In 2022, the Louisiana Department of Education partnered with Ochsner Health to launch a virtual therapy program for educators. This program was designed to respond to ongoing mental health challenges faced by educators during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It covers four virtual therapy visits for Louisiana public school teachers and support staff at all K-12 school systems and early childhood centers serving children from birth to age four. Additional visits are available for $37.50 (30-minute visits) and $75 (60-minute visits). Appointments are available during daytime and evening hours Monday through Friday and on Saturdays. Funding for this three-year initiative is provided through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund. Learn More: Louisiana Department of Education Virtual Therapy Sources: Louisiana Department of Education. (n.d.). Virtual Therapy through Ochsner Anywhere Care. Louisiana Department of Education. (n.d.). Virtual Therapy through Ochsner Anywhere Care: Frequently Asked Questions.

Established in 2016, Lume’s Early Childhood Apprenticeship allows participants to receive certification as a Child Development Associate after two years of training. The Lume Institute at University City Children’s Center, in partnership with the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE), has developed the Early Childhood Education Apprenticeship program. SLATE provides financial support for apprenticeship training, and participants are trained by the Lume Institute. The apprenticeship begins with 135 hours (5 weeks) of early childhood teacher training with participants hired as an Early Childhood Worker at a rate of $9.50 per hour. This training is followed by 480 hours of on-the-job training, after which participants receive a Child Development Associate credential and can be promoted to an Assistant Teacher position earning at least $10.50 per hour. After another 1.5 years of work/training experience, apprentices receive the Department of Labor certification as a Childhood Development Associate, resulting in wages of at least $13 per hour. Learn more: Lume Institute Sources: Lume Institute. (n.d.). Workforce Development. City of St. Louis, Missouri. (n.d.). LUME Early Childhood.

In 2005, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to create a cabinet-level department focused on early childhood learning and care—the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC). Massachusetts administers five programs serving children: the Child Care and Development Fund; Head Start Collaboration Office; Child and Adult Care Food Program; Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part B, Section 619; and state pre-K. Grouping these interconnected programs under one agency can help states improve efficiency and allows for better alignment of eligibility, monitoring, and quality improvement requirements and activities (Kagan & Gomez, 2015). Learn more: Local Governance for Early Childhood: Lessons from Leading States Sources:Bipartisan Policy Center (2023). Integrated Efficient Early Care and Education SystemsStrategies for Children (2008). A case study for the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and CareKagan, L. and Gomez, R. (Eds.). (2015) Early Childhood Governance: Choices and Consequences. Teachers College Press.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Children and Families hosts three dashboards: the Early Childhood Education Dashboard; Child Welfare Dashboard; and Children's Behavioral Health Dashboard. These dashboards are data visualization tools that provide public-use demographic and program data on multiple services for young children, including high-quality care, QRS ratings, early childhood services, evidence-based services, foster care, and licensed early childhood providers. Learn more: Maine Child Welfare Data Dashboard

