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 Lead Agency has applied for a waiver to provide time to operationalize grants or contracts for direct child care services for children with disabilities, infants and toddlers and children in underserved geographic areas. The Lead Agency has requested technical assistance from federal partners and is researching other states' policies in this area. Prior to the waiver expiration, the Lead Agency will develop and execute a plan to meet this requirement. 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. [ ] 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: ii. [x] Restricted based on the in-home provider meeting a minimum age requirement. Describe: The provider must be at least 18 years of age. iii. [ ] Restricted based on the hours of care (i.e., certain number of hours, non- traditional work hours). Describe: iv. [ ] 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: v. [x] Restricted to care for children with special needs or a medical condition. Describe: When the provider and child live in the same residence, in-home care may only be approved if a child has verified special needs and receives approval by the Lead Agency. The provider must be at least 18 years of age and cannot be a sibling. In-home care may be approved during the time the customer is employed or in approved activities outside of the home. As long as at least one child in the home has special needs and qualifies for in-home care, child care may be provided for all siblings in the home with a maximum group size of 10 children. vi. [x] Restricted to in-home providers that meet additional health and safety requirements beyond those required by CCDF. Describe: Although CCDF waives certain requirements for relatives, the Lead Agency has the same health and safety requirements for related and non-related family, friend and neighbor providers; including for in-home care providers. vii. [x] Other. Describe: In-home care may be approved when the child and provider live in separate residences. Child care may be provided for all siblings in the home with a maximum group size of 10 children. A provider must provide care in the provider's home if they choose to provide care for additional families. 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: The Lead Agency has identified shortages in the supply of licensed child care providers. The Lead Agency conducted an analysis of Utah's child care capacity and published the findings in March 2020. This analysis, Child Care Access in Utah, determined that 54 percent of Utah children are living in families for which there is a child care need. The analysis concluded that regulated child care met only 35 percent of the need for child care in Utah at that time, leaving a gap of 65 percent. The methodology used to complete this analysis was thorough and considered a number of different factors to reach its conclusion. However, factors such as family choice and cultural preferences must be considered. It is clear from the 2017 Utah Parental Child Care Survey that not all families with a child care need select regulated child care and instead rely on alternative, informal child care arrangements. As a result, the gap is likely to be less than what has been determined within the context of the analysis. In the past three years, Utah used COVID funds to engage in a great deal of provider recruitment in both family and center based care. Start up funding was made available and capacity has increased throughout the state, even in rural areas. The Care About Child Care Agencies have made great strides in recruiting new providers. Utah has increased the number of licensed center based child care facilities in the state greatly since 2021. In April of 2021, there were 357 licensed child care center programs. In April of 2024 that number had grown to 433 or an increase of 76 center-based programs. Utah has also increased the number of licensed family child care programs in the state since 2021. In April of 2021 there were 748 licensed family child care providers. In April of 2024 that number had grown to 856, or an increase of 108 family child care programs. Although this is not enough to fill the gap established in 2020, substantial progress has been made. The Lead Agency has identified greater shortages among licensed child care providers serving infants and toddlers. Analyzing the vacancy rates in counties for infants and toddlers in the 2020 study, it revealed seventeen out of twenty-nine counties have a vacancy rate of less than 15 percent for this age group. The Lead Agency considers a vacancy rate of less than 15 percent to reveal a supply shortage for the age group. Data sources include: 2020 Child Care Access in Utah (https://jobs.utah.gov/occ/ccaccess.pdf) 2019 Utah Preschool Development Grant B-5 needs Assessment (https://jobs.utah.gov/occ/needsassessment.pdf) 2017 Utah Parental Child Care Survey Utah’s Cost of Care Analysis Market Rate Survey Care About Childcare (CAC) Database ii. Method of tracking progress: The Lead Agency will use the CAC Database to track vacancy rates and the number of slots available for children under three in different areas of the state. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes The Lead Agency will continue its efforts in partnership with the six Care About Child Care Agencies throughout the state to support recruitment and retention efforts, including offering family child care start-up grants. Through the infant and toddler quality support grant, funds are available for equipment, materials and supplies for programs that care for infants and toddlers that are participating in our Child Care Quality System. Family child care programs that apply for and receive a rating of Certified Foundation of Quality or Certified Building Quality may receive funding to increase the quality of their environments for children age birth to 36 months. This grant can help ease the cost burdens of accepting infants and toddlers into the program. The Lead Agency will also develop grants or contracts for direct services but will request a waiver to allow for time to develop and operationalize these opportunities. