In 2018, 51% of San Francisco voters approved Proposition C ("Baby" Prop C), a Commercial Rent Tax for Child Care and Early Education. The proposition authorized an additional tax on commercial property and leases with annual gross receipts over $1 million; nonprofits and other small businesses are exempt. 85% of the revenue generated by this tax is designated for child care and early education. The remaining 15% is deposited in the city/county General Fund for other city-approved uses. The tax is expected to generate approximately $146 million annually to support child care and early education; these funds may be used to:

• Support quality early care and education for children under the age of six in San Francisco families at 85% or less of State Median Income (SMI);
• Support quality early care and education for children under the age of four in San Francisco families earning up to 200% of the Area Median Income (AMI);
• Invest in comprehensive early care and education services that support the physical, emotional, and cognitive development of children under the age of six;
• Increase compensation (including but not limited to wages, benefits, and training) of care professionals and staff in order to improve the quality and availability of early care and education for children under the age of six.

Learn more: Baby Prop C Sources:San Francisco Office of Early Care and Education. (2021). Baby Prop C Fact Sheet - Legal Uses and Allocation.Children's Council San Francisco. (2021). Children’s Council Celebrates the Passage of Prop C by CA Supreme Court."

The Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education (ADECE) provides coaching and technical assistance support to early childhood programs across the state. Under the Office of Early Childhood Development, ADECE offers a variety of programs, including Early Head Start–Child Care Partnership (EHS-CCP) Coaching, which provides coaching and technical assistance for programs (childcare and family child care) in the EHS-CCP partnership; First Class Foundations Coaching for educators in the state-funded First Class pre-K program; DHR–ASSIST, which provides coaching and technical assistance related to social emotional learning and resilience for adults and children in child care and family child care; and Quality Rating and Improvement coaching and technical assistance to early childhood programs to support teacher and child interactions in the classroom. Learn More: Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education Sources: Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. (n.d.). Professional Development. Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. (2021). Alabama Early Childhood B-8 Coaching Framework.

The Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education's Data Dashboard is a data visualization tool. It provides demographic and program information for public use on the state's First Class Pre-K program and other services offered by the Department, including First Teacher Home Visiting and Preschool to 3rd Grade Continuum sites. Learn more: alabama data dashboard

In 2015, the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education was created as an executive department of state government, replacing the Department of Children’s Affairs, to oversee programs that support young children in the state. This cabinet-level agency is led by a secretary who reports to the governor.  Within the department, four offices guide the state’s early childhood priorities: the Office of School Readiness, the Office of Early Learning and Family Support, the Head Start Collaboration Office, and the Office of Child Development and Professional Support. The Alabama Children’s Policy Council, which coordinates services across the state through a local entity in each county, was created by executive order in 2015, the same year the Department was renamed.  Learn more: Education Commission of the States Source: Education Commission of the States (2018). Education Governance Dashboard State Profile Alabama. 

In April 2023, Anchorage voters approved Proposition 14, a ballot measure that allocates an additional $5 million to $6 million per year for child care and early education. Brought before voters with bipartisan support, Proposition 14 created the Anchorage Child Care and Early Education Fund (ACCEEF), which takes the revenue generated by the City of Anchorage’s 5 percent sales tax on marijuana purchases and dedicates it to child care and early education for Anchorage families. Instead of being funneled into the city’s general fund, as it has been for years, the revenue generated will be used to support child care or early education provider training, professional development, staffing, and wages; to fund the upkeep or the development of child care facilities; or to make child care slots more accessible for individual families. The ACCEEF will start accumulating in January 2024, and will be delivered in a variety of ways, including vouchers or grants to individual families and grants to early learning centers.  The measure also creates an Accountability Board of Child Care and Early Education, to be appointed by the mayor of Anchorage and confirmed by the Anchorage Assembly. The board will determine how best to use the tax revenues to make child care more accessible in Anchorage and to drive effective implementation. The board will advise the mayor and Assembly on use of the funds and will present a proposed budget to both annually. After the budget is reviewed and finalized by the mayor and Assembly, funds will be dispersed beginning in 2025. LEARN MORE: ANCHORAGE CHILD CARE AND EARLY EDUCATION FUND Sources: Care for Kids Anchorage. (n.d.). About. Alaska Public Media. (2023). Anchorage voters to decide on using marijuana taxes to fund early education, child care programs. Anchorage Daily News. (2023). A ballot proposition aims to put Anchorage marijuana tax revenue toward easing the city’s child care crisis.

Created in 1991, the Arkansas Better Chance Program (ABC) provides targeted, high-quality care for children from birth to age five who exhibit developmental and/or socioeconomic risk factors. In 2003, this initiative expanded to include the Arkansas Better Chance for School Success (ABCSS), which folded in a set of legislation aiming to support 3- and 4-year-old children in households experiencing poverty (up to 200% of the federal poverty level.) ABC/ABCSS includes center-based programs, home visiting programs, and family child care programs. As of 2022, the program serves 29% of the state’s 4-year-olds and 17% of the state’s 3-year-olds. Learn More: arkansas Better CHance Program Sources:Arkansas Better Beginnings. (n.d.). Arkansas Better Chance.National Institute for Early Education Research. (2023). Arkansas.Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. (n.d.). Arkansas Better Chance Program.