In July 2023, Maine lawmakers passed LD 1799, “An Act to Expand Maine’s High-quality Early Learning and Care for Children by Increasing Public Preschool Opportunities in Communities,” moving Maine toward a mixed-delivery universal prekindergarten (UPK) system accessible to all four-year-old children. UPK is funded by Maine’s school funding formula, with money distributed directly to school districts, who operate classrooms either as stand-alone public programs, in licensed community-based child care programs, or in Head Start programs.  The bill stipulates that Maine’s UPK program must be accessible to 60% of the state's four-year-olds by the 2024-25 school year, 80% by the 2025-26 school year, and 100% by the 2026-27 school year. UPK in Maine is funded by the state’s school funding formula, as well as an $8 million federal Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) renewal and funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.  LD 1799 also created the Expansion of Public Preschool and Early Care and Education Commission, which was tasked with reporting to legislators on the Department of Education’s efforts to expand UPK across the state. The Commission recommended more funding for ongoing and start-up costs, more flexibility in credentialing early childhood educators, and more coordination to cultivate partnerships between school systems and community providers who provide public prekindergarten.  As of March 2024, only 43% of Maine public school districts offered UPK. Advocates assert that the biggest barrier to expansion is the state’s education funding formula, because it doesn’t provide enough money for programs to hire the additional staff necessary for early learning programs. Advocates also suggest that the formula incentivizes school districts to open partial-day programs, because they aren’t reimbursed more for full-day programs.  LEARN MORE: MAINE UNIVERSAL PRE-K Sources: Maine Senate Democrats. (2023). Senator Vitelli bill to expand access to child care and early education in Maine signed into law. Davidson, A., & Muhlendorf, A. (2024). Maine Leaders Have Choices to Make About How to Expand Preschool While Maintaining Quality Standards. National Institute for Early Education Research. Maine State Legislature. (2023). Expansion of Public Preschool and Early Care and Education Commission. Maine State Legislature. (2023). Summary of LD 1799. Bartow, A. (2023). Lawmakers work to make preschool available everywhere in Maine. WMTW News 8 Portland. Feinberg, R. (2024). Why Maine is lagging on its goal of universal pre-K. Maine Public Radio.

In 2016, Kelly M. Schulz, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, announced a $2 million award from the United States Department of Labor’s ApprenticeshipUSA Expansion Grant to invest in the state’s registered apprenticeship programming, which includes a Child Care Development Specialist apprenticeship. At the end of 2020, Governor Larry Hogan announced that the Maryland Department of Labor had received a $6,012,924 award from the U.S. Department of Labor for a State Apprenticeship Expansion Grant. These funds increased the scope of services offered to Registered Apprenticeship sponsors, employers, and apprentices. In 2021, the program received $3 million in funding for Maryland’s registered and youth apprenticeship programs. Registered apprenticeships allow employees to have a full-time job, learn through a combination of on-the-job training and classroom instruction, and earn a salary. The state’s youth apprenticeship program, Apprenticeship Maryland, is offered in 15 county school systems and 151 employers; it accepts high school juniors and seniors, providing them with a head start on their future career. While enrolled in this program, apprentices work a minimum of 450 hours with a certified employer while receiving high school credit. Learn More: Maryland Department of Labor Sources: Maryland Department of Labor. (2016). Maryland Awarded $2 Million for Apprenticeship Program. Maryland Department of Labor. (2020). Governor’s Budget Provides $7.5 Million for EARN Maryland and a Record $3 Million for the State’s Apprenticeship Program. Maryland Department of Labor (2020). Governor Hogan Announces Maryland Awarded Over $6 Million for Apprenticeship Program.

Since 2010, the Massachusetts' Department of Early Education and Care (DEEC), Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and Department of Higher Education have hosted the Education-to-Career (E2C) Research and Data Hub, the state’s P-20 longitudinal data system. It includes data on licensed and funded childcare programs (early care and education and after school/out-of-school time programs), public and charter prekindergarten, and early educators. The system functions as a data warehouse and links data through data sharing agreements across multiple agencies including the Executive Office of Education, Children’s Trust, DEEC, and DESE. The warehouse and system provides information at the program and demographic level for public use and private individualized information for agencies or approved data requests. The system was expanded in 2015 and 2019 with support from the federal Statewide Longitudinal Data System grants. Learn More: About the Education to Career Research and Data Hub

In 2023, New York City established the Mayor's Office for Child Care and Early Childhood Education, which aims to provide equitable, high-quality, and affordable early education and care for the city’s families. The office is expected to coordinate strategy and planning across city agencies, encourage innovation through partnerships with various stakeholders, and focus on effective communication, policy advocacy, and public engagement, as part of the city’s Blueprint for Child Care and Early Childhood Education, a plan from 2022 that outlines ways to improve the accessibility, equitability, and quality of care in New York City’s early childhood system. Learn more: Mayor’s Office for Child Care and Early Childhood Education Sources: Amin, R. (2023, February 10). Adams creates new City Hall office for child care, early childhood education. Chalkbeat New York. Office of the Mayor, New York City. (2023, February 10). Mayor Adams Announces Creation of First-ever Mayor's Office of Child Care and Early Childhood Education [Press release].

