Early Child Care and Education Report

Connecticut Voices for Children issued its 2010 progress report on “Connecticut Early Care and Education Progress Report 2010.” The nonprofit advocacy group outlines the state’s efforts in terms of the resources, capacity, quality, and accessibility to child care and education in the state. In its assessment, the report points out both good news and bad news in each of these areas.

The report includes among its findings:

• A 6.3% decrease in state funding in FY 10 from the prior year for early child care and education, resulting in cuts to the number of children being served.
• State-supported programs are distributed among a number of state agencies. They vary with respect to eligibility requirements, funding sources, and data reporting, making planning and coordination difficult and causing confusion for parents.
• Training and technical assistance for providers need improvement and standards to measure program quality are lacking.
• There continues to be an achievement gap in later school years between socioeconomic, ethnic, and racial groups that quality early childhood care and education can help to close.

Recommendations support increased funding, creation of a coordinated system, implementation of a quality rating and improvement system, development of uniform standards and data collection, and improved outreach to and access for parents.