4.5 Supply Building

Building a supply of high-quality child care that meets the needs and preferences of parents participating in CCDF is necessary to meet CCDF’s core purposes. Lead Agencies must support parent choice by providing some portion of direct services via grants or contracts, including at a minimum for children in underserved geographic areas, infants and toddlers, and children with disabilities. 4.5.1 Child care services available through grants or contracts Does the Lead Agency provide direct child care services through grants or contracts for child care slots? [ ] Yes, statewide. Describe how the Lead Agency ensures that parents who enroll with a provider who has a grant or contract have choices when selecting a provider: [ ] Yes, in some jurisdictions, but not statewide. Describe how many jurisdictions use grants or contracts for child care slots and how the Lead Agency ensures that parents who enroll with a provider who has a grant or contract have choices when selecting a provider: [x] No. If no, describe any Lead Agency plans to provide direct child care services through grants and contracts for child care slots: The OEC will submit a 2 year waiver to meet compliance with the 2024 Final Rule to implement some grants and contracts. If no, skip to question 4.5.2. i. If yes, identify the populations of children served through grants or contracts for child care slots (check all that apply). For each population selected, identify the number of slots allocated through grants or contracts for direct service of children receiving CCDF. [ ] Children with disabilities. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Infants and toddlers. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Children in underserved geographic areas. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Children needing non-traditional hour care. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] School-age children. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Children experiencing homelessness. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Children in urban areas. Percent of CCDF children served in an average month: [ ] Children in rural areas. Percent of CCDF children served in an average month: [ ] Other populations. If checked, describe: ii. If yes, how are rates for slots funded by grants and contracts determined by the Lead Agency? 4.5.2 Care in the child’s home (in-home care) The Lead Agency must allow for in-home care (i.e., care provided in the child’s own home) but may limit its use. Will the Lead Agency limit the use of in-home care in any way? [x] Yes. [ ] No. If yes, what limits will the Lead Agency set on the use of in-home care? Check all that apply. i. [x] Restricted based on the minimum number of children in the care of the in- home provider to meet the Fair Labor Standards Act (minimum wage) requirements. Describe: The Office of Early Childhood will allow only the child’s relative to provide care unless the provider has a license. The capacity of in-home care provided by relatives will be restricted to a total of three children with no more than two children under the age of two. ii. [x] Restricted based on the in-home provider meeting a minimum age requirement. Describe: The provider shall be no less than twenty (20) years of age and physically, emotionally and mentally able to handle child care responsibilities and emergencies and shall be free from any mental, emotional, or physical health problems. iii. [ ] Restricted based on the hours of care (i.e., certain number of hours, non- traditional work hours). Describe: iv. [x] Restricted to care by relatives. (A relative provider must be at least 18 years of age based on the definition of eligible child care provider.) Describe: All unlicensed home-based providers must be related to the child by blood, marriage, or adoption. This means the child is a grandchild, great-grandchild, niece, nephew, or sibling (only a sibling living outside of the child’s home) to the provider. All relative providers must be 20 years of age or older. All new relative providers may only care for a total of three (3) children at a time. Of those children, only two (2) children may be under the age of two. All relative providers must complete and post this Emergency Plan. All Care 4 Kids relative providers may only care for a total of three (3) children at a time. Of those children, only two (2) children may be under the age of two. v. [ ] Restricted to care for children with special needs or a medical condition. Describe: vi. [ ] Restricted to in-home providers that meet additional health and safety requirements beyond those required by CCDF. Describe: vii. [ ] Other. Describe: 4.5.3 Shortages in the supply of child care Lead Agencies must identify shortages in the supply of child care providers that meet parents’ needs and preferences. What child care shortages has the Lead Agency identified in the State or Territory, and what is the plan to address the child care shortages? a. In infant and toddler programs: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: Connecticut has several sources to assess progress towards meeting unmet need in infant and toddler care. The model developed for Connecticut’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Care report which was published in December of 2023 and cited a shortage of 17,000 infants and toddlers, reflecting in part the relatively high cost of providing care for that age group in combination with an educator workforce shortage, and The United Way of Connecticut’s 2-1-1 data system which reflects the supply of care by tracking