In 2002 and again in 2008, voters in Miami-Dade County approved a referendum to increase property taxes to pay for the operation of the Children’s Trust, a local government entity that allocates funds for child care and early learning programs in the county. The property tax increases by $.50 for every $1,000 of assessed property value. About $100 million in revenue is raised annually through this funding stream, which is dedicated to the operation of the Children’s Trust in Miami-Dade County.  In FY 2023-24, the Children’s Trust allocated grants totaling $43,411,017 to sites across the county working to champion early childhood development. These organizations undertake child care quality improvement efforts, increase early care and education slots across the county, conduct research on child care’s impact on the community, and boost early intervention services. The Children’s Trust exists in perpetuity.  LEARN MORE: Miami-Dade Property Tax Referendum Sources: North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation. (n.d.) County of Miami Dade. EditSign The Children's Trust. (2022). 2021-2022 Annual Report. The Children's Trust. (2022). The Children's Trust Funded Programs and Sites FY 2020-2021.

The Michigan Longitudinal Data System (MLDS), established in 2010 by the Michigan Advisory Council and the Center for Educational Performance and Information, is a P-20 longitudinal data system that includes enrollment data on all statewide early childhood programs and services (e.g., data ranging from Head Start to Child Care Subsidies), early childhood impact on K-3 absenteeism, and continuity of service in special education. This federated system (i.e., a sharing system that does not consolidate all data in one warehouse) links data through sharing agreements across multiple agencies, including the Executive Office of Education, Children’s Trust, the Department of Early Education and Care, and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The system provides demographic, program, and individual level data with unique identifier codes for agencies or approved data requests. A second system, MI School Data, uses MLDS information to provide demographic and program data for public use MLDS was created under Executive Order No. 2010-15 and is supported by a federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant. MI School Data has also been supported by a 2006 grant in partnership with Minnesota and Wisconsin ($3,000,000) and a Workforce Data Quality Initiative grant. Learn More: Michigan Longitudinal Data System Sources:Talent2025. (2020). Longitudinal Data Systems in MichiganMI School Data. (n.d.). Early Childhood Landing Page

In 2017, the Milwaukee Common Council approved the creation of the Office of Early Childhood Initiatives (OECI), which opened its doors in November 2018. OECI was championed by Alderman Cavalier Johnson, with the goal of advancing and coordinating early childhood services for children from birth to three years old.  OECI collaborates with the County of Milwaukee as well as state and federal entities that administer services to young children. Among other programs, OECI facilitates collaboration among local early childhood partners, connects families to resources, and serves as a clearinghouse for providers and organizations working to ensure high-quality early education in the city.   learn more: Milwaukee office of early childhood initiatives Sources: City of Milwaukee Early Education Task Force Writing Subgroup. (2017, October). Recommendations. City of Milwaukee. White, A. (2022.) An Equitable Recovery Starts With Early Childhood: How Cities are Leveraging ARPA SLFRF to Support Young Children and Families. National League of Cities.

In 2023, Minnesota lawmakers passed and the governor signed legislation to create a transition process and establish a new cabinet-level state agency—the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). Core programs from four current state agencies (the Departments of Education, Human Services, Health, and Public Safety), including  services and programs related to early education and care, will transfer to the new agency. The DCYF will also administer out-of-school-time programs serving youth and families, including after-school, food assistance, and child welfare programs. State leaders created this dedicated agency to foster stronger coordination and better outcomes across programs serving children and families. The DCYF will be established in July 2024; the state will finish transferring programs to the new agency by July 2025. Learn More: DCYF Implementation Sources: Minnesota Legislature. (2023). Minnesota Session Laws: Chapter 70—S.F.No. 2995. Minnesota Office of Management and Budget. (2023). Implementation office for the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Shockman, E. (2023, May 31). Minnesota lawmakers pledge at least $300 million toward early education. Minnesota Public Radio News.