National Child Care Information Center. (1997). Passages to Inclusion: Creating Systems of Care for All Children. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services.

Financing quality child care systems that are affordable and accessible to all children and families can be a daunting task. Leaders in State, Territorial and Tribal child care administrative positions are faced with the challenge of becoming role models for collaborative practices and for blending funding streams. It is possible for States, Territories, Tribes, and local communities to develop a vision of a comprehensive child care system that meets the needs of all children and their families.

Know the Funding Sources

It is imperative to learn about all the potential sources of funding available to support inclusive child care systems. This is a difficult task and will involve identifying all federal, state, and local dollars that are targeted for children's services. A partial list of potential funding sources includes:

• Medicaid
• Parts B and H of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
• Child Care and Development Block Grant
• Supplemental Security Income
• Economic Development Block Grant Family Support/Family Preservation
• Foster Grandparents.

In addition, tax incentives could be offered to corporations in exchange for making funds available for programs and services.

All early childhood workers need to understand and be able to access the public hearing and state plan process for each program. Child care interests should be actively represented in every public hearing. Participation in this process on a regular basis will ensure that issues related to the inclusion of children with disabilities are raised and discussed.

Collaboration and Partnerships

In the area of financing, no one agency can do it all. State, Territorial and Tribal Child Care Administrators play a major part in forming coalitions to assure quality services and programs for all children. Reviewing policies and management plans will be a major task for these coalitions. Many stakeholders can be invited to the table to plan and implement a responsive system. Coalitions may include representatives from:

• Parent and provider groups
• Special education services
• Legal aid, health and social services
• Civic groups
• Corporations
• Philanthropic organizations
• Resource and referral agencies
• Early childhood education organizations
• Public schools
• Higher education institutions

Once the coalition has created its joint vision of a quality, inclusive child care system and developed a plan, the role of each stakeholder needs to be defined. Private, governmental and other public agencies, as well as individual parents and providers, should be clear as to what their contributions will be in implementing the plan.

As a role model in this collaborative process, the State, Territorial, or Tribal Child Care Administrator needs to offer to share resources, while encouraging the other members to do the same. In this way, existing resources can be merged to provide better services, and not take needed dollars away from any one agency.

Knowing about available funding streams is not enough. Families, providers, and businesses need to understand what the existing programs are and how to get access to and navigate the bureaucracies to advocate for inclusive services for children. A broad base of support develops when all of the stakeholders are aware of financing issues and begin to develop strategies together.

The Michigan Inclusive Education Initiative, located at the Wayne State University Developmental Disabilities Institute (DDI) in Detroit, Michigan, has a five year grant from the federal government's Office of Special Education Programs to provide support and technical assistance to school districts to help children with disabilities move from segregated educational settings into settings where they are educated with their peers. As part of the Initiative, the DDI collaborated with United Cerebral Palsy of Metropolitan Detroit and the Detroit Public Schools to obtain funding for a three year inclusion for Urban Minority Students with Disabilities Project. The project's goals include the development of inclusive education models for children from three to eight years.

The staff of the Child Care Inclusion Project (see BANANAS), in Oakland, California, met with two other agencies with inclusion grants (one state grant which includes child care subsidies and one small private grant) and the inclusion specialist from the agency which administers State Disability Funds (The Regional Center of the East Bay) to plan for maximal use of various funding streams in the interest of the children and families in their programs. The specifics of each grant were determined so that families could be directed to the program that would best meet their needs.

Many Smart Start sites, in North Carolina, provide transportation services to help children and families get to the services they need. This is possible through a state/federal/county partnership in which a county can use Smart Start dollars and pay only IS-20 percent toward the cost of a van. The State Department of Transportation finances the rest, using federal and state dollars.

Strategies for Funding

In order to develop and maintain an inclusive program and service delivery system that is comprehensive, family-centered, accessible and affordable, State, Territorial and Tribal Child Care Administrators can:

• Encourage communities to use needs assessments to ascertain current strengths and needs in the community;



• Review and modify State, Territorial and Tribal policies that limit programs and service delivery because of rigid categorization and eligibility requirements;



• Provide incentives for staff recruitment and retention and staff training through scholarship and loan forgiveness programs;



• Establish linkages between staff training programs and earning credentials from higher education institutions;



• Disseminate information about financing plans that have been successful;



• Encourage communities to establish linkages across disciplines, early childhood settings and human service organizations;



• Increase funding for child care resource and referral agencies to expand their coordinating and dissemination roles;



• Strengthen standards for high quality programs and services and ensure accountability



• Provide incentives for the private sector to increase resources in the community and to build partnerships with early childhood programs and services;



• Develop ways to maximize family involvement as volunteers and as decision-makers; and



• Enable the blending of funding streams to enhance joint training opportunities and the use of technology to increase access to training.

The Delaware Early Childhood Center, in Harrington, Delaware received Comprehensive Services for Personnel Development (CSPD) funds from the Delaware Department of Public Instruction in conjunction with funds from local school districts, in order to develop and implement a series of training models that would support children with disabilities in the community. The training models focused on child development and issues regarding working with children who have disabilities. Training was offered to child care providers, directors, early childhood special educators, preschool teachers and assistants, family child care providers, and Head Start.

The Head Start Resource Access Project, at the Education Development Center in Newton, Massachusetts, worked collaboratively with a grantee, a Head Start program and the local school district to utilize school-based sites as inclusive classrooms for all children in the community. Through this collaboration, an increased number of families of children with disabilities were served.

Early Intervention in Child Care Settings, at Meeting Street Center in East Providence, Rhode Island, is an integrated program of community and statewide organizations that functions as a comprehensive support system to Rhode Island's child care programs. The support system offered through EICCS assists child care providers in meeting their goal of providing quality care for children with a variety of needs, thus enhancing the environments conditions for these children. Workshops, consultation, classroom support, and printed resources are available to staff children, and parents. The program is funded through grants from the Centers for Disease Control and the Rhode Island Department of Health.

Quality care for all children is consistent with family values, violence prevention, and increased employment rates. It is important to inform policy makers about the challenges faced in the community as well as exemplary practices in the delivery of inclusive programs and services to all children and their families.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Learn about all of the potential sources of funding and become familiar with each source's regulations.
2. Bring all the stakeholder together to develop a joint vision of a quality, inclusive system of child care.
3. Develop strategies that will expand funding and increase accountability.
4. Help providers, families and businesses understand the funding mechanisms.
5. Build upon the political priorities in your jurisdiction.

A Director's Story

Our center had an old and unsafe playground. As we planned for its replacement, we were committed to making it accessible to all children. As is so often the case, we could not afford the design we wanted. We decided to reach out to our community as well as our families to see if the necessary funds could be raised. It took almost two years before we were able to build our new playground. Our local Kiwanis club donated the swing set. Our families held many bake sales to pay for the play house and sandbox. We received small grants from Freddie Mac and our local Junior League to fund the climbing and slide structure. An architect donated his time to review our plans and make suggestions to increase accessibility. Our landlord even forgave our rent for one month so we could afford the resilient surface materials. It took a lot of time and outreach but our playground is a great success. As I watch our children, families, and staff outside, I have a deep appreciation of the caring and support we received from our larger community.