Invest in Infant and Toddler Care
Babies and toddlers need high-quality child care—with warm, responsive, skilled providers and caregivers—to promote their healthy development. High-quality care can be especially beneficial for children at risk for healthy development. [i]
What Can Policymakers Do?
·
Invest in Early Head Start (EHS) expansion.
In 1998, the governor of
Kansas
approved
the transfer of TANF block grant funds to CCDBG (Child Care Development Block Grant) to establish a state EHS program.[ii] In 2008, the
Kansas
legislature
approved $11.1 million in new funds for an
Early Childhood Block Grant
for a range of local uses, including Early Head Start. At least 30 percent of the Block Grant dollars will be earmarked for infant and toddler programs.
·
Set licensing rules and subsidy payments to promote continuity of care.
Indiana
licensing rules
require child care centers to make a “reasonable effort” to achieve continuity of care for infants and toddlers up to 30 months of age; for example, moving the teacher with their children to another classroom or modifying the classroom as the children mature; creating mixed age groupings of children, ages six weeks to 36 months, or creating intentional transitions that prepare children as they move into the next age classroom.
[i]
Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care,
http://www.clasp.org/publications/cp_rationale13.htm