Facts In Action

The FY05 budget has been finalized and the children and families of the Commonwealth have fared well. Overall, early care and education programs have been funded at $475.55 million, a 1.96% increase from FY04. Most notably, a historic commitment has been made to the young children of this state with the official authorization of an independent department for early education and care. The Council on Early Education and Care will begin shortly working on transitioning services to this new department. In addition, the newly established Board of Early Education and Care will soon be appointed, and start developing the components for a universal high-quality preschool system, including kindergarten readiness assessment and workforce development. Between the conference committee budget and the final budget, the Governor vetoed the language on planning grants for this new department. However the Board of Early Education and Care has still been funded at an initial $600,000, and the Advisory Board on Early Education and Care has received $40,000.Another success for early care and education providers in this year’s budget is the $5 million increase in the Rate Reserve. This allotment will mean higher reimbursement rates for programs that contract with the Office of Child Care Services. Child Care Resource and Referral agencies were funded at the same level as FY04, reversing a trend from FY03 - FY04 of cutting funding for this program. Both Head Start and Community Partnerships for Children were level funded at $6.15 million and $68.6 million, respectively.The only tracked line item to receive a cut was a set of services for Low-Income Families, which was reduced from FY 04 by 1.06% to $278.94 million. However, the Supportive/Protective line item, subsidized care for those children in protective custody or at-risk of becoming so, was level-funded at $48.34 million.

Amidst another rough budget year, early care and education programs have done relatively well.

Facts in Action, October 2004