THE NATIONAL POLICY DIGEST
FROM
NATIONAL POLICY TEAM
VOL. 2, ISSUE 7
APRIL 1-15, 2013
Bringing you the latest in state and federal early childhood development policy and research.
Questions, Comments, Suggestions for Improvement? Contact Anna Torsney-Weir.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Federal Updates ............................................................................................................................ 2
Policy Trends and Analysis ............................................................................................................. 2
New Research................................................................................................................................ 3
Upcoming Events ........................................................................................................................... 4
Other News, Announcements, and Resources................................................................................. 4
News from the States .................................................................................................................... 5
California .................................................................................................................................... 5
Illinois ......................................................................................................................................... 5
Louisiana..................................................................................................................................... 5
Mississippi .................................................................................................................................. 5
Nebraska..................................................................................................................................... 5
New Mexico ................................................................................................................................ 6
New York .................................................................................................................................... 6
South Carolina............................................................................................................................. 6
Wyoming .................................................................................................................................... 6
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HIGHLIGHT: PRESIDENT OBAMA’S FY14 BUDGET
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President Obama released his FY14 budget proposal on April 10th. In line with proposals from his
State of the Union address, Obama's budget includes a proposal for $77 billion in spending to
expand early childhood education that would be financed by nearly doubling the federal
tobacco tax to $1.95 from $1.01 per pack of cigarettes. The plan invests in parents, infants and
toddlers, and four-year-olds.
o The plan expands voluntary home visiting programs that offer parents education and
support, because parents are children's first teachers and central to their children's
development (an additional $11 billion over the next 10 years).
o The plan expands high-quality child care for infants and toddlers — which is in short
supply in communities across the country — by investing in partnerships between Early
Head Start and child care programs ($1.4 billion in 2014).
o The plan will give all children in low- and moderate-income families access to highquality prekindergarten programs ($66 billion over the next 10 years). Expanded
prekindergarten will be funded through a cigarette tax, which will have the added
benefit of reducing smoking among older children.
o In addition, for parents, infants, and toddlers, and preschoolers, the plan helps lowincome families maintain access to child care assistance by providing an additional $500
million in mandatory funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)
and helps states improve the quality of care by providing an additional $200 million in
discretionary CCDBG funding.
o Details on what states would have to do to receive funding can be found in the
congressional justifications, published here.
o Additional analysis and information on how Obama’s budget will affect early childhood
information is available here.
FEDERAL UPDATES
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The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) recently released the list of 160 Head Start
grantees who will receive funds under the “designation renewal process” that had Head Start grantees
recompeting for their funds for program deficiencies. According to the Center for Law and Social Policy
(CLASP), of the Head Start grantees required to re-compete for their funding, 80 maintained their
funding, 25 will be replaced by new programs, and 14 grantees will have their grants split between new
and existing providers. Read coverage of the changes in grantees here and here.
ACF also announced that it will provide $95 million for Hurricane Sandy Recovery.
POLICY TRENDS AND ANALYSIS
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Ounce Policy Conversations: The Ounce of Prevention Fund has released the first in a planned series of
publications, Ounce Policy Conversations. The goal of these Conversations is to share ideas on topics of
importance to early learning policy, with the hope that others will share their ideas and create
discussions from which everyone in the early childhood field can learn. The first paper, Early Learning
at the Turbulent Dusk of the Pangloss Era, explores the advocacy opportunity presented to early
learning by a significant change in how states are reporting K-12 assessment results.
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0-5 and K-12 Alignment: A recent article in the flagship publication of the National Association of
Elementary School Principals (NAESP), Principal, highlights the critical role of principals in implementing
PreK-3rd grade reforms.
Child Care:
o A new Census Bureau report suggests that more families appear to be availing themselves of
alternatives to traditional child care models, including care provided by relatives and after-school
programs, as child care costs rise. Child care costs have nearly doubled since the mid-1980s, but
the portion of families paying for care has dropped. For more analysis on the report, please go
here.
o A new brief from ZERO TO THREE entitled “Supporting Growth and Development of Babies in Child
Care: What Does the Research Say” explores the research on the healthy growth and development
of babies in child care, and the state child care licensing, subsidy policies, and quality initiatives that
can increase the odds that babies and toddlers have positive early learning experiences.
Head Start: CLASP recently released its annual Head Start State Profiles, which analyze the most recent
Head Start Program Information Report (PIR) data from 2011. All Head Start grantees are required to
submit PIR data to the federal government on an annual basis. Each profile includes data on all Head
Start programs in the state, including Early Head Start, Head Start preschool, and Migrant/Seasonal
Head Start. The profiles also include information on Head Start participants, families, staff, and
programs. CLASP has produced these fact sheets each year since 2005. Find your state here.
Home Visiting: Home visiting is rising on many state agendas. Legislation to improve the effectiveness
and accountability of state home visiting investments recently passed the Arkansas, Kentucky, and
New Mexico legislatures. Gov. Mike Beebe of Arkansas and Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico
have signed the bills into law. Information on New Mexico’s home visiting program is included below in
the “States” section. Similar proposals are moving through the legislative process in Massachusetts,
Texas, and Vermont.
