Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
Created by State Legislature in 2004
Merged Office of School Readiness with units
from Department of Education, Department of
Human Resources, and Georgia Child Care
Council
One of only three agencies of its kind in the
nation focused on children ages birth to five
Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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Georgia’s Pre-K Program
Licensing and regulation of child care programs
Federal Child Care and Development Fund including
Georgia's CAPS Program
Federal Nutrition Programs
Quality Rated
Head Start State Collaboration Office
Oversight of Georgia Child Care Resource and
Referral Agencies
Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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HEALTH & SAFETY – Promote safe and healthy
early care and learning programs
QUALITY – Improve quality of early care and
learning programs
ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE – Foster
organizational excellence through stakeholder
engagement, enterprise solutions, and
workforce development
Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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New state law requires all employees of
Georgia’s approximately 6,000 child care facilities
to undergo national fingerprint-based
background checks.
Law requires all new employees hired on or after
January 1, 2014, to have satisfactory national
background checks based on fingerprints, not
just a name search of Georgia records.
Existing employees hired before January 1, 2014,
will have until 2017 to meet the requirement,
unless they move to a new child care facility.
Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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Georgia is one of six
states awarded funding
through the Race to the
Top – Early Learning
Challenge (RTT-ELC).
Georgia was awarded $51.7 million to be used over a
four-year period, the highest amount awarded among
the six grants.
Impacts not just individual students and families but
also the state’s future workforce and economy.
Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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Georgia’s application focused on four specific
strategies:
Access to high quality opportunities
Investment in early childhood educators and high
quality programs
Integration across programs and services
Measurement and data capacity expanded
Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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Examples of Projects:
Increase Quality Rated Access and Availability
Quality Rated Validation
Investments in Early Education Workforce
Intensive Training on new Early Learning and Development
Standards
Scholarships to improve educational qualification
Kindergarten Entry Assessment
Statewide Family Engagement and Community Grants
Further development of Unified Data System
Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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Georgia has three months to submit Scopes of
Work with specific deliverables and milestones.
Federal DOE and HHS have three months to
approve the Scopes of Work.
Georgia can begin expending funds (up to 10%)
before the Scopes of Work are approved.
DECAL will work with each participating agency
to finalize agency scopes of work, interagency
agreements, and budgets.
Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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Governor’s Office
Governor’s Office of Children and Families
Governor’s Office of Student Achievement
Georgia Department of Community Affairs
Georgia Department of Economic Development
Georgia Department of Education
Georgia Department of Public Health
Georgia Public Broadcasting
Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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Georgia’s voluntary system to assess, improve, and
communicate the level of quality in early care and
education programs
Currently, 293 rated programs with 1,290 programs
participating
In November, 2013, hosted 73 of state’s top child
care programs at a conference at Lake Lanier
Islands. The three-star programs included 35 child
care centers, 36 family day care homes, and two
group day care homes.
Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
www.decal.ga.gov
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