Support funding for early childhood programs

With the continued shortfall in revenues, the state’s early learning programs are at risk.

Support for early childhood programs and funding in Florida is a priority for the United Way of Miami-Dade. Yet, like many states, Florida is facing a major shortfall in revenues and potential cuts to education and related programs. Florida legislators must decide how to manage a $3 billion budget gap. The state’s early learning programs, which include child care and VPK (voluntary prekindergarten), are at risk.

Florida is a national leader in state-funded VPK.  The VPK program is the second largest in the U.S., serving 160,000 children or 70% of all four-year-olds in the state. That number is projected to increase by 16,000 next year.

United Way knows the importance of high quality programs, and while Florida’s enrollment in VPK is one of the highest, the state’s base allocation of $2,575 per child is the lowest in the nation. Under the current Senate budget proposal, the base allocation for the VPK program drops to $2,320 per child, further compromising an already underfunded program.

School Readiness, the state’s subsidized child care program, also faces funding cuts in the Senate budget, up to $3.1 million in School Readiness funds would be cut from General Revenue, resulting in a further loss of up to $3.9 million in federal matching funds.  This means as many as 8,500 children currently receiving care will be affected and more than 80,000 children in Florida, over 20,000 in Miami-Dade, will remain on the program’s waiting list.

These cuts and reductions in per student allocations will have a ripple effect, with fewer children receiving the care and nurturing they need in their earliest years, fewer children ready to enter school, parents unable to work because they have no care for their children, higher unemployment  and reduced overall economic activity and productivity.

Based on the proposed Senate cuts to School Readiness, the overall cost to the state could be as high as $54 - 99 million in increased unemployment benefits, Medicaid, Food Stamps and temporary cash assistance, not to mention the long-term costs associated with school failure and family dysfunction.

Please urge your legislators to support the House budget recommendations to maintain current funding levels for these critical early childhood programs.

Look for more information on these issues, and updates on the 2010 Florida Legislative Session, in our next LIVE UNITED newsletter. Sign up here.

Education is the foundation for a good life.

Our education policy focuses on three critical areas
 

• Early education that leads to school readiness. The foundation for school and life success begins at birth. To thrive, to be successful in school and to become productive adults, all children need: strong families, good health, quality learning opportunities and supportive communities.
• Adequate funding for Miami-Dade County Public Schools.  A well-prepared work force is key to Florida’s future. However, more than half of today’s students won’t graduate from high school. United Way continues to speak out in support of a strong, adequately-funded public school system.
• Support for afterschool programs. Afterschool programs are proven to keep youth engaged in constructive, positive behavior so that they are more likely to finish school, avoid gangs and become self-sufficient.

Making the case for investing in early childhood development

Quality, affordable care and education

Build the capacity of the early childhood workforce

Support strong families and family financial stability

Miami-Dade County Public School Funding

Afterschool Programs

POLICY ISSUE

Making the case for Investing in early childhood development

BACKGROUND

The foundation for school and life success begins at birth. To thrive, to be successful in school and to become productive adults, all children need: strong families, good health, quality learning opportunities and supportive communities.

Research shows multiple and long-term advantages for children involved in high quality early learning. These children did better in school; were more likely to graduate from high school; had significantly fewer arrests overall (and less likely to be arrested for violent crimes or for property or drug crimes); were more likely to have a job at age 40 (and with higher earnings).

Investing in quality early childhood programs yields the greatest returns for individuals, families and society. For every dollar invested in a high quality early learning opportunity there is a benefit of $7.00 - $17.00 to society. This includes savings in educational programs, crime costs, welfare costs, and taxes received from higher earnings.

While early childhood research is strong, public investment is not. While most brain development occurs in the first few years of life, only 5% of public investment in children happens during this critical period.

Legislation and policies which promote quality early learning and support for young children and their families make a difference. For example, the T.E.A.C.H. Program increases the capacity of the early childhood workforce by creating incentives for professional development. 

RELATED LINKS:

http://birthtofivepolicy.org/index.php/making_the_case/
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/economic.htm
http://minneapolisfed.org/pubs/fedgaz/03-03/earlychild.cfm
http://ced.org/docs/summary/summary_heckman.pdf

POLICY ISSUE 

Quality, Affordable Early Care and Education

BACKGROUND

Research shows that high-quality child care helps children enter school ready to succeed. Close to 70% of young children under 5 years old are in early care and education settings on a regular basis. Three to five year-olds are more likely to be in center-based care; infants and toddlers are more likely to be in family care settings.