enrollment and openings for all open licensed and license-exempt programs. CT Data and Bipartisan Policy Center also provide shortage estimates. In addition, in January 2024, Connecticut’s Voices for Children published the State of Early Childhood: A Response to the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Care ￿ A Continuation of Spotlighting Disenfranchised Populations documenting on page 24 the shortage of child care slots in Connecticut. Contributing to this statistic is a shortage of early care and education teachers according to a report and interactive map released by United Way of CT in February 2024 https://resources.211childcare.org/map/, noting that while there are child care slot available for infant -toddler, preschool and school age care, they are not necessarily located in the areas of most need. ii. Method of tracking progress: Unmet need is tracked by United Way of CT through ongoing outreach to providers and families and updates to their 211 Child Care Data System https://resources.211childcare.org/map/, as well as by CT Data https://data.ct.gov/Education/Unmet-Need-For-Infant-Toddler-and-Preschool- Care/k5y6-wdht/data?pane=feed. The model used in the Connecticut’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Care report of December of 2023 can continue to track unmet need. It relies on the United Way 2-1-1 provider tracking system, which draws from ongoing program survey and extrapolated data to estimate supply and is reflected in this interactive map: https://resources.211childcare.org/map/. On the demand side, national parent surveys were used to estimate parent preferences for formal care for infants and toddlers. These assumptions about parent preferences, which were then applied to town level population data, can also be updated as applicable. CT Data source uses OEC licensed supply data and the 2-1-1 system and demand data are drawn from IPUMS NHGIS data which allow for estimates of population data by age at the town level. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes The OEC funded Staffed Family Child Care Networks are charged with outreach to recruit new providers to the professional to increase the supply of family child care personnel. Network staff provide guided support to the OEC child care licensing process using the OEC Licensing TA Guidance document and engage individuals in network activities to develop provider knowledge and improve the quality of these providers’ home based care. To further incentivize this activity in support of increasing the number of family child care homes, the OEC includes this activity in a rate card opportunity for SFCCNs. In 2022, CT OEC negotiated a new contract with SEIU FCC providers, that contained a historic 3-year subsidy rate increase to retain current and attract new FCC providers. Additionally, OEC is working with SEIU on an FCC apprenticeship program. The new Family Child Care Registered Apprenticeship Program is a collaboration between the Connecticut Department of Labor, Office of Early Childhood and CSEA SEIU Local 2001, and is designed to encourage jobseekers to enter careers in home-based child care https://www.housedems.ct.gov/new-child-care-worker-apprentice-program. Another promising model to expand and stabilize the child care industry is Connecticut’s licensed family child care incubator model, the first in the nation. This pilot program, established by P.A. 21-171, allows a family child care home license to be issued to a provider who wishes to operate outside a private family home if they’ve partnered with an organization to provide child care services in a space provided by the organization, and is further approved by the Office of Early Childhood. This model allows licensed family child care providers to work in shared space, participate in comprehensive training, create business efficiencies such as backroom administrative operations, and work together as a team https://www.ctoec.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/oec-testimony-commerce- committee-sb249-early-childhood-business-incubator-2024-03-05.pdf. In addition, OEC has drafted legislation for this year to expand the incubator model by removing the sunset date, allowing for more than one facility per community, allowing for expansion in any community. S.B 249 passed unanimously in the Senate and is now headed to the House for a vote. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? CCDF will be conducting a Care 4 Kids’ contracted slots pilot that targets the infant/toddler shortage, especially in higher SVI areas. Estimated launch will be in SFY 26. OEC’s school readiness child care program also responded to providers’ need for infant toddler slots by allowing center-based school readiness programs to convert preschool SR slots to I/T SR slots. The OEC provides technical assistance to increase staff knowledge and strengthen implementation of best practices, thereby improving working conditions for staff, which helps to stabilize the workforce in centers and homes. For center based programs, providers receive increased subsidy rates for accreditation, bringing additional funds to those programs which helps to improve wages and further stabilize staffing. As part of the historic rate 3 year subsidy rate increase for FCCs, CT’s OEC Commissioner worked with the Governor’s office and legislators to build the same rate increase which spans across all child care age groups into the state budget for child care centers and group homes to support child care providers bottom line and provide some funding for teachers to address staff shortages. b. In different