Early Care and Learning

Explore California’s young child population and the state’s overarching approach to early care and learning, including learning more about voucher-based childcare programs, such as California Alternative Payment Programs, CalWORKs Child Care, Family Child Care Homes Educational Network, and Emergency Child Care Bridge for Foster Children; Contract-based childcare programs, such as General Child Care and Development, Migrant Child Care and Development Programs, Children with Severe Disabilities, and California State Preschool; and School-based programs serving young children, such as Transitional Kindergarten, and after school/expanded learning programs.

Learning Objectives for this Section

To develop:

• A clear understanding of California’s young child population, including demographic trends and key indicators of child well-being.
• A grounding in the research-based evidence on the benefits of early childhood development and learning programs.
• Familiarity with the overall structure of California’s state-subsidized, mixed-delivery early care and learning system.

Delve into historical trends that have shaped early care and learning in California, along with key national and state policy milestones, while learning the relationship between federal, state and local entities with programmatic and fiscal responsibilities in the sector.

Learning Objectives for this Section

To develop:

• An understanding of how the state and federal governance role in childcare, preschool, kindergarten/transitional kindergarten and afterschool programs has evolved and how that history has shaped the early care and learning sector in the state.
• Greater knowledge about the various federal, state and local entities with a governance role in this sector and an understanding of the relationship between their governance role and their corresponding responsibilities.

Learn how the federal and state finance framework is currently constructed and explore several key federal, state, and local funding and budgeting dynamics. 

Learning Objectives for this Section

To develop:

• An understanding of the federal, state, and local funding sources that subsidize  early care and learning programs in California.
• A working knowledge of how subsidized funding is distributed.
• An awareness of local program budget considerations and key cost drivers.
• An ability to leverage your understanding of these funding dynamics as you pursue early care and learning policy priorities, including navigating the budget process.

Focus on the core elements of program design and how policymakers play a role in defining, funding and monitoring these program components.

Learning Objectives for this Section

To develop:

• An understanding of the policy framework that shapes early care and learning programs in California, including:
  • Health and safety standards,
  • Learning foundations,
  • Curriculum,
  • Screenings and Assessments, 
  • Additional program design elements that impact child outcomes (e.g., facilities, ratios, and group sizes), and
  • Workforce requirements.
• A working knowledge of the critical skills necessary for effectively staffing an early care and learning bill to maximize the likelihood of success, including developing key materials, communicating with committee staff and understanding applicable deadlines.

Explore the state’s role in infrastructure. This includes hard and soft infrastructures that policymakers and practitioners use to support the effective delivery of services and programs.

Learning Objectives for this Section

To develop:

• An understanding of the requirements and challenges related to the physical space that early care and learning programs utilize to provide services to children.
• Greater capacity to use California’s early care and learning data systems, including learning where the data is housed, as well as explore the dynamics programs and the state face when attempting to coordinate and use data in meaningful ways.
• Working knowledge of the current infrastructure in place to support early care and learning programs and to continuously improve the quality of care and learning experiences they provide to children.