Children’s earliest experiences build their brain architecture. Positive interactions between young children, their parents and families, and early childhood care and education teachers create healthy brain development through experiences that prepare them for success in school and life. North Carolina is a leader in early care and learning—and it needs continued investment to strengthen all families and the state’s economy. The Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) plays an essential role in making sure North Carolina’s child care programs are as effective and efficient as possible. Since the program’s beginning in 2018, North Carolina has relied on the $57.7 million federal PDG B-5 dollars to strengthen the early childhood care and education system that supports children’s healthy development and learning, allows parents to work and keeps businesses running.
In 2024, North Carolina was awarded a three-year $27 million Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five Grant (PDG B-5). The state will receive $9 million per year for up to three years to strengthen early care and education (ECE) programs in its mixed delivery system, support the ECE workforce, increase family involvement in ECE programs, improve ECE program quality, expand access to early childhood services, and create seamless learning experiences from birth to elementary school. This funding will also support a Program Performance Evaluation (PPE) of the PDG B-5 activities to ensure progress towards strategic goals aligned with North Carolina's Birth-Five Strategic Plan. The PPE acts as a tool for accountability, learning, identifying areas of enhancement, and assessing outcomes to ensure the PDG B-5 initiatives are both effective and impactful to NC’s entire early childhood network.
Review the impact of previous PDG activities : Impact of Previous PDG Activities
NC’s Current Preschool Development Grant Birth-Five Initiatives
Child Care Academies
To address significant staffing shortages and high turnover rates in North Carolina's early childhood education sector, DCDEE is partnering with 16 higher education institutions across the NC Community College System and University of North Carolina system to establish Child Care Academies (CCA). These academies enhance educator competencies, provide comprehensive training, and offer ongoing support at no cost to participants. Each academy delivers a comprehensive curriculum that meets or exceeds DCDEE training standards for new child care professionals and includes information related to Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) program standards. . Training includes CPR/First Aid, Health and Safety, Infant/Toddler Safe Sleep and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (ITS-SIDS), Playground Safety, Recognizing and Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment, and instruction on the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale, Third Edition (ITERS-3) and Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, Third Edition (ECERS-3). Participants also receive an overview of North Carolina Foundations for Early Learning and Development and support in completing DHHS Criminal Qualifying Background Checks. The academies offer training in multiple formats across various counties to ensure statewide accessibility, incorporating both virtual and in-person learning opportunities. This initiative aligns with North Carolina's Preschool Development Grant Birth through 5 (PDG B-5) goals of expanding access to high-quality early learning programs and supporting workforce development, contributing to long-term workforce stabilization and strengthening the economic infrastructure by enabling parents to remain in the workforce.
Child Care Academies List
Building Bright Futures Apprenticeship Initiative
Building Bright Futures (BBF) is an education and workforce initiative developed by the NC Business Committee for Education (NCBCE) in partnership with DCDEE, offering an organized, streamlined, and supportive framework for registered ECE apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs. BBF supports high school students and adults interested in a career in ECE or in furthering their ECE education. Participants receive ongoing resources and financial support for educational and professional success, including wages, transportation, materials, professional development, and mentoring, up to the completion of an associate degree. BBF has changed the landscape of ECE professionals in NC by creating a supportive framework for these educators to advance their knowledge and careers, and for employers to have access to the talent required to create a high-quality, stable learning environment. This combination of expert instruction in a classroom with real-world application through on-the-job learning (OJL)—under the guidance of a mentor—is a model that has proven successful and results in both increased pay and the number of early childhood educators pursuing credentials or degrees.
Child Development Assessment for NC Pre-K And Beyond
Since the 2018 PDG B-5 Planning Grant, DCDEE has collaborated with the NC Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI) to implement strategies that support transitions from preschool to kindergarten in response to Pre-K and kindergarten teachers' need for a data-sharing technology solution to track each child’s developmental progress. This web-based formative assessment system evaluates children's knowledge, skills, and behaviors from birth through third grade. The state-level license enabled the sharing of child formative assessment data among NC Pre-K teachers, kindergarten teachers, and families, improving communication and understanding of developmental expectations for Pre-K and kindergarten children. The state-level license allowed DCDEE and NCDPI to consolidate all current programs using MyTeachingStrategies®, offsetting licensing costs to the providers, offering free support and professional development, and allowing for the standardized collection, transfer and reporting of child development data across early childhood programs.