State Kindergarten Policies: According to a report released last month by the Education Commission of
the States, allowing individual school districts autonomy in implementing kindergarten programs has
resulted in a quality disparity for children that can exacerbate the existing achievement gap in
educational success. . A "full day" of kindergarten ranges from four to seven hours, depending on
where a child lives. Read more here.
Unemployment: A new issue brief from the Urban Institute examines unemployment from a child's
perspective. The brief provides estimates of children affected by unemployment by state and
metropolitan area, considers the effects of parental job loss on child development, and reviews policies
affecting the safety net for children of the unemployed. Click here to download the brief.
NEW RESEARCH
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Behavior Analysis:
o A study published in the journal Pediatrics reports on behavioral outcomes from
children’s television viewing habits based on a randomized controlled trial involving
hundreds of preschool-age children primarily from low-income families. This study builds
on past findings that the content of children’s TV viewing plays a significant role in
television’s impact on child development. Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis, a pediatric researcher at
Seattle Children’s Research Institute and lead author of this study, offers a more detailed
explanation here.
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A new report from Pew, Modern Parenthood: Roles of Moms and Dad Converge as the
They Balance Work and Family, finds that "traditional" roles for parents are changing.
Using data from a Pew Research survey and the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), the
report offers a picture of how mothers and fathers with children under the age of 18 view
their work and family roles, and how much time they spend in these roles.
Early Literacy: A recent report from The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada entitled "PIRLS 2011
Canada in Context: Progress in International Reading Literacy Study" quantifies the impact of
children's early experiences on their developing literacy.
School Nutrition: A study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics looked at states that cracked down
on the content of school meals.
UPCOMING EVENTS
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April 17, 2pm ET: Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, the Evans School of Public Affairs at the
University of Washington, the Northwest Area Foundation and the University of Minnesota’s
Humphrey School of Public Affairs are hosting a call that will explore programs focused on breaking the
cycle of poverty through training, education and support programs. Register here.
April 29 – May 2, 2013: National Smart Start Conference in Greensboro, NC, the nation's largest
conference devoted to early education systems and strategies. There are more than
100 workshops, plenary sessions and keynote speakers. Read more here.
May 6, 2pm-3:30pm ET: A webinar entitled “Data Management: Developing Data Governance
Structures” will provide a discussion and introduction to a new set of tools created by INQUIRE to
support the development of high quality early childhood data. Register here.
May 14, 3pm ET: The Pew Home Visiting Campaign is hosting a webinar entitled “Outcomes in Focus:
Addressing Maternal Stress and Depression”. Register here.
May 16-18: The McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership is hosting the “Leadership
Connections National Conference” at the Westin Hotel in Wheeling, Illinois.
June 17: The Social Impact Exchange is holding its Annual Symposium on Scaling Social Impact in New
York City. Request an invitation here.
September 22-23: Ready Nation is hosting the “2013 National Business Leader Summit for Early
Childhood Investment” in Atlanta, Georgia. Read more here.
OTHER NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND RESOURCES
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The Erikson Early Math initiative recently launched its website, which provides comprehensive online
resources for early math teaching. This is an interactive website encompassing a variety of early math
ideas, techniques, and materials, available to teachers, parents and many others.
A new infographic from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) examines how adverse childhood
experiences affect our lives and society. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the
largest investigations ever conducted to assess associations between childhood maltreatment and
health and well-being later in life. Collaboration between the CDC’s Division of Violence Prevention and
Kaiser Permanente's Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego, ACE Study findings suggest that certain
adverse childhood experiences are major risk factors for the leading causes of illness and death, as well
as poor quality of life in the United States.
The Office for Victims of Crime’s new video series Through Our Eyes: Children, Violence, and Trauma
includes a public awareness video and three topic-specific videos—Treatments That Work, The
Child Advocacy Center Model, and Community-Based Approaches. More videos are
forthcoming. Together, these videos—along with online resource guides—reinforce key messages:
children’s exposure to violence and victimization is significant; these experiences can leave lasting
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effects; and, there are effective ways to protect children and alleviate the harm of exposure.
The CDC has developed Understanding Evidence, a free, interactive web resource to promote
evidence-based decision making for community violence prevention. The tool is designed to help public
health practitioners bring a high standard of research evidence into the decision-making process while
taking into account the contextual and experiential factors that influence decisions.
NEWS FROM THE STATES
Note: The Ounce monitors ongoing developments in its partner states, but we welcome additional
updates from other states. If you have information to share from any other state, please contact Anna
Torsney-Weir at atorsneyweir@ounceofprevention.org.
CALIFORNIA
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Preschool California has changed its named to Early Edge California. It is working to ensure California's
children have the early experiences necessary to be successful learners by the end of 3rd grade, setting
them on a path to college and career readiness. Read more here.
