North Carolina relies on quality early childhood care and education teachers and programs to support children’s healthy development and learning, allow parents to work and keep businesses running. Yet our birth-to-five programs are in crisis – exacerbated by the pandemic but decades in the making. Even before the pandemic, 44% of North Carolina families were already living in child care deserts as investment in early childhood programs stagnated at 2011 levels. Now, North Carolina is experiencing a severe labor shortage, as parents are leaving the workforce or turning down job opportunities due to lack of access to affordable, quality child care. According to the North Carolina Chamber, the economic disruption due to insufficient child care availability costs our state $5.65 billion in lost economic activity every year.
“Child care is a textbook example of a broken market.”
− Remarks by Janet Yellen, Former Secretary of the US Treasury
Child care is one of the biggest expenses that North Carolina families with young children face today. Infant care in NC costs $2,125 (28.9%) more per year than in-state tuition for a four-year public college. A study by the North Carolina Chamber found that 26% of parents with children aged five and under said they left the workforce because they couldn't find affordable child care. Families are paying as much as they can, but it is not enough to meet teachers’ basic needs for housing, food, health care and other necessities. Skilled early childhood teachers are leaving in droves for unskilled jobs in convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants and retail that pay more. Child care programs – unable to compete on equal footing with businesses in their communities – struggle to stay open.
The Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five (PDG B-5 ) provides critical funds for North Carolina to improve early childhood systems for children and their families. Since the program began in 2018, North Carolina has been awarded more than $75 million in PDG B-5 grants.
North Carolina PDG Activities
NC has built upon its initial year’s work to develop statewide needs assessments and action plans that include describing the populations of children who are: vulnerable or underserved, in rural areas, experiencing homelessness or English Language Learners. For example, NC identified Local IDEA Part C and Part B Section 619 stakeholders to be engaged in the strategic planning process, acknowledging them as part of the state’s mixed delivery system. These stakeholders were made part of the governance structure that is responsible for managing grant activities and day-to-day decision-making for PDG B-5.
Data is vital to policy and decision making. PDG B-5 funds the North Carolina Early Childhood Integrated Data System (NC ECIDS). NC ECIDS is the single source for early childhood integrated data for selected education, health, and social services programs to help answer key policy and program questions. NC ECIDS provides counts of children who receive multiple early childhood services from participating programs. NC continued to address its plan North Carolina Early Childhood Integrated Data System to measure the number of unduplicated children being served and awaiting services in each of their existing programs.
Supported by PDG B-5 dollars, a variety of strategies have been employed by North Carolina to increase parent and family knowledge and optimize involvement and engagement:
- Parent leadership and family engagement training and conferences.
- Employed transition supports for kids enrolled under IDEA programs
- Involving culturally and diverse communities by developing and translating resource materials, inclusive trainings, and cultural events.
- Deploying no-wrong-door strategies to provide families access to appropriate and adequate support for their needs and make timely connections to services regardless of their initial program entry point.
PDG B-5 is vital in the development of supports for the ECE Workforce.
- Increasing child care subsidy rates to support much needed infant/toddler providers.
- Expanding home visiting programs and pilots as strategies to improve Infant/Toddler services.
- Allowing child care providers to use the NCCARE360 platform to electronically connect parents to community resources in a closed referral process to meet the needs of young children and support transitions
NCDHHS is dedicated to meaningfully engaging families, communities and early childhood professionals across our state in the development and implementation of our early childhood policies, procedures and initiatives. The PDG B-5 has allowed North Carolina to foster new partnerships and bolster existing ones, driving progress on key birth-five strategic planning goals such as increasing access to high-quality early care and learning services, promoting transitions to kindergarten, increasing family engagement, promoting social-emotional health, enhancing data accessibility and utilization, and supporting the early childhood workforce.
Assessments, Plans, Reports, Briefs and Tools
NC Birth-Five Needs Assessments
DCDEE in partnership with The Hunt Institute and Duke University’s Center for Child and Family Policy released an updated Birth-Five Needs Assessment in 2022.
NC Statewide Birth through Five Strategic Plan
Workforce Support
Family Child Care Homes Support
- Family Child Care Home Subsidy Pilot Report and Presentation (coming soon)
Building Family Engagement and Leadership
- Raising Their Voices: Early Childhood Family Engagement and Leadership in North Carolina
A short video highlighting family engagement and leadership activities in North Carolina, featuring family leaders involved in both statewide and local efforts in their communities.
- Family Engagement and Leadership Framework
- Impact Early Childhood Education Summit
PBS North Carolina presents a full day conference for educators across the state. a gathering of Early Childhood Education Professionals, parents and caregivers aimed at celebrating and supporting those who are helping children, birth through third grade, to grow strong roots for a healthy foundation. Educators can earn professional credit hours for attending.
- Rootle Readiness Resources for Parents Video Collection
PBS North Carolina Education and its partners provide educational resources to help families learn and grow together as they prepare their children for success in school and life.
- Rootle Roadster Tour
PBS North Carolina assists in hosting events across the state aimed at deepening engagement with families and connecting them to resources and information from local community agencies and organizations. Rootle Roadster Tour stops are designed to welcome families at easily accessible locations within their county. They can be presented as part of a local event or as standalone events at schools, libraries, parks, public housing communities and other locales.
- Mini Fab Science Lab
In Mini Fab Science Lab, Ava and friends team up to ask big questions, investigate STEAM concepts in the lab and hear from local experts on the science behind everyday things. The show is designed to encourage a love for learning among young children, critical thinking and resilience. All episodes are available in English, Spanish and with an American Sign Language Interpreter.
Action Plan for an Early Childhood Homelessness Support System
Program Performance Evaluations