Collaborative Model for Family Child Care Homes Quality and Family Engagement
In 2022, DCDEE commissioned a report to identify the needs of North Carolina’s family child care homes. In this report practice-based coaching, technical assistance, and connection to resources were identified as key needs of the Family Child Care Home (FCCH) community. Other key needs were related to business practices and shared services. There is an urgent need to support FCCH programs as a key component of North Carolina’s early care and education system. In partnership with the Acelero Charitable Foundation, DCDEE works to increase family and community engagement, increase quality rating and improvement assessment scores, and provide a learning environment for FCCH providers to enhance their professional growth and deliver high-quality early care and education. By providing these targeted support, resources and professional development opportunities for FCCH programs, it will enhance children’s access to high quality early learning experiences and further strengthen North Carolina’s families and contribute to a more robust and resilient early childhood system.
Collaborative Model for Family Child Care Homes Quality and Family Engagement
https://ncfcchcollaborative.com/
Increase Compensation for Family Child Care Home Providers
North Carolina’s DCDEE started a pilot study in August of 2023 with Preschool Development Grant funds to determine if program quality would increase if Family Child Care Home providers were paid a higher reimbursement rate that was closer to the cost of care. Building on the work of the pilot, DCDEE continues to evaluate the impact of increased reimbursement rates on quality and provider compensation and benefits and to promote retention of Family Child Care Homes by increasing compensation comparable to the actual cost of care. In the expansion of the initial pilot, Family Child Care Home provider participants receive an increased subsidy payment distributed monthly. This payment is distributed through DCDEE’s subsidy payment system and will be tracked throughout the study.
The pilot was conducted for a six-month period beginning August 2023, and providers received monthly supplemental payments for each child enrolled in their program. The higher reimbursement rate was determined by the CostofCare.org calculator, and providers were paid based on enrollment rather than attendance. Alongside the payment and research elements of this pilot, Family Child Care Home providers also participate in monthly Community of Practice (CoP) calls. The CoP calls feature presentations about state-level and community organizations with resources for providers as well as an opportunity for providers to give feedback about their experience in the program and what additional resources would be useful to them.
Expand Adult Mental Health First Aid Training For Child Care Programs
Young children depend on caregivers to ensure their safety and to meet their physical and emotional needs. According to the 2022 Birth – Five Needs Assessment, young children’s social and emotional development is critical to their long-term health and well-being. Mental health significantly impacts young children’s ability to learn, establish healthy connections with others, regulate emotions, and grow into capable adults. DCDEE is partnering with the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina (UNC) to establish and manage a professional development system for licensed childhood educators serving children ages 0-5 years old that supports ongoing learning in social-emotional development, and mental health. The UNC School of Social Work is implementing the Adult Mental Health First Aid evidence-based program with the early childhood education workforce in licensed child care programs to increase the number of early childhood educators that are trained in Adult Mental Health First Aid. In addition, early childhood program directors, educators, and Family Child Care Home (FCCH) providers will be certified Adult Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) instructors.
Adult Mental Health First Aid
https://ncmhfa.unc.edu/adult-mhfa-for-child-development-and-early-educators/
Program Performance Evaluation (PPE) Plan
For the past six years, North Carolina has leveraged PDG awards to enhance and implement the State’s Birth-Five Program Performance Evaluation (PPE) Plan. During the 2018 Planning Grant, a PPE plan for the Birth-Five Strategic Plan was developed. In subsequent years, including the 2019 Renewal Grant, this plan has been a guiding framework. North Carolina's PPE is designed to achieve four core goals to ensure effective evaluation, monitoring, continuous quality improvement (CQI), and sustainability. In partnership with DCDEE, Child Trends will update North Carolina’s existing Performance Program Plan (PPE) of the NC Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) activities through evaluation of outputs and outcomes of PDG B-5 activities and initiatives to inform effective, efficient and sustainable improvements to North Carolina’s Early Childhood and Education System.
QRIS Support and Supplement Study
As North Carolina implements significant reforms to its Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) effective July 1, 2025, DCDEE is launching an initiative to help child care programs meet new requirements. This study prioritizes Family Child Care Homes, small centers, and programs in rural counties and child care deserts—those with the greatest need for support. Participating programs attend a series of educational sessions on QRIS pathways led by expert state staff and receive a financial supplement to support their quality improvement efforts. In partnership with the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, DCDEE will evaluate outcomes to measure the initiative's impact on program quality and inform continuous improvement of North Carolina's early childhood system.
Competency-Based Evaluation
In partnership with DCDEE, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) North Carolina’s Rated License Assessment Project (NCRLAP) will enhance the competency–based evaluation tools created by DCDEE and provide feedback on the process and rubric that assesses early childhood educator skills, knowledge, and abilities needed to provide a high-quality early care and education for children 0-5 years old. The NCRLAP will create a rubric for reviewing portfolios to renew a competency evaluation, create and deliver reliability training for DCDEE evaluators, and develop consumer education materials.
Key Contacts
PDG B-5 Program Coordinator: Nicole Boone, [email protected]
PDG B-5 Grant Manager: Katherine Falen, [email protected]