• Mission & Governance
• Services Overview
• How to Get Involved
• Standing Committees
• NCSL Foundation

• Issue Areas: A-Z
• State-Federal Relations
• NCSL Standing Committees
• News from D.C. and the States

• About State Legislatures
• Elections, Campaigns & Redistricting
• NCSL's StateConnect Directory
• Web Sites

• Online Guide to NCSL Services
• Staff Sections and Networks
• Meetings & Professional Development
• Staff Directories

• Meetings Calendar
• Online Registration
• Meetings Home Page
• Legislative Summit

• Bookstore
• State Legislatures Magazine
• NCSL's StateConnect Directory

Child Care Newsletter

A Quarterly Report on Financing Quality of Early Care and Education Issues

NCSL Technical Assistance
NCSL Publications and Meetings
After-School Project
Federal Update
Current Research Resources

State Legislatures Consider Many Child Care Policies During 2001 Sessions

Lawmakers are considering a variety of important child care and early education policies as the end of the 2001 session approaches in many states. The policies include directing state and federal public funds to low-income child care services, as well as spending welfare and other money for early care and education. Many state legislatures throughout the country are also examining extensive proposals on regulations, parent education, preschool, and infant/toddler care and development. The following summary of pending bills provides a more detailed snapshot of these efforts this year.

The issue of financing early education and care services is a major concern for states, and lawmakers are considering tax credits and other innovative methods to pay for them. At least 13 state legislatures have proposed a new or improved child care tax credit for families, child care centers or employers. Eight state legislatures (Connecticut, Indiana, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Washington) are considering a tax credit to employers who support or provide child care for their employees. Legislators in at least five states (Hawaii, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania and Oregon) have proposed family and personal tax credit initiatives for dependent care. New Jersey lawmakers are considering directing license plate fee revenues to low-income child care services. Other proposals would use those revenues to pay for early childhood and intergenerational and faith-based care.

Legislators in Alabama, Massachusetts, New York and North Carolina have proposed tax credits or exemptions for facilities, non-profit providers or reallocation of collected funds. A proposed Massachusetts law would provide a tax exemption for certain materials used to construct child care facilities.

Lawmakers in several states are considering legislation to provide subsidies and access to child care for low-income families. A proposed Virginia law would require a study of funding mechanisms for low-income families' access to child care services, specifically surveying the child care needs of welfare recipients in an effort to assess whether there is sufficient funding available. Pending Wyoming legislation also addresses TANF funding for child care, and would change eligibility for child care subsidies. New York legislation would provide financing for the construction and renovation of child care facilities for state and other public employees.

Legislation introduced this year related to prekindergarten or other early education programs focuses on accessibility, funding, school readiness and special needs education. Lawmakers in at least five states (Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana and Virginia) have proposed universal prekindergarten initiatives. Legislators in at least six states (Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Wyoming) have proposed changes in funding for early education. Hawaii legislators are proposing direct grants or low-interest loans to early education programs for children from low-income families. School readiness or early intervention initiatives are proposed in Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri and New Hampshire. Preschool education for 3- and 4-year olds with special needs or for those at-risk is under consideration in at least six states, including Indiana, Kansas, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Wyoming. Other areas of proposed legislative activity include family and parent education, facilities and school-based early education.

More than half of the states have proposed legislation regarding regulation and licensing of child care facilities, including safety requirements, monitoring, access to records, and types of regulated care. Legislators in at least 13 states (Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington) are considering laws regulating the safety of a child care setting, including use of pesticides, visitor check-in, background checks and playground safety. Legislation in Pennsylvania would require regulation for certain subsidized providers, including mandatory background checks, facility safety, and training on health, safety and child development. Bills in at least seven states (California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Nebraska, Rhode Island and Washington) would increase access to records, such as inspection reports, certain complaints and criminal history of providers. A Washington bill would establish a toll-free number and web site that provide information about child care centers and homes, including licensing status and compliance. Several state legislatures have proposed bills on the inspection of facilities. Lawmakers in at least five states have drafted laws adding certain types of providers to those who are regulated, including drop-in care, religious care and family child care. Legislation in at least six states (Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Washington) would exempt some child care services from certain regulations or licensure.

At least 13 state legislatures are considering legislation related to child care providers this session. At least seven states, including Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Virginia, have proposed legislation on reimbursements or grants to child care providers. Legislators in two states (Colorado and Maryland) want to assess or increase the supply of providers. Providing grants to child care providers who coordinate and partner with each other to promote efficiency is under consideration in Maine.

