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sources and efforts described. From a state-level perspective, there does not appear to be a significant shortage of child care supply for infants and toddlers. For licensed child care learning centers in the state, 75% are licensed for infant care and 81% are licensed for toddler care. For licensed family child care learning homes in the state, 88% are licensed for infant care and 98% are licensed for toddler care. In terms of estimated service levels, the Lead Agency estimates that approximately 20 percent of children 0 up to 5 (not school-age), are in licensed child care. As a group, the percent of infants and toddlers in care is approximately 17.4 percent, with infants estimated at 14.7 percent and toddlers at 18.7 percent. Preschooler children in care is estimated to be 22.6 percent statewide. So, the infant and toddler populations are somewhat less represented than the total 0 up to 5 and preschool population. This could indicate a potential gap, or shortage of supply, for infants and toddlers. Another potential gap may exist in the Lead Agency's northeast administrative region. When looking at the Lead Agency's supply and demand dashboard, only 14.8 percent of infant and toddlers are estimated to be served compared to 17.4 percent statewide. The northeast administrative region has the greatest number of licensed child care programs and most total child care capacity of any administrative region. Upon closer inspection and considering the number of programs actually licensed to care for infants and toddlers, the data shows that for infant care, the northeast region lags behind four of the six regions in the state. For toddler care, the northeast region lags behind all five other regions. This information seems to indicate that a supply-side gap exists but the more needs to be done to understand if there are demand factors contributing to the potential lack of supply.

The Lead Agency is currently working to better understand and interpret the supply data and collect more demand data to establish criteria by which to measure supply and demand at the statewide level and various local levels where greater variation may exist and define a quantitative method for identifying potential gaps throughout the state. Doing so, would assist the lead agency to develop the appropriate strategies based on the needs of communities where gaps may exist. Until a quantitative method is defined, more general strategies are in place and those include higher subsidy rates for infant and toddler care, technical assistance specifically for implementing best practices in infant and toddler classrooms, offers business support through the Thriving Child Care Business Academy online platform of free training and resources to give owners and administrators the knowledge and tools to enhance their financial management skills with the goal of making their centers and family homes thriving child care businesses, and continuous improvement of the child care licensing process to ease the potential burdens related to becoming a licensed child care program serving infants and toddlers. ii. Method of tracking progress: The Lead Agency’s Research and Policy Analysis Team and Enterprise PM Director report trends for relevant data at the monthly, quarterly, and annual level. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes For licensed family child care learning homes in the state, 88 percent are licensed for infant care and 98 percent are licensed for toddler care. In the northeast