regions of the State or Territory: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: In January 2024, Connecticut’s Voices for Children published the State of Early Childhood: A Response to the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Care ￿ A Continuation of Spotlighting Disenfranchised Populations documenting on page 24 the shortage of child care slots in Connecticut. This report pulled data from Connecticut’s Blue Ribbon Panel report published December 8, 2023 https://www.ctoec.org/blue-ribbon-panel/ quoting a shortage of approximately 17,000 infant toddler slots. Contributing to this statistic is a shortage of early care and education teachers according to a report and interactive map released by United Way of CT in February 2024 https://resources.211childcare.org/map/, noting that while there are child care slot available for infant -toddler, preschool and school age care, they are not necessarily located in the areas of most need. ii. Method of tracking progress: Unmet need is tracked by United Way of CT through ongoing outreach to providers and families and updates to their 211 Child Care Data System https://resources.211childcare.org/map/, as well as by CT Data https://data.ct.gov/Education/Unmet-Need-For-Infant-Toddler-and-Preschool- Care/k5y6-wdht/data?pane=feed. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes? In 2022, CT OEC negotiated a new contract with SEIU FCC providers, that contained a historic 3-year subsidy rate increase to retain current and attract new FCC providers. Additionally, OEC is working with SEIU on an FCC apprenticeship program. The new Family Child Care Registered Apprenticeship Program is a collaboration between the Connecticut Department of Labor, Office of Early Childhood and CSEA SEIU Local 2001, and is designed to encourage jobseekers to enter careers in home-based child care https://www.housedems.ct.gov/new- child-care-worker-apprentice-program. Another promising model to expand and stabilize the child care industry is Connecticut’s licensed family child care incubator model, the first in the nation. This pilot program, established by P.A. 21- 171, allows a family child care home license to be issued to a provider who wishes to operate outside a private family home if they’ve partnered with an organization to provide child care services in a space provided by the organization, and is further approved by the Office of Early Childhood. This model allows licensed family child care providers to work in shared space, participate in comprehensive training, create business efficiencies such as backroom administrative operations, and work together as a team https://www.ctoec.org/wp- content/uploads/2024/03/oec-testimony-commerce-committee-sb249-early- childhood-business-incubator-2024-03-05.pdf. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? As part of the historic 3-year subsidy rate increase for FCCs, CT’s OEC Commissioner worked with the Governor’s office and legislators to build the same rate increase which spans across all child care age groups into the state budget for child care centers and group homes to support child care providers bottom line and provide some funding for teachers to address staff shortages. Additionally, child care centers are actively encouraged, and are taking advantage of OEC’s Qualified Workforce Incentives program, as well as the apprenticeship program, the Workforce Pipeline which is now on its 3rd cohort. c. In care for special populations: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: In January 2024, Connecticut’s Voices for Children published the State of Early Childhood: A Response to the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Care ￿ A Continuation of Spotlighting Disenfranchised Populations documenting on page 24 the shortage of child care slots in Connecticut. This report pulled data from Connecticut’s Blue Ribbon Panel report published December 8, 2023 https://www.ctoec.org/blue-ribbon-panel/ quoting a shortage of approximately 17,000 infant toddler slots. Contributing to this statistic is a shortage of early care and education teachers according to a report and interactive map released by United Way of CT in February 2024 https://resources.211childcare.org/map/, noting that while there are child care slot available for infant -toddler, preschool and school age care, they are not necessarily located in the areas of most need. ii. Method of tracking progress: Unmet need is tracked by United Way of CT through ongoing outreach to providers and families and updates to their 211 Child Care Data System https://resources.211childcare.org/map/, as well as by CT Data https://data.ct.gov/Education/Unmet-Need-For-Infant-Toddler-and-Preschool- Care/k5y6-wdht/data?pane=feed. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes? In 2022, CT OEC negotiated a new contract with SEIU FCC providers, that contained a historic 3-year subsidy rate increase to retain current and attract new FCC providers. Additionally, OEC is working with SEIU on an FCC apprenticeship program. The new Family Child Care Registered Apprenticeship Program is a collaboration between the Connecticut Department of Labor, Office of Early Childhood and CSEA SEIU Local 2001, and is designed to encourage jobseekers to enter careers in home-based child care https://www.housedems.ct.gov/new- child-care-worker-apprentice-program. Another promising model to expand and stabilize the child care industry is Connecticut’s licensed family child care incubator model, the first in the nation. This pilot program, established by P.A. 21- 171, allows a family child care home license