a presentation for the City Council meeting on February 14, 2022

February 14, 2021 Joint Roundtable

Agenda • Opening • Current landscape of ECE • What is Universal Pre-K? • Where have we been? • Where are we now? • Where do we go from here? • Closing • Questions

Current ECE Landscape Federal Build Back Better • up to 75% of SMI incurs no co-pay • no more than 7% of income (full day/full year) • cost of care/quality vs. market rate • other provisions… State Common Start Commonwealth Preschool Program Initiative Local Birth – 3rd Grade Partnership

What is Universal Pre-K? Universal Pre-K is a policy framework that gives all families with preschool-aged children the opportunity to voluntarily enroll their child in a publicly-funded pre-kindergarten care and education program in a given state or community. • Universal Pre-K may be housed exclusively within a school district or may be structured as a mixed-delivery system (offering a combination of school-based and community-based providers). • Universal Pre-K typically serves children who will meet the Kindergarten age cut-off date for the following year (essentially 4 year-olds) or it may also serve 3 year-olds (or a sub-set of 3 year-olds). • Universal Pre-K may be free for all children or may be subsidized at different levels depending on family income. • There are numerous local and state models for UPK and there is no single best model for how UPK should be designed and implemented.

Afforadability Space/Capacity Access Quality What is Universal Pre-K? Alignment

Where have we been? • Joint City/CPS Taskforce in 2014-15 to explore options for expansion of Early Childhood Services • Joint Roundtable November 2015 - City/CPS recommended creation of Birth to 3rd Grade Partnership • Joint Roundtable Fall 2017 • 2018 CPS/City engaged Early Childhood Associates to develop UPK model options • December 2019 Roundtable presented Study findings and recommendations • January 2021 – hiring of new Birth to 3rd Grade Partnership Executive Director

Early Childhood Associates 2019 Study yielded several "to do's" for B3 and the UPK planning process... Expand quality improvement work Expand professional development offerings Expand scholarship program Expand family childcare program pilot Support Head Start expansion Convene community-based providers Gather workforce data Gather program data Explore options and decisions impacting system development Convene families Convene elementary principals

Where are we now? Access & Affordability Scholarship Program • Minimum of 2.9 years old and live in a family at/below 80% HUD Median Area Income • 17 partner programs • Increased number of children served by 152% since launch (58 In 2021/22 school year) Head Start B3 has funded an expansion of Cambridge Head Start classrooms that now have the capacity to serve 72 3 & 4 year-old children for a full-day on a year-round basis

Professional Development • 5 college courses through Fisher College serving 94 students • Annual PD Is now a week-long event with an 223% increase in attendees (181 in 2021) • Hundreds of hours of coaching, communities of practice, professional learning communities, and workshops held each year Continuous Quality Improvement Program • 16 early childhood centers and 13 family childcare programs in first two cohorts (24 programs currently engaged at some level) • 100% centers maintained or increased quality rating over three-year period • 100% of centers and FCC providers re- opened after initial pandemic-related closures Where are we now? Quality

School Readiness • Kindergarten Transition Forms received for an average of 86% of all children having attended Cambridge preschool each year (prior to pandemic). • Resources distributed to all incoming Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten students each year. • Preliminary data from the 2021/22 school year indicates that high quality early childhood experiences (as it relates to DHSP and B3 related activities) yields lower rates of absenteeism, and higher scores in SEL and math assessments Where are we now? Additional Highlights

Early Years Project B3 has partnered with Riverside Community Care to provide embedded mental health consultation to educators, programs, and families across early childhood program types. Resources include director/leader and educator support, providing of resource materials, facilitating workshops, and direct child consults. Home Visiting B3's Home Visiting Working Group represents 14 home visiting programs from across Cambridge and provides a wide- range of professional development and support opportunities that parallel our work with formal early care and education providers. Partnerships B3 is working closely with local university partners to collect and analyze data on the early childhood workforce specifically In Cambridge, as well as to investigate and design professional pathways to increase the size and knowledge base of the early childhood workforce in our community. B3 collaborates with a wide variety of other city agencies including the Office of Economic Development, the Library, Department of Public Health, and a host of others. Where are we now? Additional Highlights

Where do we go from here? Governance • Advisory Committee • Task Forces ⚬Program Quality ⚬Workforce Development ⚬Family Hub Timeline

Closing & Questions