Early Care and Education

Early Care and Education

Ensure each child in Pennsylvania has the opportunity to participate in affordable and accessible high-quality early care and education, including infant and toddler child care and pre-kindergarten education.  

The rapid brain growth during the first few years of life underscores the need to build an early, solid foundation for future success in school, relationships and life. A coordinated early care and education system is a vital component of the economy, allowing parents to work while knowing their children are receiving high-quality care and education.  

Early Care and Education Policy Goals

  • Increase the number of children enrolled in publicly funded, high-quality pre-k. 
  • Increase the number of Child Care Works eligible children in high-quality child care programs, specifically infants and toddlers. 
  • Strengthen Infant Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) through collaboration with early childhood education health systems, including Early Intervention (EI), and child welfare.  
  • Support economic policies that benefit children and their families. 

Early Care and Education Publications

Click here to browse

Pre-K for PA 

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children is a principal partner of the Pre-K for PA campaign. Building on the shared belief that all children should have the opportunity to enter school ready to succeed, a broad coalition of organizations launched the Pre-K for PA campaign in 2014. The campaign makes pre-k a priority issue in the gubernatorial and legislative elections, advocating increased access to high-quality pre-kindergarten for all of Pennsylvania’s 3- and 4-year olds.

To learn more, visit: prekforpa.org.

Start Strong PA

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children is a partner in the Start Strong PA campaign, which aims to support healthy child development, working families and the economy by increasing access to and affordability of high-quality child care programs for young children.

To learn more, visit: startstrongpa.org.

Be a Voice for Kids
Stay up-to-date about our public policy work in this and other areas by signing up to receive our biweekly e-newsletter, “A Voice for Kids.”

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page!

Fast Facts about Early Care and Education in PA

  • 66,839 children enrolled in publicly funded, high-quality pre-k; yet 78,171 eligible children remain unserved
  • 4,364 more classrooms are needed to serve all eligible pre-k children
  • 79% of infants and toddlers eligible for the subsidized Child Care Works program remain unserved
  • 45% of children under age 5 in Child Care Works are in high-quality care
  • 46% of child care capacity for children under 5 is high-quality