Contra Costa receives grant to improve preschool quality for low-income children
The California Department of Education (CDE) recently announced that the Contra Costa County Office of Education (CCCOE) has received a $1.4 million block grant to directly implement improvements to its county’s preschool education programs for low-income children. Contra Costa was one of sixteen California counties to receive this grant.
The block grant was included in California’s 2014-15 State Budget and provides $50 million in ongoing funding to support quality improvements in California preschools. The goal of the grant funding is to increase the number of low-income children attending high-quality preschool programs, which research shows prepares children for success in school and life.
The CDE block grants were designated for the California counties currently piloting a Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), a uniform system to rate, improve, and communicate levels of child-care quality. Contra Costa is a QRIS pilot county and currently has 100 child-care programs participating.
Per the CDE block grant, funds must be used to support California State Preschool Program (CSPP) sites. These are preschool programs that receive state subsidies to serve low-income children. There are 58 CSPP sites in Contra Costa County, primarily run by nonprofit child-care centers and school districts. More than half of the CSPP programs in Contra Costa already participate in the QRIS rating system.
Funds from the CDE block grant will be used to recognize providers who score high QRIS ratings and to help programs with lower scores raise quality. The incentives are designed to improve and maintain quality by keeping teacher/child ratios low, paying for qualified staff, and supporting strong teacher/child interactions.
Contra Costa County’s $1.4 million grant will support:
· Stipends between $2,500 to $5,000 to all CSPP sites participating in the QRIS
· Site quality improvement mini-grants for sites seeking help reaching top ratings
· Quality grants to CSPP providers who successfully score in the top two ratings
· Training and support for CSPP sites not currently participating in QRIS
· A public awareness campaign about the nature and importance of quality preschool
· Monitoring and rating of new QRIS participants
The CDE block grant builds on the federal Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge funding First 5 Contra Costa received to pilot a QRIS in Contra Costa County, along with funds the CCCOE allocated over the last 15 years to increase the education and training of Contra Costa’s child-care workforce.
In addition to CCCOE’s fiscal role, the agency will be responsible for the monitoring and rating of sites’ participating in Contra Costa’s State Preschool QRIS Block Grant. Other quality improvement services and support are implemented in partnership with First 5 Contra Costa, Contra Costa County’s Community Services Bureau, and the Contra Costa Child Care Council. All above mentioned partner agencies make up Contra Costa’s QRIS Consortia members who regularly interface to coordinate services for current and potential participating CSPP sites. First 5 Contra Costa is the lead consortia agency for the block grant.
For additional information about the grant and/or QRIS program, contact First Five Contra Costa Early Childhood Deputy Director Cally Martin at (925) 771-7322 or Ruth Fernandez, CCCOE, at (925) 942-3413