Research indicates that only 15% of current child care programs are of high quality. A significant correlation exists between program quality and outcomes for children.  

POLICY ISSUES

Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK)

A constitutional amendment in 2002 guaranteed a high quality, voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) opportunity to every four-year-old in Florida. The estimated cost of fully funding a high-quality VPK Program is between $400 and $600 million annually or a minimum of $3,000 - $4,000 per child per year (national average is $3,600/child). Currently, the VPK program is funded at about $2,600 per child, for a 3 hr per day year-round program or a full-day summer program. 

With regard to access, Florida is ahead of other states. Approximately 35% of Florida’s 4-year-olds participate in the state program, compared to the national 17% average. Florida Legislature is responsible for establishing VPK governance, quality standards and program funding.

While incremental changes have been made to the program since its inception, improvements are needed at this time to meet the “high quality” the constitutional amendment mandates, such as:

Quality Counts

Quality Counts is a voluntary rating system that evaluates child care centers and early learning programs. It is a local initiative currently in its first year of operation, with funding provided by The Children’s Trust, the Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe, and the Early Childhood Initiative Foundation.

This program is intended to enhance early childhood development in centers that choose to participate. The five-star rating system evaluates the centers’ learning environment, staff qualifications, adult-to-child ratios, family engagement, program administration, and curriculum.

Head Start/Early Head Start

Head Start/Early Head Start is a federal program that provides quality early learning and comprehensive health, nutrition and parent services (such as home visits and per support groups) to low income children and their families. Head Start serves children ages three to five;  Early Head Start serves children under age three and pregnant women. Early Head Start projects coordinate with local Head Start programs so that children have continuity of services as they grow older.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awards grants to local public and private non-profit agencies to implement Head Start and Early Head Start programs. The federal resources contribute 80 percent of the cost and the local community provides the remaining 20 percent.

RELATED LINKS:

The Early Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe
The Children’s Trust
Head Start in Miami-Dade County
National Head Start Association

POLICY ISSUE

Build the Capacity of Our Early Childhood Workforce

BACKGROUND

Research suggests that the quality of child care is positively related to the education level of staff. However, only a small percentage of teachers in child care programs have an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree. Child care staff turnover is high, ranging from 25-50% a year. Child care staff compensation, including wages and benefits, is exceptionally low. Average salary for early childhood teachers in Florida with a CDA (Child Development Associate) qualification is $15,700.

POLICY ISSUES

T.E.A.C.H. Program

The Teacher Education and Compensation Helps (T.E.A.C.H.) program increases the capacity of the early childhood workforce by improving teacher qualifications and teacher compensation and reducing turnover rates. T.E.A.C.H. accomplishes its goal by providing direct support to early childhood caregivers and center directors to enable them to work toward earning a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or equivalency, an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Child Development and Education or a Director’s Credential.  

Florida T.E.A.C.H. Program is a public-private partnership and the only early childhood quality improvement initiative supported at the state level. The Florida T.E.A.C.H. program is funded by the Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI) and The Children’s Forum, a private, not-for-profit organization committed to enhancing the quality, affordability, and availability of child care and early education. Program funding was preserved in the 2008 state budget, however the funding continues to be at risk.

For Florida T.E.A.C.H. scholarship recipients, the average turnover rate is less than 8% and wage increases range from 10% after completion of one scholarship contract to 28% after completion of three scholarship contracts.

W.A.G.E.$. Program

The Child Care WAGE$® Florida Project provides education-based salary supplements for low to moderate wage earners who work with young children ages birth to five. Child Care WAGE$ is designed to improve the quality of child care programs by increasing program stability, reducing turnover and encouraging continued education of child care practitioners (teachers, assistant teachers in centers and family child care homes). 

The Children's Forum is the licensee for Child Care WAGE$® Florida and currently administers this program in 13 participating counties, in partnership with local funders. In Miami-Dade, Child Care WAGE$® Florida is funded by The Children's Trust and the Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe. 

41% of participants report that they have been better able to address the needs of their family since receiving the salary supplement; 43% of participants have reported that they are actively taking classes and pursuing educational goals and of those, 70% have increased their level of education enough to qualify for a higher supplement level;  83% of participants plan to take additional coursework. The average turnover rate for WAGE$-supported teachers is 16%.

RELATED LINKS:

The Children’s Forum on TEACH
The Children’s Forum on WAGE$

POLICY ISSUE

Support Strong Families and Family Financial Stability

BACKGROUND

Research shows that poverty is the single greatest threat to children’s development and well-being. In Florida, nearly 20% of children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level (FPL) of $17,170 for a family of three; 43% of children live in families below 200% of FPL, which is considered low-income.