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? The Lead Agency will continue its efforts in partnership with the six Care About Child Care Agencies throughout the state to support recruitment and retention efforts. Through the infant and toddler quality support grant, funds are available for equipment, materials and supplies for programs that care for infants and toddlers that are participating in our Child Care Quality System. Child care centers that apply for and receive a rating of Certified Foundation of Quality or Certified Building Quality may receive funding to increase the quality of their environments for children age birth to 36 months. This grant can help ease the cost burdens of opening and operating infant and toddler classrooms. The Lead Agency will also develop grants or contracts for direct services but will request a waiver to allow for time to develop and operationalize these opportunities. b. In different regions of the State or Territory: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: With regard to geographic shortages, the Lead Agency analyzed capacity in each of Utah's 29 counties in the 2020 Child Care Access Study. Shortages for licensed care exist throughout the state but are most prominent in urban counties. The largest gaps that exist between the estimated number of children that have a child care need and the number of slots available are in six of Utah's urban counties. There are also clear shortages throughout Utah's rural counties. In fact, the 2020 report revealed there were four rural counties that lack any regulated licensed child care providers. These four counties actually have the designation of frontier counties. It is important to note that since the report was written, one of these counties, with the support of their local CAC Agency, opened a center. Due to population in the other three counties, it is unlikely that this issue could be addressed with center-based care options. To identify geographic shortages, the Lead Agency contracts with the six Care About Childcare (CAC) agencies to track the number of licensed and legally license-exempt child care providers located within their designated service delivery areas. The Care About Childcare website includes data from the Child Care Licensing's database to enable CAC agencies to continuously assess the capacity, enrollment and number of vacancies for all age groups the child care programs serve. Child care programs have the ability to access this database to update their facility information at any time. Each CAC Agency also engages in outreach activities and offers small incentives to programs to keep their program data current in the website. The Lead Agency utilizes this data to identify areas where supply of quality child care may be lacking. Some respondents in the 2017 Utah Parental Child Care survey indicated that the reason they did not use paid child care was because they were concerned about the lack of quality care in their area. After the study was published, Utah launched its Quality Rating and Improvement System called the Child Care Quality System (CCQS) in October of 2019 in an effort to raise quality in programs and provide consumer education to parents regarding a program's status of quality. Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused the Lead Agency to pause the program for 18 months, the Lead Agency does have the system now fully implemented for licensed centers and licensed family child care programs. Centers were re-rated beginning November 2021 and family child care received the first certified ratings in August 2022. As of April 2024, 117 of 433 licensed center-based programs in Utah have a certified quality rating. Among them, 38 programs achieved a rating of high quality and five achieved a rating of High Quality Plus. The majority of the programs rated as high quality are located along Utah’s most populous area in four counties across the Wasatch Front. Only eight programs in rural counties are certified as High Quality. In licensed family child care, there are 59 of 856 licensed programs rated across the entire state. Out of those, 23 are rated High Quality. Of those 23, only 7 are located in rural counties. This indicates that there is a shortage of known high quality programs in both center-based and family child care in all areas of the state. There is much work to do in increasing the number of high quality programs. Data sources include: 2020 Child Care Access in Utah (https://jobs.utah.gov/occ/ccaccess.pdf) 2019 Utah Preschool Development Grant B-5 needs Assessment (https://jobs.utah.gov/occ/needsassessment.pdf) Care About Childcare (CAC) Database 2017 Utah Parental Child Care Survey Utah’s Cost of Care Analysis Market Rate Survey ii. Method of tracking progress: The Lead Agency will review quarterly reports from the Care About Childcare agencies that demonstrate the opening of programs supported with start-up funds as well as track vacancy rates, slots and quality ratings in different areas of the state through the Care About Childcare Program Database. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes? The Lead Agency will continue its efforts in partnership with the six Care About Child Care Agencies throughout the state to support recruitment and retention efforts. All CAC agencies use start-up grants to support and recruit providers. Efforts to recruit providers vary by geographic region. Some CAC Agencies place information at local grocery store bulletin boards or in other public spaces with information about how they can receive support to start a child care business in their home. Others use bus bench advertising or billboards. There are staff available in each CAC region to help individuals walk through the process of becoming a licensed provider. Resources are provided, individuals are connected to Child Care Licensing and reimbursement for costs associated with licensure are available. Additional funds have been made available in the CAC Agencies that serve the majority of Utah’s rural counties to provide funding for the recruitment, training and licensure of providers in rural areas where data demonstrates there is a lack of providers. The CAC agencies work to recruit individuals that may be currently providing FFN care to become licensed and expand services to other families. In addition, the Lead Agency plans to develop grants or contracts for direct services in underserved geographic areas but will request a waiver to allow for time to develop and operationalize these opportunities. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? The Lead Agency will continue its efforts in partnership with two of the Care About Child Care Agencies in the most rural counties to support recruitment and retention efforts. Funds are available in the CAC Agencies that serve the majority of Utah’s rural counties to provide funding for the recruitment, training and licensure of providers in rural areas where data demonstrates there is a lack of providers. The CAC agencies work to identify individuals that may be interested in opening a center-based program or provide support to family providers that wish to expand to center-based care. Resources are provided, individuals are connected to Child Care Licensing and reimbursement for costs associated with licensure are available. In addition, the Lead Agency plans to develop grants or contracts for direct services in underserved geographic areas but will request a waiver to allow for time to develop and operationalize these opportunities. c. In care for special populations: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: Approximately 60,000 Refugees live in Utah and more are arriving each year. The vast majority reside in Salt Lake County and represent countries such as Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Iraq, Vietnam, the former Soviet Union and Burma. Salt Lake City schools with large refugee populations report over 30 languages spoken. According to the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, ￿Many refugees come to the United States with experience caring for small children. They may also have their own young children, which makes it difficult for them to work outside of their homes. Child care businesses run by refugees may also help generate jobs for other refugees in a community.￿ Although the Lead Agency does not have data on shortages specific to this population, we know that this population is ever changing, and new refugees arrive every year with a child care need. In FFY 2023, 17 refugees were supported to become child care providers. Six received a license, eight are still in process and three did not end up completing the process. Sources: April 2017 Refugees in Utah Fact Sheet - University of Utah: https://d36oiwf74r1rap.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/Refugee-Fact-Sheet- Final.pdf Refugee data from the Care About Childcare serving Salt Lake County ii. Method of tracking progress: The Lead Agency will track the number of refugees receiving support services and start-up grants to start their own child care program. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes? The Care About Childcare regional agency that serves Salt Lake and Tooele counties offers technical assistance to refugees to assist them with navigating the Lead Agency’s approval to receive child care subsidy payments and the licensing process. A refugee specialist teaches interested refugees about state and federal child care laws, regulations and licensing requirements. They work with the refugee center and the Care About Childcare agencies to help refugees access training and information needed to work in the child care industry, including providing one-on-one technical assistance to clients, making outside referrals when necessary. Interpreters are available and provided when necessary. The CAC agency offers refugee start-up grants that include financial assistance with childcare licensing fees, city business license fees, fire and kitchen inspection, first aid and CPR training, food handlers permit training and additional expenses related to child care licensing requirements. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? The Care About Childcare regional agency that serves Salt Lake and Tooele counties offers technical assistance to refugees to assist them with navigating the Lead Agency’s approval to receive child care subsidy payments and the licensing process. A refugee specialist teaches interested refugees about state and federal child care laws, regulations and licensing requirements. They work with the refugee center and the Care About Childcare agencies to help refugees access training and information needed to work in the child care industry, including providing one-on-one technical assistance to clients, making outside referrals when necessary. Interpreters are available and provided when necessary. The CAC agency offers refugee start-up grants that include financial assistance with childcare licensing fees, city business license fees, fire and kitchen inspection, first aid and CPR training, food handlers permit training and additional expenses related to child care licensing requirements. 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: With regard to geographic shortages, the Lead Agency analyzed capacity in each of Utah's 29 counties in the 2020 Child Care Access Study. Shortages for licensed care exist throughout the state but are most prominent in urban counties. The largest gaps that exist between the estimated number of children that have a child care need and the number of slots available are in six of Utah's urban counties. There are also clear shortages throughout Utah's rural counties. In fact, the 2020 report revealed there were four rural counties that lack any regulated licensed child care providers. These four counties actually have the designation of frontier counties. Some respondents in the 2017 Utah Parental Child Care survey indicated that the reason they did not use paid child care was because they were concerned about the lack of quality care in their area. After the study was published, Utah launched its Quality Rating and Improvement System called the Child Care Quality System (CCQS) in October of 2019 in an effort to raise quality in programs and provide consumer education to parents regarding a program's status of quality. Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused the Lead Agency to pause the program for 18 months, the Lead Agency does have the system now fully implemented for licensed centers and family child care programs. Centers were re- rated beginning November 2021 and family child care received the first certified ratings in August 2022. As of April 2024, 117 of 433 licensed center-based programs in Utah have a certified quality rating. Among them, 38 programs achieved a rating of high quality and five achieved a rating of High Quality Plus. Of the total High Quality Programs, the majority of them are located along Utah’s most populous area in four counties across the Wasatch Front. Only eight programs in rural counties are certified as High Quality. In licensed family child care, there are 59 of 856 licensed programs rated across the entire state. Out of those, 23 are rated High Quality. Of those 23, only 7 are located in rural counties. This indicates that there is a shortage of known high quality programs in both center-based and family child care in all areas of the state. There is much work to do in increasing the number of high quality programs. The Lead Agency contracts with six CAC agencies, two of which serve the vast majority of Utah's rural counties. All CAC agencies use start up grants and support to recruit providers. Additional funds have been made available in the CAC Agencies that serve the majority of Utah’s rural counties to provide funding for the recruitment, training and licensure of providers in rural areas where data demonstrates there is a lack of providers. The CAC agencies work to recruit individuals that may be currently providing FFN care to become licensed and expand services to other families. For individuals residing in counties where data shows there is a significant lack of providers, all licensed family child care start-up costs are reimbursed to those that become licensed. There is also additional funding made available after licensure and children have been enrolled to provide support in purchasing quality equipment and materials. In other areas, licensed family child care providers may be reimbursed for up to $400 of their startup costs. Family child care networks have been established through the CAC agencies funded by the Lead Agency. Family child care providers may choose to receive support from a Family Child Care Specialist to support them in raising the quality of care they provide. Providers are grouped with other providers in a cohort that is led by a Family Child Care Specialist. Each cohort receives services for a six month period. Providers receive support through training and reflection in Peer Learning Communities, observation and feedback, and technical assistance. At the end of the PLC, providers that complete the work receive an incentive. b. Infants and toddlers. Describe: The Lead Agency has identified greater shortages among licensed child care providers serving infants and toddlers. Analyzing the vacancy rates in counties for infants and toddlers in the 2020 study, it revealed seventeen out of twenty- nine counties have a vacancy rate of less than 15 percent for this age group. The Lead Agency considers a vacancy rate of less than 15 percent to reveal a supply shortage for the age group. Start-up grants are used as a strategy overall, but do flow down to infant and toddler care. Family Child Care Specialists are available in all counties to provide technical assistance and support to family child care providers to help them work effectively with mixed age groups, especially incorporating the needs of infants and toddlers. Early Childhood Specialists are available in all counties to provide technical assistance and support to center-based child care programs. Funds are available for equipment, materials and supplies for programs that care for infants and toddlers that are participating in our Child Care Quality System. Both center- based and family child care programs that apply for and receive a rating of Certified Foundation or Building Quality may receive funding to increase the quality of their environments for children age birth to 36 months. Center-based and licensed family child care programs participating in CCQS are also offered technical assistance in their infant and toddler rooms or working with mixed-age groups that include infants and toddlers after an observation has been conducted. Detailed feedback is provided to the program that includes strengths of the environment and caregivers in the classrooms observed. Quality improvement staff help the program identify areas of improvement and provide resources to the program in the areas requested. Peer Learning Communities (PLC) are offered to interested programs through the Care About Child Care Agencies specific to provision of care in infant and toddler rooms. Each PLC is structured with a facilitator with an expertise in infant/toddler care that leads a consistent group of providers through three professional development opportunities related to this age group. There is opportunity for program staff to network with each other and share ideas and challenges. Goal settings with check- ins with the coach are an additional component. Each PLC lasts five months and providers that complete the PLC receive an incentive. Intensive, specialized coaching is available to programs participating in the CCQS system if they have not yet reached High Quality Status. Specialists in infant/toddler care work with staff and administrators to embed best practices into day to day caregiving for infants and toddlers. The Lead Agency has created a comprehensive, 40-hour infant and toddler endorsement within its training system that supports best practices. This suite of classes is available to providers at a very low cost to help them understand the specific needs of children this age and aid them in their efforts to provide higher quality care. c. Children with disabilities. Describe: According to the United States Department of Education IDEA 2022 report, there were 4,298 infants and toddlers with disabilities receiving early intervention services under IDEA in Utah for a total of 3.03% of children in the age group. There were 7,151 children ages 3 to 5 with disabilities receiving special education services under IDEA in Utah for a total of 4.73%. Of those children ages 3 to 5, 50.7% were attending and receiving the majority of special education and related services in a regular early childhood program. This is higher than the national average of 39.8%. In order to increase supply and improve quality for these children located across the state, we have put several strategies