State lawmakers in 2001 have considered infant and toddler care and development legislation in three policy areas: expanding supply and access, regulations, and improving early intervention services for very young children with disabilities. Illinois lawmakers have proposed an initiative to address the shortage of high quality care for children under age 3 and are also considering including this component in the state's comprehensive child care plan. The Minnesota Legislature has proposed expanding eligibility to their at-home child care program, which reimburses low-income parents who choose to stay at home with their infants. Legislators in New Hampshire and North Dakota have considered measures to study the feasibility of establishing an at-home infant child care program. At least 20 states have considered family leave bills, mostly financed through Unemployment Insurance (UI). Vermont legislators are proposing a study of paid leave options. A New Mexico task force would examine and develop a plan to strengthen infant-to-caregiver child care ratios. Accrediting early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and establishing an Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities Board is under consideration in Indiana.

State legislators are considering legislation that educates parents or others about child development. Illinois legislators are proposing to incorporate weekly parent trainings with the state's Early Start Program, which serves families with infants and toddlers. The Indiana Legislature is considering appropriating funds for the Parents as Teachers Program. Virginia lawmakers have proposed a family literacy grant, including enhancing parents' understanding of child development. Pending legislation in Kansas would offer grants to school districts that provide parent education programs with an infant and toddler focus. Oregon legislation would encourage school districts to develop a high school course in parenting skills and childhood development.

A recent scan of proposed 2001 after-school legislation reveals a variety of activities throughout the states. At least 30 states have pending legislation concerning after-school policies. These policies range from the creation of new programs to financing and regulating existing ones. Many states are examining innovative financing approaches, including funding through federal grants and tobacco settlement money, establishing different types of tax incentives, or providing funding within school finance packages.

The Illinois Legislature is considering a bill that would create an after-school program fund with monies generated from a special license plate. A California bill would authorize counties to use Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funds for after-school child care programs. Tennessee's General Assembly is looking at authorizing a state lottery with proceeds to pay for various educational initiatives including after-school programs. Several states are proposing programs that would create grants or allow for the sale of bonds to raise money for the construction of after-school program facilities.

Some states are examining legislation that authorizes different types of after-school programs. Maryland legislators, for example, have proposed a bill that would authorize a county board to develop a plan for an after-school/summer school educational curriculum of reading, writing and math. In Oregon, a bill that would award after-school program grants to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

At least 10 states are developing regulatory guidelines for after-school programs, including the sale of drugs near after-school facilities and the length of program operating hours. At least six state legislatures are turning their attention to the issue of after-school transportation. Pending legislation in Hawaii would provide bus transportation for all kids in extra-curricular after-school activities. New York lawmakers are considering a bill that would provide transportation between school and after-school activities for certain school-age children. To see the legislation visit NCSL's link to state legislatures' web sites at www.ncsl.org/public/sitesleg.htm.

NCSL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

State legislators across the country have actively deliberated a variety of early childhood policies in 2001, including financing, quality, regulations and early childhood development. These state legislative activities draw on technical assistance from the National Conference of State Legislature's (NCSL) Child Care Project. The efforts illustrate the different types of assistance that NCSL provides, such as expert committee testimony; state-specific data and national trends; briefings with national, state and local specialists; and presentations at state and local meetings. Legislators in Colorado and New Hampshire have worked with NCSL during the past several months to discuss key child care and early education issues and legislation.

The statutorily created Child Care Commission in Colorado is addressing a wide range of early childhood issues that have significant policy implications. As directed by the law, commission members are discussing specific approaches that affect child care quality, financing, licensing, capacity and subsidies. At the November 2000 meeting, the commission focused on training and education for early childhood professionals, incentives for retaining child care staff, licensing enforcement strategies, and funding sources. Commission members heard from NCSL's early childhood issue specialist Scott Groginsky, state regulatory administrators, resource and referral representatives, a federal Head Start manager and local early childhood coordinators. NCSL staff discussed other states' uses of federal, state and business money to improve early childhood providers' education and compensation, compared Colorado's regulatory requirements to other states, and highlighted key research findings.