Educators and parents have unveiled a campaign to back President Obama's early education initiative
on the eve of his California visit. The effort is spearheaded by Early Edge California, which says that
early learning programs have lost $1 billion in funding since 2008. In addition, sequestration cuts mean
the federal Head Start program for low-income kids will be cut by about $400 million. Read more here.
ILLINOIS
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Chicago Public Schools (CPS) announced the awardee list for the Ready to Learn preschool
competition, an effort to shift preschool seats to high-quality programs in neighborhoods where they
are needed. Read more here.
CPS has launched a new centralized enrollment process that will ask families who want their children
to attend preschool programs in CPS schools to apply by May 3. Previous preschool application
instructions (last updated in November) do not note any such deadline; the deadlines varied from
school to school.
LOUISIANA
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Governor Bobby Jindal, in recognition of the opposition his tax swap proposal has encountered, pulled
back his plan to repeal the state income tax at the April 8 opening of the Louisiana legislative session.
The governor then asked the Legislature to come up with an alternative proposal. Read more here.
MISSISSIPPI
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The legislature voted to fund a state pre-k program, ending Mississippi's status as the only state in the
south that does not fund a state pre-k program. The legislature also appropriate state funding to
continue a child care quality improvement project called Mississippi Building Blocks, which was
previously funded by the private sector. Read more here.
NEBRASKA
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On April 12, 2013 Educare of Lincoln held a grand opening celebration and became the third Educare
center located in Nebraska. The center is a partnership between the University of Nebraska and the
University Foundation, Lincoln Public Schools, the Community Action Partnership of Lancaster and
Saunders Counties, and the Buffett Early Childhood Fund.
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NEW MEXICO
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Governor Martinez has signed substantive pieces of early childhood legislation and approved a
budget that includes funding for early childhood programs and initiatives. SB347, the New Mexico
Home Visiting Accountability Act, defines a standards based approach to state-funded home visiting.
SB247 seeks to simplify the application process of applying for community-based NM Pre-K funding to
be the same as school-based NM PreK application requirements. SB113 provides $9.75 million in new
funding for early childhood from tobacco settlement money the state receives. The Governor also
signed the state budget into law that includes additional increases for child care assistance, NM Pre-K,
and home visiting.
NEW YORK
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The state legislature passed a 2013-14 budget on March 28th. Following are the provisions related to
early childhood education:
o Pre-Kindergarten: The final budget included a new investment of $25 million into half- and
full-day quality Pre-K, with a priority placed on full day slots targeted toward high needs
students.
o Child Care Subsidies: The final budget increases child care subsidies and restores some funding
for facilitated enrollment. Altogether, there is an additional $3 million in funding over last
year’s budget, although the final number may be higher after social services districts make
their decisions about whether to transfer money from the flexible fund for family services into
child care. In light of the significant reductions in access to child care subsidies for low-income
families in recent years, a proposal to waive certain TANF work requirements for some parents
of infants was put forward in the Assembly budget. The proposal, which would save state and
county funds and free-up child care slots for other needy families, was not adopted as part of
the final budget agreement.
o Home Visiting: The final budget funds Healthy Families New York at a flat level of $23,288,200
and restores $2 million for Nurse-Family Partnership. Funding for the Healthy Moms, Healthy
Babies program at the Department of Health was reduced by almost 6% to $1,847,000. This
was part of a larger set of reductions in a number of public health programs. In addition, COPS
and the Children and Family Trust Fund, both of which support home visiting programs, were
flat-funded.
o Early Intervention: Significant changes were proposed for the 2013-14 Budget that would
require insurers to include EI service providers in their networks and require consumers to use
providers in their insurance networks with limited provisions for exemptions. Those proposals
were rejected in the final budget. Read more here.
SOUTH CAROLINA
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Retention PreK-3: The Read to Succeed Act aims to strengthen South Carolina’s emphasis on reading in
pre-kindergarten to 12th grades, and it requires third-graders to be held back if they're not reading on
grade level. Read more on the new proposal, which is modeled after a similar program in Florida and
13 other states, here.
WYOMING
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Parents as Teachers received a $3,988,908 federal grant to deliver Wyoming’s MIECHV program. The
grant runs through 2016, and PAT will work with other organizations to develop a comprehensive,
statewide effort that refers and transitions families between various home visiting models that best
meet their needs.
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The Ounce of Prevention Fund gives children in poverty the best chance for success in school and in life by
advocating for and providing the highest quality care and education from birth to age 5.
The Ounce National Policy Team partners with and supports early childhood leaders in states as they
advance a comprehensive agenda for at-risk children and families. We do this by providing individualized
strategy and policy consultation and resources; facilitating peer-to-peer learning and networking across
states; and supporting Educare Schools and the Educare Learning Network in the development of their
policy and advocacy work.
The National Policy Digest: a bi-weekly newsletter that shares up-to-date and noteworthy developments in
state and federal early childhood news, policy and funding changes, research, policy trends and analyses,
upcoming events, etc. culled from diverse sources in the field. To subscribe, please contact Anna TorsneyWeir, National Policy Associate (atorsneyweir@ounceofprevention.org).
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