Strategic Plan

Strategy 5.3

Build community capacity for providing high-quality early childhood care and education programs and services.

5.3.1   Explore use of microloans, loan guarantees, credit enhancement programs, and tax incentives to address access to capital to enhance early childhood care and education capacity.
State agency led tactic.Statewide and community-level partnerships.

5.3.2   Target investments in high-quality, affordable child care options to expand capacity for families with nontraditional work schedules, infants, and/or children with special health care needs.
State agency led tactic.Statewide and community-level partnerships.

5.3.3   Promote mixed-media resources on topics specific to child care business development and entrepreneurship.
State agency led tactic.Local individual or small group champions.Statewide and community-level partnerships.

5.3.4   Encourage partnerships for a cooperative model for child care services that meets the unique needs of rural and family child care.
State agency led tactic.Local individual or small group champions.Statewide and community-level partnerships.

5.3.5   Provide technical assistance to school districts to expand inclusive community preschool capacity without reducing overall community early childhood care and education capacity.
State agency led tactic.Statewide and community-level partnerships.

5.3.6   Explore options to fund early childhood special education to incentivize inclusive preschool programming, including a review of Kansas Special Education Categorical Aid.
State agency led tactic.

Progress Update

Some PDG Quality Subgrants are working to enhance and expand child care services in their community. Subgrants were awarded to approximately eleven grantees across Kansas working towards increasing the availability of high-quality childcare for infants and toddlers, low-income families, migrant families, children with special healthcare needs, children experiencing homelessness, and children involved with foster care. An additional twelve grantees across the state were awarded subgrants to specifically address increasing capacity for early care and education in rural, frontier, and densely settled rural counties.

The Community Service Tax Credit Program led by the Kansas Department of Commerce supports nonprofit organizations looking to take on major capital campaigns through tax credits for donors.

There are several initiatives providing business training and/or resources for child care providers, including Kansas Quality Network, Links to Quality, Child Care Aware of Kansas, and the Child Care Health Consultant Network which provides child care start-up assistance and grants. Adaptive TA conducted environmental scans to better understand the availability of child care in communities. Child Care Aware of Kansas publishes the Child Care Supply and Demand Report each year, funded by DCF’s CCDF program, and provides community capacity building TA.

The Garden City Early Childhood Summit: Reach for the PEAK (Preparing Early Learners to Achieve Kindergarten Readiness) brought together early childhood professionals to learn about early literacy development and collaborate with teachers and providers from around the region.

As part of the community centered Adaptive TA work, Lyon County developed and distributed a survey for parents focused on better understanding childcare needs and received over 700 responses. Through Adaptive TA, the Community-Centered Supports team was able to connect and provide $22,933 in financial assistance to these providers serving 434 children and increasing access to developmental health and diversity and inclusion materials.