Since the January 2001 meeting, commission members expressed interest in expanding their scope to include key federal and state financing policies that can affect the quality and supply of early care services. NCSL's Groginsky made a second presentation to the commission about significant child care financing issues, especially related to low-income families. He addressed other states' approaches to expanding access and affordability through income eligibility, parent fee and reimbursement rate policies. Groginsky also discussed the implications of the upcoming congressional reauthorization of the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant and the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families block grant. Commission members also heard from local consolidated child care projects about their progress and from state and local foundations about supporting a variety of early childhood services throughout the state. Project staff arranged for national child care financing expert Louise Stoney to speak to the commission at a June meeting.

A legislator with the New Hampshire Legislative Children's Caucus requested that NCSL project staff organize a meeting on early childhood issues for the Children's Caucus and other interested legislators. NCSL staff organized expert speakers, presented information on state early childhood policy trends, and facilitated a policy discussion session for approximately 40 legislators, along with early childhood professionals and community members. NCSL worked with the Education Commission of the States (ECS) and the New Hampshire Legislative Children's Caucus to cosponsor this event.

With increasing attention on recent early childhood brain development, quality impacts and concerns about financing, the Caucus was interested in how brain development research affects policymaking, the linkages among child care and education providers with quality, and key policy trends in these areas from a national perspective. NCSL project staff organized the meeting to include:

• Governor Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, who welcomed the legislators by discussing the Education Commission of the States Early Learning Initiative and current research-based program initiatives in New Hampshire.
• NCSL early childhood issue specialist Scott Groginsky, who provided an overview of state policy actions affecting early care and education programs, funding and quality initiatives.
• Greg Duncan, a national expert and a co-author of From Neurons to Neighborhoods, who explained the relevance of brain development research and neuroscience to policymakers, provided information on the stages of early childhood brain development, and referred to programs that had been evaluated to show positive long-term outcome. He also provided steps families, businesses and governments can take to be involved in early childhood development.
• Kristie Kauerz , the project manager for the (ECS) Early Childhood Project, provided details about the ECS Early Learning Initiative, the role of ECS in the early learning policymaking process, and other ECS regional initiatives.
• Claudie Wayne, an expert on child care provider issues, who focused on the impacts of provider training, education and compensation on program quality outcomes. She highlighted information on current national provider training, compensation and turnover statistics, as well as methods for legislators to improve quality through improved provider wages and benefits.

After the presentations, Groginsky facilitated a policy discussion among legislators, expert speakers and other members of the community on early childhood issues. Legislators engaged in discussions specific to current New Hampshire's policies, funding mechanisms, involvement and education of parents in early childhood development, the supply of quality child care providers, compensation, training and long-term goals. Based on this discussion session, legislators highlighted areas for further discussion or action, including provider training and compensation, early childhood linkages to health and social services, and financing.

NCSL PUBLICATIONS AND MEETINGS

Under a grant provided by the Foundation for Child Development (FCD), NCSL staff studied state efforts to coordinate early education and child care programs through statutes. Staff researched and surveyed the 50 states and the District of Columbia on enacted legislation related to the coordination of early education programs and child care by conducting statutory searches, followed by telephone surveys of state agencies and legislative offices. Findings show that 33 states have laws to coordinate child care with early education programs like preschool, prekindergarten or Head Start. NCSL will publish the survey in summer 2001.

The report identifies five general areas of state statute categories. They include:

• program requirements, which direct programs to coordinate to be eligible for funding;
• government facilitation of coordination efforts;
• structural examination laws, which require a state study of coordination policies;
• legislative intent laws, which express the state's policy objective to collaborate; and
• inclusion of preschool in the state definition of child care or vise versa.

State legislators recognize that investing in good early services for very young children can lead to school success and other positive outcomes later in life. An upcoming NCSL report will discuss recent state actions and policies regarding infant and toddler care and development and provide a national context of the infant and toddler issue. The report will highlight key components of a birth to age 3 system, including funding programs, training and compensating child care providers, promoting health and safety in child care settings, and supporting parental involvement.

NCSL child care project staff will conduct two early childhood meeting sessions at this year's Annual Meeting in San Antonio on August 13 and 14, 2001. One of these sessions will address how states are maximizing their child care and early education funds. The other session will feature state legislative approaches to expand and improve care and development services for children under age 3.

In the past several months NCSL and eight other national organizations cosponsored Northeast and Midwest regional meetings hosted by the Education Commission of the States (ECS) on early learning. An ECS initiative headed by New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen emphasizes the importance of early education. Legislators and other policymakers who participated worked in state teams to assess and plan next steps in three main areas: system-building for early childhood, engaging businesses, and including early education in K-12 reform. Speakers addressed policy options in these areas.