to be issued to a provider who wishes to operate outside a private family home if they’ve partnered with an organization to provide child care services in a space provided by the organization, and is further approved by the Office of Early Childhood. This model allows licensed family child care providers to work in shared space, participate in comprehensive training, create business efficiencies such as backroom administrative operations, and work together as a team https://www.ctoec.org/wp- content/uploads/2024/03/oec-testimony-commerce-committee-sb249-early- childhood-business-incubator-2024-03-05.pdf. CT OEC offers C4K providers a 25% increase in their C4K rate when they accept children with special needs. Families need only to complete the user-friendly form and obtain a specialist’s signature to confirm the specific needs of the child. C4K providers are offered free professional development opportunities that support their training for working with special needs children. Additionally, we are working with our SEIU partner and our staffed family child care networks to develop tailored training for licensed FCCs to support their professional growth and skills to work with children with special needs. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? As part of the historic 3-year subsidy rate increase for FCCs, CT’s OEC Commissioner worked with the Governor’s office and legislators to build the same rate increase which spans across all child care age groups into the state budget for child care centers and group homes to support child care providers bottom line and provide some funding for teachers to address staff shortages. CT OEC offers C4K providers a 25% increase in their C4K rate when they accept children with special needs. Families need only to complete the user-friendly form and obtain a specialist’s signature to confirm the specific needs of the child. C4K providers are offered free professional development opportunities that support their training for working with special needs children. CT OEC offers C4K providers a 25% increase in their C4K rate when they accept children with special needs. Families need only to complete the user-friendly form and obtain a specialist’s signature to confirm the specific needs of the child. C4K providers are offered free professional development opportunities that support their training for working with special needs children. 4.5.4 Strategies to increase the supply of and improve quality of child care Lead Agencies must develop and implement strategies to increase the supply of and improve the quality of child care services. These strategies must address child care in underserved geographic areas; infants and toddlers; children with disabilities, as defined by the Lead Agency; and children who receive care during non-traditional hours. How does the Lead Agency identify any gaps in the supply and quality of child care services and what strategies are used to address those gaps for: a. Underserved geographic areas. Describe: The CCDF Subsidy program allows for use of Licensed and Exempt Center based, Licensed Group and Family Home Child Care and Unlicensed Relative care. Allowing parents access to various types of settings in neighborhoods across the state. The Northwest and Eastern regions are the most rural communities and have lower numbers of child care provider within x miles of families homes or workplace. In these communities for Preschool and School Age children, many School Districts provide Preschool and after school care. Other supports include the State funded Early Care and Education through contracted programs such as School Readiness and Child Day Care, Smart Start along with Early Head Start, Head Start. b. Infants and toddlers. Describe: The OEC is funding a state-wide Staffed Family Child Care Network system. The funding of these networks are to increase the supply of infants and toddlers, reduce administrative costs of family childcare providers through technical assistance, training, and back office support. As OEC works with providers to make infant and toddler care more affordable, the expectation is that providers will pass on the cost savings to families, thereby increasing both access and affordability of care. c. Children with disabilities. Describe: The Care 4Kids Child Care Subsidy program rates for care of Children with Special Needs are paid at 25% higher than the base rates, to provide financial support for care accommodations. The OEC’s Division of Quality Improvement has collaborated with CTs Regional Educational Service Centers’ (RESC) Alliance to revise state trainings and materials for virtual, interactive presentation for the EC workforce. The revision of these materials and training includes content specific to infant / toddler teachers who work with diverse children and families. The CCDF Administrator is working closely with the OEC's Family Support Division who oversees the agency's Birth to Three, IDEA, Part C Program, to raise awareness and provide information regarding the importance of early screening and referral, as well as outreach strategies to engage families in these important practices. In addition, the OEC will continue to pursue strategies to build provider comfort and confidence in supporting children with special needs, and to better coordinate access to early intervention in all child care settings. The OEC is pursuing ways to connect the CCDF program with the State Systemic Improvement Plan, specifically around improving education and outreach to increase access for children with special needs. Through Sparkler, a mobile family