. In FY 2004, the Child Care Bureau expects to award ELOA grants to approximately 50 local communities.
(For an overview of the Bureau’s efforts related to increasing the economic independence and productivity for families, see information under Strategic Goal 1, 4.1 Child Care: Affordability).
Research and Demonstrations: In Fiscal Years 2000 through 2003, Congress set-aside approximately $10 million in Child Care and Development Funds (CCDF) for child care research, demonstration, and evaluation. The activities supported through this research program provide information and data to guide child care services, inform policy discussions, and assist in developing solutions to complex child care issues. The studies, along with other research funded by ACF, are beginning to offer important insights into child care markets, the choices made by parents, and the effects of Federal, state, and local policies on child care supply and demand. Through the Bureau’s technical assistance efforts, states, Territories, and Tribes are encouraged to consider the implications of these findings for their child care policies and programs.
- In FY 2004, the Bureau is continuing studies initiated in FY 2001
and 2002, and it will support new studies that respond to the Administration’s
priorities including Good Start Grow Smart.
These projects will improve ACF’s capacity to respond to questions
of immediate concern to policy makers, improve collaboration between
researchers and policy makers, and increase knowledge about the
efficacy of child care policies and programs in providing positive
outcomes for children and families.
- A cooperative agreement was awarded in FY 2003 to operate the
Child Care Research Collaboration and Archive (CCRCA). The CCRCA
will serve as a repository of child care research and data through
a web-based archive. It will support researchers, policy makers,
and practitioners in furthering knowledge about child care quality
and ways providers and parents can support early literacy.
- The Child Care Subsidy Evaluation Project will expand the knowledge of child care subsidy policies by assessing causality through experimental design. Site selection was begun during FY 2003 for this project – a multi-site evaluation to study the net impact, implementation, costs, and benefits of selected child care subsidy strategies.
Data Quality and Availability: As discussed in Strategic Goal 1, 4.1 Child Care: Affordability, the Bureau has worked with states and Territories for several years to develop appropriate and achievable program goals and measures. The goals and measures in this document reflect the consensus-building and participatory process.
Some of these child care quality performance measures require new reporting and/or data gathering methods, including obtaining information from national organizations. The Bureau intends to address these data issues in several ways. Information relevant to measures already included in State Plans will be used to help tell the performance story. The State Plan Preprint submitted biennially by states has been amended to include additional items related to ACF’s performance measures.
In addition, the Child Care Bureau intends to work with national research organizations and states to determine the extent to which data are available to measure progress toward increasing the percentage of children from child care settings who enter kindergarten equipped with the skills needed to succeed in school. If appropriate data are not available, the Bureau will work toward the inclusion of appropriate elements in national surveys and work with Head Start programs and states toward consistent approaches to assessing kindergarten readiness.
Measure by Measure Presentation of Performance
PROGRAM GOAL – QUALITY: The quality of child care services and developmental outcomes for children will improve over time.
Objective: Increase quality as recognized by national accreditation and certification.
| 5.1a. | Increase by an additional one percent the
number of regulated child care centers and homes nationwide accredited
by recognized early childhood development professional organizations
and accrediting entities from the CY 2000 baseline. Data Source: National Association for Family Child Care, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and the National School-Age Care Alliance |
The above performance goal is an indicator of quality improvement. Accreditation of child care facilities has been linked to better outcomes for children, and is increasingly accepted as a marker of good quality care. Several States use CCDF quality improvement funds in various ways to support accreditation for child care centers and homes.
Data Issues: The data needed for reporting performance on this measure are furnished by the National Association for Family Child Care, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the National School-Age Care Alliance. These independent national bodies are credible sources of information about provider accreditation and certification.
