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? [x] 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: Our ￿state- funded￿ early care and education (SFECE) initiative blends state and federal funding to fund child care "seats." Delaware will utilize CCDF funding each program year to expand SFECE contracts to achieve the new CCDF rule goals. SFECE program years align to the state fiscal year. Child enrollment in our state-funded early care and education (SFECE) program is managed by the program itself, not by the Lead Agency. The Department of Education contracts with individual SFECE programs, statewide, to perform the Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment and Attendance portions of the Head Start Program Performance Standards. The Department lists each SFECE program on its website so that parents can choose to enroll their child for free if they meet the SFECE eligibility requirements. The Department of Education also contracts with a vendor to provide non-traditional hour care on Saturday and Sunday each month to families participating in Military Drill weekends. [ ] 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: [ ] No. If no, describe any Lead Agency plans to provide direct child care services through grants and contracts for child care slots: 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. [x] Children with disabilities. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: At least 10% of 1,703 seats in state fiscal year 2025 is at least 170 seats statewide per year. This number will change with each program year within the Federal Years 2025 through 2027. [x] Infants and toddlers. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: 166 infant seats and 129 toddler seats out of 1,703 seats in state fiscal year 2025. This number will change with each program year within the Federal Years 2025 through 2027. [ ] Children in underserved geographic areas. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [x] Children needing non-traditional hour care. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: Up to 20 seats one weekend per month. This number will change with each program year within the Federal Years 2025 through 2027. [ ] 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? Delaware used its Cost of Quality Calculator Tool to set conditions based on the version of the Head Start Program Performance Standards that the SFECE programs follow. The tool calculated the yearly rate per age group that the Department of Education uses for its state fiscal year contracts. 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: In home care is restricted to care for a minimum of four (4) children in the home. The total number of children who are cared for in the home may not exceed a maximum of five children. ii. [x] Restricted based on the in-home provider meeting a minimum age requirement. Describe: The provider must be 21 years of age or older. iii. [x] Restricted based on the hours of care (i.e., certain number of hours, non- traditional work hours). Describe: In home care hours is restricted to care during non-traditional hours or hours not offered by a licensed childcare facility. 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: The relative providing child care must be related to the child by marriage, blood relation or court decree and must provide verification. The relative providing child care must be related to the child in one of the following relationships: Great- Grandparent, Grandparent, Sibling, Aunt or uncle. 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: DOE conducts community needs assessments to align with its Head Start Collaboration Office and Early Head Start- Child Care Partnership grant requirements. These needs assessments align with the state funded early care and education program because each of these programs use the Head Start Program Performance Standards’ family eligibility guidelines to enroll children. Delaware uses Kids Count census data and has mapped its state funded programs and funded infant and toddler seats using its Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five funds. This map is updated quarterly with enrollment data to show any gaps in service. The Phase I Needs Assessment work from January through June 2024 also offers qualitative data on the availability of high-quality infant toddler teachers in each of the three counties among family child care programs and centers. The lack of high-quality infant toddler educators throughout the state creates infant-toddler seat shortages. ii. Method of tracking progress: Ongoing data analysis of resource and Referral data and state-funded early care and education program enrollment data, as referenced above. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes DOE contracts with family child care homes to fund free infant and toddler seats to children in families that meet eligibility requirements that are based off of the federal Head Start Program Performance Standards. Offering free child care to families addresses child care shortages. The state’s state-funded early care and education program contracts with higher rates and layers of support encourage family childcare programs to accept children. DOE also supports Family Child Care Networks throughout the state using non- CCDF federal funding. These Networks supply TA on best practices for infants and toddlers. DOE is offering Quality Improvement Awards directly to programs with state dollars. Programs must create a Quality Improvement Plan with goals on improving the quality of their professionals on staff. These grants are used on professional learning, bonuses, and stipends to encourage infant and toddler teachers to receive more specific instruction on best practice for this age group. Building the supply of high-quality infant toddler family child care providers addresses infant-toddler seat shortages. Delaware has not yet received additional state funding for infrastructure grant. Infrastructure grant policy allows family child care providers to identify goals to adjust their environments to serve more children, including additional infants and toddlers. This may be a capital improvement such as a room expansion or buying appropriate sleeping arrangements for infants and toddlers. With additional funding, this grant program will be initiated. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? Delaware plans to launch an Infrastructure Grant in state fiscal year 2025 so that programs that are getting licensed or licensed programs who need facility enhancements can receive funding to expand capacity. The state’s state-funded early care and education program contracts with higher rates and layers of support encourage family childcare programs to accept children. b. In different regions of the State or Territory: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: DOE conducts community needs assessments to align with its Head Start Collaboration Office and Early Head Start- Child Care Partnership grant requirements. These needs assessments align with the state funded early care and education program because each of these programs use the Head Start Program Performance Standards’ family eligibility guidelines to enroll children. Delaware uses Kids Count census data and has mapped its state funded programs and funded seats in all three counties using its Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five funds. This map is updated quarterly with enrollment data to show any gaps in service. The Phase I Needs Assessment work from January through June 2024 also offers qualitative data on the availability of high-quality teachers in each of the three counties among family child care programs and centers. The lack of high-quality educators throughout the state creates seat shortages. ii. Method of tracking progress: Ongoing data analysis of resource and Referral data and state-funded early care and education program enrollment data, as referenced above. