Child Care VA
Home Child Care VA MenuBuilding Child Care Supply in Virginia
Welcome! This exciting initiative launched with a kick-off work group webinar in March 2019. Team members include representatives from over 20 Local Departments of Social Services, the Division of Child Care & Early Childhood Development, the Department of Education, the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, Smart Beginnings, the Virginia Child Care Association, and numerous state and regional agencies.
The purpose of this project is to build the supply of quality child care in under-served areas of the state, with a focus on increasing the number of providers participating in the Child Care Subsidy Program. Together with local and regional early childhood advocacy groups and stakeholders, we will work to do the following.
- Promote the compilation and assessment of locality-specific child care data, barriers, and solutions;
- Identify and implement active local partnerships and investment in quality early care and education; and
- Develop a Toolkit to guide communities in the development and continuous improvement of early care and education programs
Download the Building Child Care Support Toolkit
Start Building!
The Building Child Care Supply Toolkit explores child care supply and demand, ways to identify local stakeholders, and how to set and achieve early care and education goals to benefit your community.
Using a series of interactive worksheets, the Toolkit helps you plan your project via practical, actionable strategies and tools such as the Child Care Community Profile, Potential Partners List and Marketing Strategies.
The Toolkit includes six practical steps and numerous strategies for communities to use to build child care supply and quality. Each step includes general information and a list of questions designed to prompt discussion, action, and results. The Toolkit’s modular design enables you to “jump in” wherever you are in the building process.
Jump In!
Click on a step to view the fillable toolkit!
Step 1: Assess and Plan
Start with a brainstorming exercise to quickly identify the challenges you need to address, along with potential solutions. Next, use the Community Child Care Profile to identify data points and sources regarding families, children and early care and education in your community. Finally, assess the data and define your Project Goal.
Step 2: Identify Resources
Identify existing and potential resources at federal, state, regional and local levels. Discover bold, creative solutions for gaining sustainable financial and non-financial support. Explore existing partners and complete the Potential Partners chart to identify stakeholders and collaborators.
Step 3: Generate Awareness
Building local awareness and public will about early care and education issues is imperative. Why is this issue important to employers, educators and local government? How can stakeholders advocate for increases in child care supply and quality? Use Step 3 to craft your message, create a Marketing & Outreach Plan, and learn how to diversify your audiences for success.
Step 4: Develop Strategies
Consider your goals and resources, and select one or more strategies to implement. Mix and match from dynamic, flexible solutions to best respond to your community’s needs and trends. Learn how to incentivize, expand, and support the early care and education programs in your neighborhood, while enhancing quality, equity and advocacy.
Step 5: Implement Your Plan
Use the sample Project Plan to outline the step-by-step process you’ll follow for each strategy. Define roles and responsibilities, earmark funds, and prepare to measure your progress and results. Step 5 helps you document and track your activities, stay focused on your goals, and maintain momentum.
Step 6: Evaluate and Improve
As your plans become reality, consider outcomes and lessons learned. Could your process be improved or streamlined? Is your team “flexing” to respond to emerging needs? How do you practice continuous improvement in both your process and within your early care and education landscape?
Resources
Project Templates
- BCCS Team Invitation
- BCCS Project Tools Project Roles
- BCCS Project Tools Project Plan
- BCCS Project Tools Project Charter
- BCCS Meeting Agenda Template
- BCCS Presentation Template
- Operating Costs Cash Flow Template
- Operating Costs Cash Flow Fillable Template
- Potential Partners Form
- Community Business List
- State & Local Solutions
Promotional Items
- Subsidy Parent Postcard (English Version)
- Subsidy Parent Postcard (Spanish Version)
- Subsidy Parent Poster (English Version)
- Subsidy Parent Poster (Spanish Version)
- Why Quality Matters
Inspirational Examples of Partnership
- Chesapeake R U Ready Youth Coalition
- New Market Community Care & Learning Center
- Roanoke Regional Mixed Delivery Preschool Pilot