Overview:

In December 2018, Connecticut’s Office of Early Childhood (OEC) was awarded an $8.6 million Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) from the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families. The one-year project period runs from December 31, 2018 to December 30, 2019.

Through this grant award, OEC is funded to:

• Translate important materials and resources into additional languages
• Increase knowledge and understanding of infant mental health through trainings for childcare providers
• Build the capacity of early care and education providers to serve culturally and linguistically diverse children and families
• Improve transitions for children between the Birth to Three system and Preschool Special Education programs by creating training modules for IDEA professionals and a video for parents
• Make critical improvements to the OEC website
• Develop and launch a public health campaign for an early childhood issue
• Improve screening rates of young children for developmental delays and increase parent’s knowledge of child development
• Facilitate community discussions around improving the home visiting system
• Provide funding for communities to build community collaboration, use Continuous Quality Improvement tools and methods, and share best practices around early care and education programs and services
• Improve digital systems across birth through five programs and services
• Publish a statewide birth through five (B-5) needs assessment of the availability and quality of existing early care and education programs in the state, including programs serving the most vulnerable or underserved populations

About the National PDG B-5 Goals:

The PDG B-5 grants grants support states in their efforts to analyze the current landscape of their early childhood care and education mixed delivery system and implement changes to the system that maximize the availability of high-quality early care and education options for low-income and disadvantaged families across providers and partners; improve the quality of care; streamline administrative infrastructure; and improve funding efficiencies. PDG B-5 does not allow states to create new early childhood programs and services. After the one-year planning grant, Connecticut will be eligible to apply for a renewal grant, which would provide additional funding through December 2022.

Connecticut’s Original PDG B-5 Application

Note: Connecticut’s original application requested $12 million, however all states received 71% of their original request. Some activities and budgets have been changed. Press Release – January 8, 2019