The NAEYC has been revising its accreditation system. The new system will be fully operational in 2005, and it is unclear what the effects will be on this measure. However, the impact could be substantial because NAEYC accredits a larger proportion of child care facilities annually than do the two other accrediting organizations. Changes in the NAEYC accreditation system may have resulted in the decrease in accredited facilities between CY 2000 and 2001. States indicate that increasing numbers of providers are now being accredited using state-recognized systems. The Child Care Bureau intends to explore options for collecting this state-specific information.
| 5.1b. | Increase by eight percent over the previous year the number of Child Development Associate credentials awarded nationwide. |
The Bureau dropped this measure in FY 2003 since the CDA is only one approach to provider education and training.
Objective: Increase child care quality through incentives.
| FY 2003 Plan | |
| 5.1c. | Increase the number of states that encourage
provider training and education through bonuses or other compensation
from the FY 2003 baseline (Developmental). Data Source: These data can be obtained by revising the State Plan Preprint. States will submit this information in alternate years as an optional element in the addendum to the Annual Aggregate Report. |
The above measure was dropped in FY 2004. Based on our consultation with states, we concluded that this is a weak measure. Many states have already developed a system for encouraging provider training, and this measure did not assess the effectiveness of those efforts.
Objective: Increase the basic health, safety, and quality of child care.
| 5.1d. | Increase the number of states and Territories
conducting unannounced inspections of regulated providers from
the FY 2000 baseline. Data Source: Annual Aggregate Report |
The number of States and Territories conducting unannounced inspections of regulated providers was maintained in FY 2002. This is based on the most recent data available from the FY 2002-2003 State Plans, which were developed July 2001. The Child Care Bureau expects to receive an updated analysis of the State plans, including more recent statistics on unannounced inspections in April 2004. This measure was dropped in FY 2003 because research suggests that conducting unannounced visits indiscriminately on all providers is not the best use of limited state resources. Unannounced visits appear to be most useful with providers who have a history of low compliance with regulations.
| FY 2004-2005 Plan | |
| 5.1e. | Increase the number of states that have
established voluntary guidelines on literacy, language, pre-reading,
and numeracy for children ages 3 to 5 that align with state K-12
standards and are used in the education and training of caregivers,
preschool teachers, and administrators (New - Developmental). Data Source: Biennial State Plan Preprints |
Under the Administration's Good Start, Grow Smart initiative, ACF is using the biennial CCDF planning process to work with states toward the development and implementation of early learning guidelines related to the skills, knowledge, and dispositions children need when they enter kindergarten. Research indicates that learning, including early language acquisition, begins during infancy through nurturing relationships with parents and caregivers. In addition, preschool children who enter school with good language, cognitive, and social development are better prepared to succeed in kindergarten and beyond. This measure will assess the degree to which states have implemented guidelines and are using them as the basis for caregiver education and training. Because the link between caregiver behaviors and outcomes for children is well established in research, we believe this measure will serve as an indicator of child outcomes.
Data Issues: The CCDF State Plan Preprint has been revised to require states to provide information about their progress in implementing the components of Good Start, Grow Smart. On a biennial basis, the information for this measure will be available through State Plans. The CCDF reauthorization proposals receiving serious consideration in Congress would require states to report annually on their progress toward meeting quality targets. If this requirement is enacted, the data for this measure would be available through annual reports.
| FY 2004-2005 Plan | |
| 5.1f. | Increase the percentage of children from
child care settings who enter kindergarten equipped with the skills
needed to succeed in school (New - Developmental). Data Source: Under Development. National Household Education Survey (2001). |
The baseline for this measure will be created in FY 2004. This measure will assess progress toward increasing the percentage of children who have spent time in child care settings who enter kindergarten with the skills, knowledge, and dispositions they need to succeed in school. While state assessment of children entering kindergarten is not universal, a number of states have indicated they are moving in the direction of collecting this important data.
Data Issues: National survey and state-specific data sources will be explored to determine whether or not appropriate data are available. It may be necessary to add questions to an existing national survey mechanism and work with states on sound approaches for assessing kindergarten readiness. (These efforts will be aligned with the Department of Education’s work on No Child Left Behind.) Concepts such as "from child care settings" and "skills needed" will need to be operationalized in the development process.
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