RD218 - Child Care Stabilization Pilot Update Report for Fiscal Year 2022
Executive Summary: Senate Bill 1316 of the 2021 Special Session I, directs the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), to establish a pilot program for the purpose of stabilizing and improving the quality of services provided in the Commonwealth's private child care industry. The pilot program is to provide a fixed sum of public funds to certain private child care providers to provide child care services, which have been agreed upon to be offered at a high standard of quality and care. This pilot model, frequently referred to as a contract model, seeks to incent private providers that are located in areas of the Commonwealth that have the greatest need for child care services to serve families that are underserved and have the greatest demand for full-day, full-year child care services. The pilot serves the additional purpose of supporting the recovery of Virginia’s workforce, and ultimately Virginia’s economy, as providing child care often acts as a key barrier to full time employment for parents of young children. The VDOE operated this pilot in close partnership with the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and Virginia’s Ready Regions through the expansion of the Mixed Delivery program. This report provides a summary of the outcomes from the pilot program, as well as identifies areas for additional analysis and evaluation as Virginia builds a best-in-class public-private birth-to-five parent choice system. |