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes? All initiatives are statewide, in each of Delaware’s 3 counties. DOE contracts with family child care homes to fund free, birth through age five seats to children in families that meet eligibility requirements that are based off of the federal Head Start Program Performance Standards. DOE contracts with family child care providers in all three counties, in high-need communities. Offering free child care to families addresses child care shortages across counties. The state’s state-funded early care and education program contracts with higher rates and layers of support encourage family child care programs to accept children. DOE also supports Family Child Care Networks throughout the state using non- CCDF federal funding. These Networks supply TA on best practices for instruction but also strategies to improve their business practices and remain open. DOE is offering Quality Improvement Awards directly to programs statewide with state dollars. This is for all licensed programs in all three counties. This funding was previously used for tiered rates that were lower in Kent and Sussex county than in New Castle County. Thus, this initiative supports equity in payment practices across all three counties. Programs must create a Quality Improvement Plan with goals on improving the quality of their professionals on staff. These grants are used on professional learning, bonuses, and stipends to encourage all staff to receive more specific instruction on best practice across all ages and developmental domain topics. Building the supply of high-quality center professionals addresses center seat shortages in all three counties. Delaware has not yet received additional state funding for infrastructure grant. Infrastructure grant policy allows centers to identify goals to adjust their environments to serve more children. This may be a capital improvement such as a room expansion or transportation to support families living in rural areas. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? All initiatives are statewide, in each of Delaware’s 3 counties. DOE contracts with child care centers to fund free, birth through age five seats to children in families that meet eligibility requirements that are based off of the federal Head Start Program Performance Standards. DOE contracts with family child care providers in all three counties, in high-need communities. Offering free child care to families addresses child care shortages across counties. The state’s state-funded early care and education program contracts with higher rates and layers of support encourage center-based child care programs to accept children. DOE also supports Family Child Care Networks throughout the state using non- CCDF federal funding. These Networks supply TA on best practices for instruction but also strategies to improve their business practices and remain open. DOE is offering Quality Improvement Awards directly to programs statewide with state dollars. This is for all licensed programs in all three counties. This funding was previously used for tiered rates that were lower in Kent and Sussex county than in New Castle County. Thus, this initiative supports equity in payment practices across all three counties. Programs must create a Quality Improvement Plan with goals on improving the quality of their professionals on staff. These grants are used on professional learning, bonuses, and stipends to encourage all staff to receive more specific instruction on best practice across all ages and developmental domain topics. Building the supply of high-quality center professionals addresses center seat shortages in all three counties. Delaware has not yet received additional state funding for infrastructure grant. Infrastructure grant policy allows centers to identify goals to adjust their environments to serve more children. This may be a capital improvement such as a room expansion or transportation to support families living in rural areas. c. In care for special populations: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: IDEA Annual Performance Report, Indicator 6- preschool environments data consistently shows that LEAs do not meet the state target for serving preschoolers with IEPs in regular early care and education settings, instead the majority are served in district operated special education programs. ii. Method of tracking progress: Annual federal IDEA child count and settings data, snapshot taken on December 1st each year. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes? The Department of Education's Office of Early Childhood Intervention continues to provide training and technical assistance and the IDEA funding to LEAs on the requirements to serve child in inclusive, mixed service delivery settings as well as strategies to engage and support community-based programs, including professional development for child care programs. Delaware is updating its special needs rate for Purchase of Care subsidy in state fiscal year 2025. This higher, differentiated rate will encourage providers to enroll special populations. Department of Education's Office of Early Childhood Intervention methods and the POC rates will address special populations in family child care homes. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? The Department of Education's Office of Early Childhood Intervention continues to provide training and technical assistance and the IDEA funding to LEAs on the requirements to serve child in inclusive, mixed service delivery settings as well as strategies to engage and support community-based programs, including professional development for child care programs. Delaware is updating its special needs rate for Purchase of Care subsidy in state fiscal year 2025. This higher, differentiated rate will encourage providers to enroll special populations. Department of Education's Office of Early Childhood Intervention methods and the POC rates will address special populations in child care centers. 