At the Northeast regional meeting in New Haven in December 2000, seven state teams3/4 Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont3/4 consisting of legislative and executive branch representatives, business leaders and stakeholders worked with national facilitators. NCSL staff facilitated two separate state teams, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Keynote speaker Michael Levine, executive director of the I Am Your Child Foundation, spoke about the need for effective partnerships when building an early childhood system for all children and their families. State teams discussed various innovative financing strategies for the 2001 legislative sessions.

At the Midwest meeting, held in Chicago in March 2001, the keynote speaker was Kathy Thornburg, the president of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Session speakers included state officials, organization leaders from NAEYC, the Families and Work Institute, Voices for Illinois Children, the United Way Success by 6, and the Child Care Action Campaign. Five Midwest states participated-Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio. NCSL project staff facilitated the Iowa team discussions.

AFTER-SCHOOL PROJECT

NCSL's After-School project, funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, provides information and technical assistance to state lawmakers and legislative staff on after-school issues. Increasingly, policymakers are establishing after-school programs in their states and these programs can support working parents, youth development and academic enrichment.

The After-School Project provides state legislatures with comprehensive resources on addressing the development and financing of quality after-school programs. These resources include technical assistance to all interested states, numerous publications, information responses, a comprehensive web site and NCSL meeting sessions on state laws, research and innovative practices. An After-School Advisory Committee composed of state legislators, legislative staff and national experts from across the country guides the project.

The project is also collaborating with four other Mott grantees to provide intensive technical assistance to four to six states on after-school issues. These other grantees are the National Governors' Association, the National League of Cities, the Council of Chief State School Officers and the Finance Project. Maryland, Mississippi, Texas and Wisconsin are the initial pilot states chosen to receive technical assistance.

Project staff also track and analyze pending and enacted state legislation (see page 3 for pending after-school legislation from the 2001 session). For more information on NCSL's After-School Project, contact Amber Minogue in the Denver office.

FEDERAL UPDATE

On April 9, President Bush released additional details about his budget proposal for FY 2002, expanding on the information contained in his earlier budget blueprint. Some of President Bush's proposals differ from the budget resolutions adopted by the House and Senate. At the time this article was written, there was no conference agreement between the House and Senate on the Congressional Budget Resolution. The Congressional Budget Resolution lays out the spending parameters for congressional appropriators, and represents the position of Congress when members finally negotiate the budget with the president before the start of the new federal fiscal year on October 1. Specific items in the president's proposal of interest to policymakers concerned with child care and early childhood education issues are discussed below.

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) would be funded at $2.2 billion, an increase over FY 2001 funding of $200 million. However, the new After School Certificate Program within the CCDBG would be a $400 million set aside, effectively reducing the amount by $200 million for existing activities funded under the grant.

Head Start

The President's budget proposal would increase funding for Head Start for FY 2002 by $125 million over the FY 2001 level. The administration would also make changes in the program designed to emphasize its school readiness objectives. These reforms include a proposal to move Head Start to the Department of Education.

The President's budget would eliminate all funding for the Early Learning Opportunities Fund enacted last year to provide resources to communities for early childhood systems, including parent education and family support services. Funding for the Early Learning Opportunities Fund for FY 2001 is $20 million. The President has proposed zero funding in FY 2002.

The President's proposal for literacy programs includes $75 million in competitive grants to school districts and non-profit organizations to enhance existing preschool program efforts to improve the verbal skills of 3-to 5-year-olds. This initiative is intended to help implement research-based reading practices in existing preschool and Head Start programs whose children will enter participating elementary schools.

The budget includes $846 million for a more flexible after school program that would allow states to award federal funds to school districts, private organizations and faith-based entities.

Social Services Block Grant (SSBG)

The Social Services Block Grant would be funded at $1.7 billion in FY 2002, a decrease of $25 million from the FY 2001 funding level. In addition, the budget reduces the ability of states to transfer TANF funds into the SSBG to the statutory level of 4.25 percent. For FY 2001, states were able to transfer 10 percent of their TANF funds. NCSL and other state and local groups have been working to restore funding for this program to the $2.38 billion level agreed to during the enactment of welfare reform in 1996 and maintain transferability at 10 percent. Note: States usually spend more SSBG money for child care than any other single service.

For additional information regarding federal budget proposals or federal legislation that affect child care or early education, please contact Sheri Steisel or Lee Posey in the NCSL D.C. office.

