National Policy Digest vol.4 Issue 16, December 2015 Table of Contents Highlights | Federal Updates | Policy Trends & Analysis | New Research | Upcoming Events | News and Resources | News from the States | Highlights ESSA Helps States Improve and Expand Early Childhood Education Programs From the First Five Years Fund: President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) for the first time since 2001. It includes historic support to states and communities for early childhood education, including the establishment of a $250 million Preschool Development Grant program to support states that are leaders in early childhood education. The Preschool Development Grants program's comprehensive needs assessment and focus on promoting close collaboration within communities, including leveraging existing State Advisory Councils on Early Childhood Education and Care, will ensure existing federal, state and local resources are used effectively to promote quality and parental choice. Coupled with the program's other core provisions, including encouraging thoughtful strategic planning and promoting sharing of best practices among early childhood education program providers, will make a positive difference for the nation's youngest learners and their families. Read statements from First Five Years Fund (FFYF), Center for Law and Social and Social Policy (CLASP), and EdSource on the new PDG program. Sen. Patty Murray, ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee released a statement on ESSA's provisions that will improve and expand access to early learning programs here. Education Week summarizes key aspects of the new law here. The White House released a report praising the passage of ESSA and reflecting on the progress made in elementary and secondary education during President Obama's time in office. Read more here. US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told reporters that the department will send out ESSA guidance to states before the end of the year. Read more here. Back to Table of Contents ^ Federal Updates 1 Appropriations President Obama signed the Omnibus FY2016 Appropriations Bill which includes significant increases to early education programs. It includes an increase of $326 million for the Child Care Development Block Grant, maintaining a set-aside of $127 million for infants and toddlers. The bill also features a $570 million increase for Head Start, which includes a $135 million increase for Early Head Start, EHS-Child Care partnerships and conversions from Head Start to Early Head Start. The Preschool Development Grants will continue at $250 million through the Department of Education. The bill makes permanent the refundable tax credits for low-income families through the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, as well as making permanent a partially refundable tax credit for college tuition expenses. Read more here, here and here. Child Care and Development Block The Office of Child Care, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) addressing the CCDBG Act of 2014. The proposed rules will be officially published with a 60-day comment period, starting December 24. Read the NPRM here. Additional resources will be added to the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Reauthorization web page, including a list of areas in which ACF is specifically seeking comment. Read more here. As states prepare to submit the FY2016-18 Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) state plans to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in March 2016, they must comply with the requirement of at least one public hearing on the state plan. ACF has been collecting information on the dates and locations of those hearings already planned here. Family Engagement The US Departments of Health and Human Services and Education released a draft policy statement "Draft Policy Statement on Family Engagement: From the Early Years to the Early Grades," that provides recommendations on "systematically engaging families in their children's development, learning and wellness, across early childhood and elementary education settings." Comment deadline extended to January 4, 2016. Read more here and here. Child Nutrition The White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) released “Long-Term Benefits of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” that finds the program is “highly effective at reducing food insecurity—the government’s measure for whether households lack the resources for consistent and dependable access to food.” Included in the report is a review of the growing body of research on the link between health and academic performance with children who receive food assistance. Read more here. Read a blog by Jason Furman, Cecilia Muñoz, and Sandra Black here and the Food Research and Action Center’s (FRAC) statement here. Head Start Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Matt Salmon introduced the Head Start Improvement Act in the Senate and House that would create a block grant of the program's current $8.6 billion funding. Read the accompanying op-ed in The Washington Examiner here. Child Health Insurance Families and small businesses interested in signing up for individual and small group coverage should do so through Healthcare.gov (CuidadDeSalu.gov) or individual state Marketplaces before open enrollment ends on January 31, 2016. Insurance purchased through the marketplaces meets the minimum essential coverage required by the individual mandate and may be more affordable through tax credits. Outside of open enrollment, 2 individuals and families may still qualify for coverage under certain life events or through Medicaid and should continue to visit the site for more information about those opportunities. More information at Healthcare.gov here. The Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC) and the ACF Early Childhood Development Affordable Care Act pages have resources to share with programs and families. Learn more here and here. Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships (EHS-CC) The National Center on Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships (NCEHS-CCP) released a collection of resources related to the grant program and the partnerships it creates. Read more here and here. Back to Table of Contents ^ Policy Trends and Analysis Child Care The Ounce of Prevention Fund National Policy Team published "The Importance of Continuity of Care: Policies and Practices in Early Childhood Systems and Programs," a policy brief that provides a review of the research that articulates the importance of continuity of care for young children and families. Additionally, it highlights opportunities to support policies and programming that help young children develop secure relationships, including in the context of state Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) plans. Read more here. Child Care Aware released the "Parents and High Cost of Child Care: 2015 Report" that includes an interactive map to quickly access a variety of cost data for each state. The report also examines five of the country's largest metropolitan areas to demonstrate how lower priced-care in rural areas brings down state averages. Read more here. The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for Children and Families updated and released "The CCDF Policies Database Book of Tables: Key Cross-State Variations in CCDF Policies as of October 1, 2014." Policy variation highlights include eligibility requirements and terms of authorization and redetermination. Read more here. Birth-3rd Grade New America's Early & Elementary Education team produced the new report "From Crawling to Walking: Ranking States on Birth- 3rd Grade Policies that Support Strong Readers," that measures states on a broad set of policy indicators that can help ensure children are on track to read on grade level by the end of third grade. New America's data visualization and policy analysis tool, Atlas, includes complementary interactive maps. Read the report here and visit Atlas here. o Elliot Regenstein, from The Ounce of Prevention Fund, responded to New America's report, praising the report overall but taking issue with one of the metrics: including pre-k in the state's school funding formula. Read more here. New America released the second of its companion papers that analyzes more in depth the interaction of state and local policy in Massachusetts, called "Starting Young." Read here. The first paper, "Building Strong Readers in Minnesota" is located here. New America's Abbie Lieberman analyzed data from the report for another companion piece on workforce in "Strengthening the Early Education Workforce: A Look at the Leading States." Read more here. 3 Immigration Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) published a brief based on an April 2015 roundtable with 39 leading experts from the early education, workforce development, postsecondary education, and immigration policy and practice fields, "Two-Generational Strategies to Improve Immigrant Family and Child Outcomes." Read more here. Professional Development The BUILD Initiative and the Center for Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) produced "Sharpening the Focus: State Policy to Promote Effective Teaching that Improves Learning," as a part of the organizations' joint effort working with state leaders on promoting effective early childhood teaching. Read more here. Paid Leave "Administering Paid Family and Medical Leave: Learning from International and