The Arkansas Early Childhood Asset Map, launched in 2020 by the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education, is a data visualization tool. It provides program information for public use on early childhood services as captured in the state’s annual “Getting Ready for School” publication. The map includes information on special nutrition programs, Arkansas Better Chance programs, Head Start programs, child care vouchers, and Better Beginnings programs. Supported by a state-university partnership, the map is housed at the Arkansas Economic Development Institute at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and funded by the DHS. Learn more: Arkansas Early Childhood Asset Map

In January 2023, the Austin City Council passed a resolution instructing the City Manager to draft amendments to the Land Development Code to make it easier to provide child care services throughout the city. The resolution also called for an economic development grant program to help qualifying child care operators cover city fees associated with opening or expanding a child care facility. Nine months later, after the amendments were finalized, the City Council passed a resolution to codify them, thereby expanding land-use allowances and permitting operators of child care centers to build in locations where they previously could not. The changes created a new zoning designation for child care centers, allowed child care facilities to be operated in residential areas, and increased the number of children who are allowed to enroll at child care centers. The resolution also helped to remove zoning, permitting, and fee requirements.  The new regulations increased the available space for commercial child care centers in Austin by about 77,000 acres. In the city’s child care deserts specifically, the area in which commercial child care centers can operate increased about 200%, to 60,339 acres. LEARN MORE: AUSTIN LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE UPDATE Sources: KUT Radio, Austin's NPR Station. (2023). It just got a lot easier to operate a child care center in Austin. City of Austin. (2023). Resolution No. 20230126-055. Speak Up Austin. (n.d.). C20-2023-001 Childcare Services. City of Austin. (2023). Recommendation for Action. Community Impact. (2023). Child care centers now allowed in more places across Austin.

In November 2023, Texas voters approved Proposition 2, activating a constitutional amendment that allows counties or municipalities to authorize a property tax exemption on all or part of the appraised value of property used to operate child care facilities. Two days later, in a unanimous vote, the City Council made Austin the first city in Texas to authorize a 100% property tax exemption for eligible child care operators in the city, beginning in 2024. The Council also directed the city manager to identify similar relief options for home-based child care centers, which are not eligible for tax relief under the constitutional amendment.   The amendment specifies that the exemption for child care operators must equal at least 50% of the property’s appraised value. Advocates for the amendment aimed to alleviate some of the financial burden that Texas child care facilities face, allowing providers to put more money toward recruiting and retaining high-quality staff, maintaining physical spaces, and acquiring necessary supplies. For a child care facility to be exempt, it must be both licensed and part of the Texas Rising Star Program, a quality rating and improvement system for child care programs that participate in the Texas Workforce Commission’s Child Care Services. At least 20% of the children enrolled in the facility’s child care program must receive subsidies or scholarships from the Texas Workforce Commission. Home-based child care facilities are not eligible. The amendment went into effect in January 2024.  LEARN MORE: PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION FOR CHILD CARE facilities Sources: KUT Radio, Austin's NPR Station. (2023). Austin City Council gives some child care providers property tax relief. Austin American-Statesman. (2023). Austin moves to grant tax breaks to child care centers after Texas voters approve Prop 2. Ballotpedia. (2023). Texas Proposition 2, Property Tax Exemption for Child-Care Facilities Amendment.

Launched in November 2021, the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD)’s bilingual incentive program provides a one-time payment of $1,500 to early education professionals who have bilingual proficiency. This incentive responds to the growing need for early education staff who speak a language other than English. Staff are eligible for an additional payment for each additional language for which they are certified as proficient. The bilingual incentive payment program is open to all early childhood educators who provide direct support to children from birth to age 5 and who are currently working within a:

• New Mexico licensed or registered childcare setting;
• Tribal child care program;
• New Mexico Pre-K or Early Pre-K program in a community-based setting;
• New Mexico Pre-K or Early Pre-K program authorized by a public school or charter including Title I or 619 Preschool Program;
• New Mexico Head Start or Early Head Start program;
• New Mexico Tribal Head Start or Early Head Start program; state-funded New Mexico Home Visiting program; state-funded New Mexico Family Infant Toddler (FIT)-Early Intervention Program

Learn More: Bilingual Incentive Program Sources: New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department. (2021). Bilingual Incentive Program.

In 2014, the Birth to Age Eight Collaborative Initiative was launched in Dakota County to streamline early childhood services, ensuring school readiness for children from birth to age 8 in specific school districts. This initiative is designed to ensure that all children in Dakota County are ready for school by the time they enter kindergarten, with a special focus on critical developmental milestones such as health at birth and reading proficiency by third grade. The collaborative nature of the initiative is one of its most distinguishing features, involving a partnership among Dakota County Public Health, social services, four school districts, and various nonprofit organizations. It leverages in-kind funding, mainly from Dakota County Public Health Department, and state grants, significantly increasing children's program engagement. Through this initiative, Dakota County has been able to create a data-sharing portal to track milestones, developed communication methods to promote early childhood screenings, and implemented a referral process for WIC. This initiative has received rewards from National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) in 2018 and National Association of Counties (NACo) in 2017. Sources: Dakota County. (n.d.). Birth to Age Eight Collaborative Initiative. Adler, E. (2019). Dakota County program helps track kids' progress, connect families to resources. Star Tribune.

Established in 2005, Boston's Universal Pre-K (UPK) program, administered by the Boston Public Schools (BPS), offers free preschool for the city’s 3- and 4-year-olds in both public school buildings and community-based childcare organizations. Within a few years, it became apparent that the original funding level of $11,000 per child was inadequate and unsustainable for community-based child care organizations. BPS then partnered with the Children's Funding Project to create a cost model that disaggregated program costs to expose differences based on program length and per-child and per-classroom costs. As a result, in school year 2022–23 BPS implemented a hybrid funding model for UPK classrooms in community-based programs. This new approach provides a base funding level per classroom that covers staff salaries and benefits and an additional funding allocation per UPK-eligible child enrolled in the program. Learn more: children's funding project