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 lead agency uses data provided by the statewide resource and referral vendor as well as the PDG Needs Assessment to identify gaps in supply and quality of child care services. In Delaware in 2023, the total number of children ages 0-4 according to Kids Count is 52,986 children. Our 906 licensed child care facilities (which includes both centers and family child care) have a combined licensed capacity of 52,507 children. However, programs are not at full capacity due to teacher shortages. Moreover, not all parents choose to send their children to care. The Phase I Needs Assessment work from January through June 2024 also offers qualitative data on the availability of high-quality teachers in each of the three counties among family child care programs and centers. The lack of high-quality educators in our high-needs communities throughout the state creates seat shortages. One strategy used to address these gaps are the use of our contracts with our ￿state- funded￿ early care and education programs. The lead agency is currently a EHS-CCP Grantee and has used this funding to contract with providers in areas identified as underserved or child care deserts. b. Infants and toddlers. Describe: The lead agency uses data provided by the statewide resource and referral vendor as well as the PDG Needs Assessment to identify gaps in supply and quality of child care services. In Delaware in 2023, the total number of children ages 0-4 according to Kids Count is 52,986 children. Our 906 licensed child care facilities (which includes both centers and family child care) have a combined licensed capacity of 52,507 children. However, programs are not at full capacity due to teacher shortages. Moreover, not all parents choose to send their children to care. The Phase I Needs Assessment work from January through June 2024 also offers qualitative data on the availability of high-quality infant toddler teachers in each of the three counties among family child care programs and centers. The lack of high-quality infant toddler educators throughout the state creates infant-toddler seat shortages. One strategy used to address these gaps are the use of our contracts with or ￿state- funded￿ early care and education programs. DOE is currently an EHS-CCP Grantee and has used this funding to contract with providers in areas identified as underserved or childcare deserts. These state and federal funding sources were used to increase the capacity of slots for infants and toddlers and children with disabilities. c. Children with disabilities. Describe: The lead agency uses data provided by the statewide resource and referral vendor as well as the PDG Needs Assessment to identify gaps in supply and quality of child care services. In Delaware in 2023, the total number of children ages 0-4 according to Kids Count is 52,986 children. Our 906 licensed child care facilities (which includes both centers and family child care) have a combined licensed capacity of 52,507 children. However, programs are not at full capacity due to teacher shortages. Moreover, not all parents choose to send their children to care. One strategy used to address these gaps are the use of our contracts with or ￿state- funded￿ early care and education programs. Because Delaware only tracks enrollment for state funded early care and education programs and our federal Head Start partner programs, we are not clear on all of the gaps in services for children with disabilities among all of our licensed child care programs. We are currently identifying gaps using our quarterly reports from state funded early care and education programs. Since these programs must enroll at least 10% children with disabilities, we are able to see where programs are not meeting this requirement throughout the state. DOE is currently an EHS-CCP Grantee and has used this funding to contract with providers in areas identified as underserved or childcare deserts. These state and federal funding sources were used to increase the capacity of slots for infants and toddlers and children with disabilities. d. Children who receive care during non-traditional hours. Describe: The lead agency uses data provided by the statewide resource and referral vendor as well as the PDG Needs Assessment to identify gaps in supply and quality of child care services. The Phase I Needs Assessment work from January through June 2024 also offers qualitative data on the desire for non-traditional hours of care on the weekend. Overnight care has not been identified as a high priority from Delaware’s families. Delaware only funds one non-traditional hour contract with a licensed child care site. This is for military drill weekend Saturday and Sunday care for military families using the Dover Air Force Base. There is a gap in the supply of child care services during non-traditional hours because Delaware only funds this one contract to support weekend care. e. Other. Specify what population is being focused on to increase supply or improve quality. Describe: 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 Lead Agency prioritizes increasing access to high quality child care and development services for children and families in areas that have significant concentrations of poverty and unemployment through many of its policies, including: allowing providers to charge the difference between their private rate and the state reimbursement rate; contracting with providers to offer seats through the EHS-CCP partnership; and encouraging participation in the state’s Quality Improvement System technical assistance and award process. Delaware’s state-funded early care and education program is a variation of the Head Start model, and therefore signifies the state's priority to fund programs that are located throughout Delaware’s high-need communities. Therefore, the initiative aligns fully with the goal of prioritizing increased access to high-quality childcare and development services for children of families in areas that have significant concentrations of poverty and unemployment. Moreover, programs follow Head Start guidance on enrollment and attendance, improving children’s participation in daily high-quality programming. Programs must enroll children who meet the Head Start Program Performance Standards eligibility requirements. Programs receive contracts for seats for children birth to five between 100% and 130% of FPL. These programs receive a contract for enrolled seats at a higher rate closer to the cost of quality, as determined by the Cost of Quality calculator tool developed by the state in 2021. Programs are required to meet the key practices and quality indicators as well as program standards that are variations of the Head Start Program Performance Standards. To meet this level of high-quality, they receive intensive technical assistance from a Delaware Stars Quality Improvement Specialist and have Communities of Practices monthly with their peers. Programs who applied for the Request for Proposal (RFP) to contract as a ￿state-funded early care and education program￿ were given a score based on their ability to meet the high-quality goals and requirements of state-funded programming. Based on their RFP score, programs became awarded vendors. Programs who scored high enough to contract for seats were prioritized in locations in high need zip codes throughout the state. High-need zip codes were defined by a statewide needs assessment conducted by MIECHV and the Department of Education’s list of ￿Promise Communities.￿ A total of 52 sites throughout the state met the criteria of the RFP and became awarded vendors. 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.