CURRENT RESEARCH RESOURCES

Financing Child Care in the United States, authored by Anne Mitchell, Louise Stoney and Harriet Dichter, features financing mechanisms that increase revenues for child care allocations. The catalog highlights a variety of financing approaches that state and other policymakers can use to generate and allocate financing, including public revenues, private sector child care financing and public-private partnerships. Also included in this report, supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, is a chapter on financing strategies from other fields that may be applicable to early childhood financing. Further information is available at http://www.emkf.org/.

The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) issued a report on state policies and statistics concerning young children and their families, finding that states are increasing their investments into efforts to improve early childhood programs overall by 87 percent as compared to 1998. The report provides a state-by-state analysis, and also notes that progress among states has not been the same. Map and Track 2000: State Initiatives for Young Children and Families reports on child development and family support strategies; financing issues related to families and children in poverty, such as subsidies and tax credits; and state demographics on child poverty rates in the 50 states and the District of Colombia. Details are available at http://www.nccp.org/ or 212.304.7100.

A new report has found that low-income families face the fewest choices for quality care and that child care costs outweigh public college tuition in 49 states. In The High Cost of Child Care Puts Quality Care Out of Reach for Many Families, the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) reports on child care cost statistics around the United States, including providing tables of statewide child care costs, including family care, and urban vs. rural care costs. CDF recommendations include increased engagement by the federal government, businesses and state and local communities. Information is available at http://www.childrensdefense.org/ or 202.628.8787.

America's Family Support Magazine, published by Family Support America, highlights the positive outcomes of family support programs for parents, community networks and social benefits including reduced feelings of low self-esteem, isolation and the efficient use of scarce resources. This publication discusses characteristics and benefits of family-supportive child care and also parental and community involvement. The report offers six ways to overcome obstacles in developing a family support based program. Details are at http://www.familysupportamerica.org/ or 312.338.0900.

A recent RAND report concludes that Head Start has significant impacts on long-term achievements, such as high school graduation rates, college attendance rates and less criminal behavior. Longer Term Effects of Head Start studied indicators of economic and social successes, the differences of Head Start influences by race, and statistical data. The report is available at http://www.rand.org/labor/DRU/DRU2439.pdf.

An evaluation has shown that children and families benefit from involvement with the federal Early Head Start program. The preliminary statement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services noted stronger cognitive, language and social-emotional skills among children participating in Early Head Start. Influences on parents were also positive, including better parenting skills. Early Head Start serves children birth to age 3 and their families. Details are at http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/news.

Findings of an Urban Institute paper show that center care is more common for black and white children than for Hispanic children, who tend to be in relative care more often. The report also documents the number of children in non-parental care while the mother is working (73 percent) and increases in full-time, non-parental care between infancy and age 2 (32 percent vs. 43 percent). Focusing on children under age 3 with working mothers, this paper examines data in three main areas: types of care, hours in care, and number of non-parental arrangements. The Occasional Paper Number 42, Who's Caring for Our Youngest Children? Child Care Patterns of Infants and Toddlers, also covers research on the effects of child care on infants and toddlers and factors such as the mother's level of education, race, family income, family structure and parent availability.

The Center for the Child Care Workforce (CCW) found that child care providers are among the lowest paid professionals in the United States. According to CCW, the average wage for a child care worker is $7.42, and for a family care provider the average is $4.82. The highest average child care worker wage is $10.62 in the District of Columbia. Current Data on Child Care Salaries and Benefits in the United States provides specific state provider wages, health benefits, and turnover rates. For copies of this report, http://www.ccw.org. or contact 1-800-UR-WORTHY.

A longitudinal study by the Center for the Child Care Workforce (CCW) found that 76 percent of the 1996 early education workforce left their jobs by 2000. The study noted that 56 percent of centers with turnover have been unable to replace all lost staff; turnover itself is a cause of other staff leaving; and that despite low wages and benefits, most child care teaching staff enjoy their jobs. Then & Now: Changes in Child Care Staffing 1994-2000 studied 75 centers, focusing on child care workforce characteristics and retention of skilled staff. Information is available from CCW at http://www.ccw.org/then&now.html or 1-800-UR-WORTHY.

A Good Beginning: Sending America's Children to School With the Social and Emotional Competence They Need to Succeed, by The Child Mental Health Foundations and Agency Network, concluded that school readiness and academic success are related to emotional and social development. The report notes that children without these skills tend to have more problems with their emotions, teachers and schoolwork. This document recommends moving towards a multidisciplinary comprehensive system that collaborates among federal agencies and other early childhood services in order to support young children's social, emotional and academic successes. Copies are available at http://www.nimh.nih.gov/childhp/fdnconsb.htm or 301.443.4513.