into place. Providers caring for a child with a disability that requires a higher level of care are reimbursed at a higher rate in the Lead Agency's subsidy program. Children ages two and older with special needs are subsidized at the infant rate in the provider tier being used. Infants with special needs are subsidized at the infant rate of the next higher provider tier. For example, a five-year old with special needs in a family licensed home setting will be paid at the family licensed home infant rate. The Lead Agency has created a comprehensive, 40-hour children with special needs endorsement within its training system that supports best practices. This suite of classes is available to providers at a very low cost to help them understand the specific needs of children with disabilities and aids them in their efforts to provide higher quality care. The Lead Agency funds a statewide initiative through one of the Care About Childcare Agencies called ￿All Means All.￿ The program has two overarching goals: 1. To assist families in finding quality child care for their children with special needs. 2. To support providers in building capacity to feel competent and prepared to care for children with special needs, thereby increasing slots for those children. Child care providers may apply to complete the program and become ￿All Means All￿ certified. Families are given support by the CAC Agency to connect them to a certified program. Components of the Certification include: 1. Obtain the Special Needs Endorsement (40-hour suite of courses created by the Lead Agency or 40-hours of special needs training through an approved external training entity) 2. Create an inclusion statement for the program around serving children with special needs. 3. Create a local resource list. 4. Set goals for the program when training is completed. 5. A materials grant for children with special needs is available upon completion. 6. An incentive is provided to the participant upon completion. An All Means All website is available to parents to connect them to providers that have completed the program and provides additional resources at https://allmeansall.usu.edu. d. Children who receive care during non-traditional hours. Describe: The Urban Institute’s research report published in May 2023 entitled ￿Child Care Use for Young Children during Nontraditional Hours￿ lays out findings from Analysis of the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education around this topic area. From this report, it is clear that families who use non-traditional hours are more likely to use family, friend and neighbor (FFN) care and less likely to use center-based care. These families rank this type of care more highly than center-based care in meeting their families’ needs. Within the application for child care assistance and on the Child Care Licensing website, there is step-by-step information about how to become an FFN provider. An FFN flier is posted on the Lead Agency’s website and has been created to distribute at various community events and conferences. FFN providers may qualify for a reimbursement upon completion of CPR and First Aid training and other grants available through the Care About Childcare agencies. To increase quality supply, the regional Care About Childcare agencies utilize recruitment strategies, provide technical assistance and offer start-up grants to FFN and Residential Certificate providers to encourage and assist them in becoming licensed as a family child care provider. Within our Care About Childcare program database, child care programs can select whether they offer different care options including 24-hour care, 4/10s schedule, after school, before school, drop in, Saturday and Sunday care, swing shift, graveyard shift, rotating shifts, open holidays, etc. This allows families to search for high- quality, regulated programs that could meet their unique needs. e. Other. Specify what population is being focused on to increase supply or improve quality. Describe: N/A 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 Department of Workforce Services, where the Lead Agency is housed, has been extensively involved in Utah's intergenerational poverty initiative. This initiative is a data-driven and research- based effort to measurably reduce intergenerational poverty among Utah families. A family is living in intergenerational poverty when two or more successive generations of a family continue in the cycle of poverty and government dependence. This is measured by evaluating the adults receiving public assistance for at least twelve months in adulthood and also evaluating whether they received public assistance for at least twelve months as a child. Public assistance includes participation in cash assistance programs, public health insurance programs, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or receipt of child care subsidy payments. The data includes analysis of the count and percent of children living in intergenerational poverty throughout Utah and the data is disaggregated by county, zip code and school district. This data allows the Lead Agency to evaluate concentrations of poverty. In addition to evaluating the population of those experiencing intergenerational poverty, the data identifies the rates of year-round employment among these populations. Since the intergenerational poverty initiative began, the Lead Agency has utilized the data to ensure funds to improve the quality of child care programs are prioritized to communities where data shows a higher percentage of individuals that may be experiencing intergenerational poverty or live within lower income thresholds may reside. Programs are prioritized for funding when they are located in these areas geographically or when Lead Agency data shows that a program provides services to higher percentages of low income children. The communities will continue to be prioritized by providing the Lead Agency awarding priority points when scoring certain grants, as well as prioritizing funding to programs in those communities serving high numbers of children covered by child care subsidies. These communities are also among those with the highest rates of either unemployment or sporadic attachment to the labor force. 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.