Childcare

A series of briefs that highlight the need for genuine system reform to achieve the goal of having all children ready for school and lifelong learning. (June 2007)
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This report is an overview of early care and education in Connecticut, discussed in the context of child development, workforce development and in relation to Connecticut’s economic competitiveness. The report considers some of the financing challenges in assuring high quality care to children of pre-school age and the state’s role in this effort. Published in February 2003 by Connecticut Voices for Children.
(See other resources by Connecticut Voices for Children)

This report looks at how states can deliver pre-kindergarten in partnership with community-based child care settings. The authors feel the model has the potential to break the traditional barrier between early education and child care policies, address the needs of children in working families in a coordinated way, and strengthen the quality of community-based child care programs. This report was commissioned by the Brookings Institution with funding from the Joyce Foundation and written by Rachel Schumacher, Danielle Ewen and Katherine Hart from the Center for Law and Social Policy, and Joan Lombardi from the Children’s Project.

This report documents the achievements of children involved in the Brighter Futures Initiative Child Care Enhancement Project of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. According to the newly released report, preschoolers who attended the 14 Hartford child care programs involved in the project showed significant improvements across five major developmental areas associated with school readiness. These programs had received intensive staff training to implement a research-based, age appropriate curriculum, in addition to other early childhood supports.

Below are some considerations for parents to think about before and during their search for quality child care for their child.
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This research brief by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids looks at the research-based connection between quality early child care and reduced future crime rates and briefly outlines the difficulty Connecticut parents are facing in affording quality care (a 217 KB, 3-page document).

This report describes how states are using funding from the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), along with other sources, to invest in child care quality. The findings are based on a survey that was sponsored by members of the National Association of State Child Care Administrators (NASCCA), an affiliate of the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA), and carried out by Child Trends with the Bank Street College of Education.
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Published by Early Childhood DataCONNections and the Connecticut Early Childhood Indicators Team, this report highlights data on how young children are faring and how well the state is supporting their health, development and chances for school success. Topics covered include: receipt of preventive care, children in foster care, supply of quality child care and children in poverty.

This paper reviews strategies that may be useful in reducing some of the administrative, accounting and reporting burdens of running child care centers, allowing them to re-direct needed resources. (November 2005)
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This report, produced by the Connecticut Department of Social Services and released in January 2004, provides data regarding families served by Care 4 Kids and the School Readiness Program, as well as information about the supply, demand and utilization of child care and Head Start programs in Connecticut. The report also gives an overview of the Child Care Quality Initiatives and provides a directory of child related services and information sources (a 769KB 17-page document in Spanish and English).