Spotlights, published by the National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL), shows that states increasingly are moving towards assessment mechanisms to measure school readiness, mostly at the local level. Findings also show that no state has a formal definition of school readiness. A state-by-state chart illustrates methods for assessing readiness among prekindergarten- and kindergarten-aged children. The newsletter focuses on state policies for improving school readiness. This and other Spotlights publications may be accessed via the NCEDL web site (http://www.ncedl.org) at http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ncedl/Pages/wnew.htm#SpotAnchor.

State Developments In Child Care, Early Education and School-Age Care 2000 comprehensively highlights recent state policies to improve child care and early education services. These policy areas include child care subsidy eligibility, co-payments, and reimbursement rates, tax credits, child care facilities, infant and toddler care, school-age care, early literacy, Head Start and prekindergarten collaboration, quality and supply initiatives, and business involvement. The document is available from the Children's Defense Fund at http://www.childrensdefense.org or 202.628.8787.

The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) researched states' use of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funds for child care, either through direct funding or transfers to the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). A full chart is available at www.clasp.org. CLASP also published Using TANF for Child Care: A Technical Guide, which covers transfer rules, direct spending, and possible child care and school-aged services that may be funded by TANF money. This information is also available at http://www.clasp.org or contacting Rachel Schumacher at 202.328.5164.

A policy brief issued by the Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) Growing Up in Poverty project focuses on effective policies for financing child care. How to Pay for Child Care? Local Innovations Help Working Families finds that a major obstacle to child care is the low use of subsidies by parents. The brief provides eight strategies for improving subsidy use, including creating a child care guarantee, expanding local child care organizations, creating affordable parent fees, co-location of child care and welfare offices, and parent outreach. Information is available from PACE at 510.642.7223.

A report released by the U.S. General Accounting Office, States Increased Spending on Low-Income Families, revealed that state child care expenditures using CCDF, TANF and state funds increased by more than $16 billion from FY1997 to FY1999. The report focuses on state child care expenditures under the child care and welfare block grants, how subsidies are provided, types of care used, states' priorities for who receives subsidies, and views about the current levels of child care funding. According to the report, states retained about $8 billion at the end of FY 1999 in unspent TANF funds, of which some is already obligated by states. The report notes that most CCDF subsidies are provided through vouchers and that most children who receive these subsidies participate in center-based programs. A majority of states prioritize TANF recipients and transitioning TANF families for child care subsidies. The report also discusses some state program officials' concerns about funding amounts to serve all eligible low-income families and to improve the quality of care. The report is available at www.gao.gov.

A report on 17 states' low-income child care policies found increased spending from a variety of sources, including state child care and federal welfare funds, leading to services for more children. In most of the states, spending on quality improvements also increased. The study also found that no more than a quarter of federally eligible children in any of these 17 states accesses child care subsidies. Despite increases in subsidy use from 1997 to 1999, just 10 percent to 25 percent of federally eligible families accessed child care subsidies in 14 of 16 states. The study identifies possible reasons for low subsidy use, such as unaffordable parental fees, low reimbursement rates, lack of subsidy awareness and outreach, split parental work shifts and preference for parental care. The study notes that current federal and state funding levels are inadequate to provide child care to all federally eligible low-income children. The report also examined state subsidy policies related to child care eligibility levels, reimbursement rates, supply and demand, quality and type of arrangement. To access the report, the National Study of Child Care for Low-Income Families: State and Community Substudy Interim Report, by Abt Associates, click on www.abtassoc.com/reports/welfare-download/NSCCLIF.pdf.

A recent study reports that low-income children who participate in a highly structured early childhood intervention program, similar to Head Start, are more likely to graduate from high school and less likely to be arrested than children who did not attend such a program. Children who attend such preschool programs were also less likely to be placed in special education or to repeat a grade. The study evaluated the long-term effectiveness of the Chicago Child-Parent Center Program, a federally funded program, which provides comprehensive educational, family and health services to public school children in 23 centers. The University of Wisconsin conducted the study, which was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. The full report, Long-term Effects of an Early Childhood Intervention on Educational Achievement and Juvenile Arrest: A 15-Year Follow-up of Low-Income Children in Public Schools, can be found in the May 9, 2001, issue at http://www.jama.ama-assn.org/pi/index.html.