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Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five

In December 2018, Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) funds were awarded to 46 states and territories. The PDG B-5 grants are designed to fund states and territories to conduct a comprehensive statewide birth through five needs assessment, followed by in-depth strategic planning, while enhancing parental choice and expanding the current mixed-delivery system consisting of a wide range of provider types and settings, including child care centers and home-based child care providers, Head Start and Early Head Start programs, state prekindergarten programs, and home visiting service providers across the public, private, and faith-based sectors.

Specifically, PDG B-5 grants support states and territories to do the following:

  • Develop, update, or put in place a strategic plan—based on what is learned from their thorough, statewide B-5 needs assessment—that supports collaboration and coordination among existing early childhood care and education (ECE) programs within a statewide mixed-delivery system to prepare infants, toddlers, and young children from low-income and disadvantaged families to enter kindergarten.
  • More efficiently use existing federal, state, local, and nongovernmental resources to align and strengthen the delivery of existing programs; coordinate delivery models and funding streams within the state or territory’s mixed-delivery system; and develop recommendations to better use existing resources.
  • Encourage partnerships among Head Start programs, child care and prekindergarten providers, state and local governments, Indian tribes and tribal organizations, private entities (including faith- and community-based entities), and school systems.
  • Improve transitions between early childhood and school systems.
  • Maximize parental choice and knowledge about the state and territory’s mixed-delivery system of early childhood education program providers.

States and territories were invited to be innovative in planning, designing, enhancing, and evaluating their ECE mixed-delivery systems. They were also strongly encouraged to engage and develop their application jointly with a full range of early childhood stakeholders, including partners at the local community level and parents, to engage in system design and development that best meets the needs of families and their young children, particularly children from low-income and disadvantaged families.

Grant awards range between $538,000 and $10,620,000, depending on state and territory proposed plans. The grant performance period runs from December 31, 2018 through December 30, 2019.  

PDG B-5 Needs Assessment

PDG B-5 grantees are required to conduct or update a periodic, statewide birth through five (B-5) needs assessment of the availability and quality of existing programs in the state or territory, including programs serving the most vulnerable or underserved populations and children in rural areas; to the extent practicable, the unduplicated number of children being served in existing programs; and, to the extent practicable, the unduplicated number of children awaiting service in such programs. The intent of this needs assessment is to provide states and territories an opportunity to engage a strong stakeholder base; bring together data identifying strengths and gaps in populations, services, and supports; and examine the extent to which state or territory agencies and systems are working together collaboratively and effectively on behalf of young children at risk and their families. The desired outcome of this effort is a comprehensive perspective on what works on behalf of the populations needing services, where gaps exist, what related needs look like, and where grantees can best focus funding and support.

The following set of resources was created to support PDG B-5 grantees in their work establishing and carrying out the needs assessment process:

PDG B-5 Needs Assessment Guidance
PDG B-5 Needs Assessment Guidance Community of Conversation - Slide Deck
PDG B-5 Needs Assessment Guidance Community of Conversation - Recording

Coming soon!

PDG B-5 Needs Assessment Guidance Community of Conversation - Captions

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

PDG B-5 Strategic Plan

PDG B-5 grantees are required to develop or revise a strategic plan that supports collaboration and coordination among existing ECE programs in a mixed delivery system with a state or territory. The plan will focus on establishing and maintaining an ECE system designed to support all children and their families, but particularly those identified as most vulnerable by their state or territory. Each state or territory’s PDG B-5 Strategic Plan will identify goals and action steps to directly address the specific areas for improvement identified in the needs assessment and reflect a comprehensive systems-plan approach. Grantees have the opportunity to create their strategic plan in a way that best fits their needs, and should establish the strategies that fit the needs of the participants involved in the work and invested in the outcome.

The following set of resources was created to support PDG B-5 grantees in creating strategic plans for comprehensive, mixed-delivery systems for children and families.  

PDG B-5 Strategic Plan Guidance
PDG B-5 Strategic Plan Community of Conversation – June 17th

Coming June 17

Additional Tools and Resources

PDG B-5 grants support states and territories in their efforts to analyze the current landscape of their ECE mixed delivery system, and to carry out changes to the system that maximize the availability of high-quality ECE options for low-income and disadvantaged families across providers and partners, improve the quality of care, streamline administrative infrastructure, and improve state- and territory-level ECE funding efficiencies. There are a number of resources available to help guide grantees in their work. Below are just a few of the resources developed by the PDG B-5 team.

Kickoff PDG B-5 Technical Assistance Webinar – Slide Desk
Kickoff PDG B-5 Technical Assistance Webinar – Recording

Coming soon!

PDG B-5 Parent Engagement Resource List

Maximize parental choice and knowledge about your state’s mixed delivery system of existing programs and providers by ensuring that parents are provided information about the variety of early childhood care and education programs for children from birth to kindergarten entry. This document provides a resource list to support to grantee activities and strategies when working to maximize parental choice and knowledge.

PDG B-5 Project Management Tools

For a project to meet its goals, stay on budget, and adhere to deadlines, there must be a strong plan in place for management and accountability of project activities. In projects such as the PDG B-5 grant, with different activities and a multitude of tasks and components within each, many grantees have found a need for a tool to help them track project work. This document provides a breakdown of some of the project management tools available that may be able to support grantees in their work, along with brief descriptions for each. These tools are not being endorsed by PDG B-5. Each grantee must identify the functions and tools that best align with their project work.