Low-income children are more likely to be exposed to environmental stresses such as inadequate nutrition, substance abuse, maternal depression, exposure to environmental toxins, and trauma/abuse, which can all negatively influence their development. Maternal depression, anxiety disorders, and other forms of chronic depression affect approximately 10% of mothers with young children and almost 50% for families in poverty.

Low-income children often start behind their peers when they enter school. Studies show that low-income children may have more limited vocabularies, be read to less often, and live in homes with fewer books. Research shows that high-quality child care helps low-income children enter school ready to succeed.

Increasing family income to, or above, the poverty line can substantially improve a child’s odds of economic and life success. It can increase the number of hours the child works as an adult, increase lifetime earnings, increase years of schooling, and decrease reliance on food stamps and TANF. According to 2005 US Census Bureau statistics, those living below the poverty line spend nearly 30% of their household income, on average, to cover the cost of child care.

POLICY ISSUES

Subsidized Child Care (School Readiness Program)

Reliable, stable child care programs, and assistance to help low-income parents pay for child care, enable parents to work and gain financial security for their families.

In 1999, the Florida Legislature enacted the School Readiness Act, which consolidated the state’s early childhood education and child care programs into one integrated program of school readiness services. The act directed the school readiness coalitions to administer these programs at the county level. The Early Learning Coalition (ELC) of Miami-Dade/Monroe Counties provides subsidized childcare for about 30,000 children who qualify for Temporary Assistance for Need Families (TANF).

Last year the ELC served between 16,000 – 18,000 children in Miami-Dade, and currently have 3,800 children on the waiting list. Adequate funding is needed to increase the subsidized ‘slots’ and reduce the number of children waiting for these services.

The Family Tax Relief Act of 2008 

This policy would expand and make refundable child and dependent care tax credits to 1.6 million additional low-income, working Americans.

RELATED LINKS

National Women’s Law Center – Poverty and Income Support
Partnership for America’s Economic Success

POLICY ISSUE

Miami-Dade County Public School Funding

BACKGROUND

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) is the largest school district in Florida and the fourth largest in the nation. Over the past four years MDCPS has lost $600 million of state revenue due to budget cutbacks and changes in the funding formula. 

Florida adjusts its school district funding formula with a special appropriation, the District Cost Differential (DCD), to compensate for geographic differences in cost of living. State-mandated changes to the DCD formula in 2004  have resulted in losses to MDCPS of more than $73 million over the past four years.

In the most recent round of budget cuts, South Florida experienced 48% of the cutbacks for the entire state even though South Florida students only represent 23% of Florida’s student population. 

POLICY ISSUES

For the 2008-2009 fiscal year, the Miami-Dade County School Board is facing a $284 million budget decrease due to significant reductions in state funding and cost increases of more than $100 million.

This budget decrease has led to cuts in school programs and staff.

Further budget cuts are anticipated if a proposed tax reform amendment to the state constitution passes in November 2008. ‘Amendment 5, the ‘tax swap’ amendment, would eliminate the’ required local effort’ – the public school funding portion of local property taxes -  beginning in the 2010-2011 fiscal year. This decrease in the property tax requires raising the sales tax rate, which would leave a $5.4 billion hole in education funding.

RELATED LINKS

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Website

POLICY ISSUE

Afterschool Programs

BACKGROUND

Afterschool programs have been shown to positively contribute to youth development. Research shows those children who participate in afterschool programs benefit in many areas; including academics, social development, risk prevention, health, and wellness. The hours of 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. are the peak hours for juveniles to commit crimes, be victims of a crime, be in or cause a car crash, smoke, drink or use drugs, and/or engage in sexual activity. Afterschool programs reduce these risks.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools is the largest provider of after school programs, which currently operate in over 200 sites. YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, private schools and religious organizations are among the top private providers of afterschool care.

POLICY ISSUES

Adequate funding for after-school programs is necessary in order to deliver services when and where they are most needed.

The largest source of funding for afterschool programs is the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). States receive an afterschool care funding allocation from the CCDF and have flexibility to design programs that provide subsidies for low-income children under the age of 13. In Florida the CCDF funds are allocated through the Agency for Workforce Innovation School Readiness program and administered locally by the Early Learning Coalition.

As a result of recent cutbacks to the Agency for Workforce Innovation budget, there are currently no afterschool program subsidies for children over the age of nine.

RELATED LINKS

Afterschool Alliance
Florida Afterschool Network
Florida Children’s Services Council