engagement platform, available in English and Spanish, Connecticut parents and caregivers are empowered as first teachers and helps outreach systems serve families better, together. For families with children from birth to kindergarten, Sparkler offers: (1) mobile screening to provide easy access to developmental screening and support, (2) a library of 1000+ play activities and parenting tips, just right to spark parent-child co-play and development, and (3) connection with other parents/caregivers and parenting support from professionals. For educators and providers, Sparkler connects families with children ages 0-5 directly with early intervention based upon results from their answers to the integrated Ages and Stages Questionnaire screening tool. d. Children who receive care during non-traditional hours. Describe: The Care 4 Kids Child Care program allows and pays for care during non-traditional hours. The rate is the same as if it were during daytime hours. Care hours must align with the Parent’s work, training or education schedule. In a study of the hours of care during calendar year 2022, just under 5% (>500) families in Care 4 Kids were approved for non-traditional hours between 6pm and 6am. Services were provided in 30 Licensed Center/Group, 146 Licensed Family Homes, and 309 Unlicensed Relative provider homes. The request for care during Non- traditional hours was about six times more than those eligible for non-traditional care at that time. e. Other. Specify what population is being focused on to increase supply or improve quality. Describe: The Connecticut Office of Early Childhood has invested in ELEVATE, a state initiative that supports all child care providers in providing quality child care for families. Every licensed child care provider in Connecticut has an Elevate level. A provider’s Elevate level reflects where they are in the process of strengthening their program. This is focused statewide on both supply and quality of child care. 4.5.5 Prioritization of investments in areas of concentrated poverty and unemployment Lead Agencies must prioritize investments for increasing access to high-quality child care and development services for children of families in areas that have significant concentrations of poverty and unemployment and do not currently have sufficient numbers of such programs. Describe how the Lead Agency prioritizes increasing access to high-quality child care and development services for children of families in areas that have significant concentrations of poverty and unemployment and that do not have access to high-quality programs. The Office of Early Childhood uses State Department of Education's Priority, Competitive, and Alliance districts, as identified in legislation to prioritize state funded preschool funding. In addition, the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood uses the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) in determining higher need communities and neighborhoods. In designing our Care 4 Kids contracting pilot, OEC is using SVI data to recognize communities with an SVI >.8 who are significantly more under resourced, as part of our decision logic. SVI was also used in the decision-making process for our Workforce Pipeline, apprenticeship program. 5 Health and Safety of Child Care Settings Child care health and safety standards and enforcement practices are essential to protect the health and safety of children while out of their parents’ care. CCDF provides a minimum threshold for child care health and safety policies and practices but leaves authority to Lead Agencies to design standards that appropriately protect children’s safety and promote nurturing environments that support their healthy growth and development. Lead Agencies should set standards for ratios, group size limits, and provider qualifications that help ensure that the child care environment is conducive to safety and learning and enable caregivers to promote all domains of children’s development. CCDF health and safety standards help set clear expectations for CCDF providers, form the foundation for health and safety training for child care workers, and establish the baseline for monitoring to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements. These health and safety requirements apply to all providers serving children receiving CCDF services – whether the providers are licensed or license-exempt, must be appropriate to the provider setting and age of the children served, must include specific topics and training on those topics, and are subject to monitoring and enforcement procedures by the Lead Agency. CCDF-required annual monitoring and enforcement actions help ensure that CCDF providers are adopting and implementing health and safety requirements. Through child care licensing, Lead Agencies set minimum requirements, including health and safety requirements, that child care providers must meet to legally operate in that State or Territory. In some cases, CCDF health and safety requirements may be integrated within the licensing system for licensed providers and may be separate for CCDF providers who are license- exempt. This section addresses CCDF health and safety requirements, Lead Agency licensing requirements and exemptions, and comprehensive background checks. When responding to questions in this section, OCC recognizes that each Lead Agency identifies and defines its own categories of care. OCC does not expect Lead Agencies to change their definitions to fit the CCDF-defined categories of care. For these questions, provide responses that best match the CCDF categories of care.