Introduction
There are currently 275 EHS-CC Partnership (EHS-CCP) grantees, which will serve approximately 32,000 infants and toddlers. The continued development of EHS-CC Partnerships is occurring as states implement new provisions of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act enacted by the law’s 2014 reauthorization. This most recent reauthorization of the CCDBG Act represents an opportunity for states to enact new policies that align Early Head Start and child care, and support the EHS-CCP goals of improving capacity and quality across programs that serve low-income infants and toddlers and their families in order to enhance child well-being and school readiness outcomes.
State lead agencies are instituting several key policies that facilitate the collaboration and system building undergirding successful EHS-CCP grantees. Within this context, EHS-CCP serves as an integral component of comprehensive early childhood state system development. This brief summarizes state policy development in the following areas and implications for the effective implementation of EHS-CCP:
- Aligning CCDF and EHS Eligibility
- Waiving Family Co-Pays
- Layering Funding
- Delinking Provider Payments and Attendance
The summary of each policy area includes applicable language from the CCDBG Act of 2014 and the EHS-CCP Policy and Program Guidance Information Memorandum issued in August, 2015 (IM). Each policy area summary also lists the States that have implemented the policy, and highlights a feature state that has made significant strides in leveraging new policies to support the Partnerships and leverage state system development.*
* All State data are based on 2016-2018 Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) State Plans submitted in March 2016.