Created in 2016, the Minnesota Department of Education’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Data System (ECLDS) is an early childhood integrated data system that functions as a warehouse. The system stores and integrates deidentified demographic, program, and individual data on publicly funded early childhood programs and services for young children and families (e.g., Birth Records, Child Care Assistance Program, Early Education, Home Visiting, etc.) across Minnesota’s departments of Education, Health, and Human Services. Private data is shared through the agencies’ data-sharing agreements, and public data are reported at an aggregated (grouped) level. The ECLDS acts as a companion to Minnesota’s Statewide Longitudinal Education Data System to create a P-20 system. The system is funded by federal Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grants and Statewide Longitudinal Data System Grants. The ECLDS also receives funds from the Minnesota Office of Higher Education as part of statewide longitudinal data system appropriations. Learn More: Minnesota Education’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Data System Other sources:US Department of Health and Human Services, US Department of Education. (2016). The Integration of Early Childhood Data

Signed into law in 2023, HB 817 will raise the funding rate for early learning collaboratives (ELCs) to $2,500 per child for full-day programs and $1,250 per child for half-day programs. Previous rates were $2,150 for full-day programs and $1,250 for half-day programs. Mississippi’s Early Learning Collaborative Act established state pre-K programs known as “Early Learning Collaboratives” or ELCs. Collaboratives are overseen by the Mississippi Department of Education, even though individual providers may have other oversight agencies. Learn More: Mississippi First Sources: House Bill 817 (2023). Mississippi Legislature 2023 Regular Session

Established in 2021, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Early Childhood Integrated Data System functions as a warehouse for early childhood data. The system collects, stores, and maintains demographic and program information on young children’s development and participation in early childhood programs. Data is gathered from Children’s Trust Fund programs (e.g., Home Visiting) and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (e.g., First Steps Early Intervention, Home Visiting Programs, Public Preschool, state-funded Early Head Start). While the data is currently internal to these agencies, the system will link with the state’s Statewide Longitudinal Data System for public use in the future. The system is supported by the federal Preschool Development Birth through 5 Grant. Learn more: Missouri Division of Early Childhood Sources: Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (n.d.). Preschool Development Grant B-5

Monitoring Child Care Supply, Demand, and Access in Nevada, a project of the Nevada Office of Analytics, Department of Health and Human Services, is a data visualization tool . It provides demographic and program data on child care in the state (e.g., subsidies, child care programs, utilization rates, poverty rates, and counts of child care workers) for public use. Updated monthly, the tool makes comparisons across all 50 states. Learn More/source: Nevada Dashboard

In June 2025, the Montana State Legislature passed House Bill 924 with bipartisan support, establishing the Montana Growth and Opportunity Trust (GO Trust), a $930 million, four-year fund to manage and allocate state revenues for various initiatives, including a Montana Early Childhood Account. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) will determine how the funds are used and will create a board to oversee the program.   The legislation authorized a one-time transfer of $10 million to the Early Childhood Account, which will then receive 10% of the GO Trust’s interest earnings. In the second, third, and fourth years of the program, the Early Childhood Account is projected to receive $2.3 million, $2.8 million, and $3.2 million, respectively, from the GO Trust’s interest earnings. The account can also receive private donations. A newly created board, which includes state officials, representatives from state and local community organizations, child care providers, and a parent, will determine how to use the funds. Funds from the Montana Early Childhood Account are expected to: help recruit and retain child care workers, support infants and children with special needs, and make child care more affordable by expanding child care subsidy programs. The fund may also be used to improve early learning environments, increase the accessibility of before- and after-school care, and offer emergency assistance and disaster relief for child care programs.  learn more: montana early childhood account Sources: Montana Budget & Policy Center. (2025, August 11). The Growth & Opportunity (GO) Trust: An Overview. Zero to Five Montana. (2025, June). Montana Prioritizes Long-Term Investment in Early Childhood. Montana House Bill 924. (2025).

Established in 2004, the Montana Early Childhood Apprenticeship Program (MECAP) provides on-the-job training, mentorship, and college coursework to support early childhood education providers. After completing the program, apprentices receive a Child Care Development Specialist Certificate and reach Level 4 of Montana's Practitioner Registry. MECAP is a Registered Apprenticeship Program, an on-the-job, paid training model that is validated through the U.S. Department of Labor or a state agency. MECAP started with temporary funds from Montana’s Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS). After the temporary funds were depleted, funding came from the federal Child Care Development Fund, administered by DPHHS. MECAP is a cross-organization partnership coordinated and organized by multiple state agencies, including Montana's Department of Labor and Industry (DLI), the Early Childhood Services Bureau, and Montana State University's Early Childhood Program. Learn More: Montana Early Childhood Project Sources: Child Trends. (2019). Spotlight on the Montana Early Childhood Apprenticeship Program. Montana Early Childhood Project. (n.d.). Montana Early Childhood Apprenticeship Program Childcare Development Specialist. Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. (2020). Apprenticeship Programs, by State/Territory, 2020.

Launched in 2020, Montana’s Early Childhood and Family Support Division in the Department of Public Health and Human Services brings together the states' Child Care and Development Fund, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part C, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Head Start Collaboration Office, and Early Learning Advisory Council. The Early Childhood Services Bureau’s mission is to improve the quality, affordability, and accessibility of early care and education in Montana, with a focus on creating coordinated systems that meet the needs of young children, their families, and the professionals who serve them. Learn More: Montana Early Childhood and Family Support Division Sources: Montana Early Childhood and Family Support Division (2023) Bipartisan Policy Center (2023). Integrated Efficient Early Care and Education Systems

In November 2020, voters in Multnomah County approved Measure 26-214, or Preschool for All (PFA), which extends free preschool to three- and four-year-olds across the county. Sixty-four percent of voters supported the measure, which was championed by Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson.  PFA is funded by a personal income tax, which the county plans to use to expand the early childhood education system by 12,000 publicly funded preschool slots by 2030. Specifically, the county will create new preschool classrooms, subsidize existing ones, and offer teachers higher pay (from $19.91 to $37 per hour).  To participate, children must be three or four years old by September 1 and have a parent or legal guardian living in Multnomah County. The number of PFA seats will grow over time, increasing the number of providers and families, until the system is universally available in 2030. This program has no expiration date.  LEARN MORE: MULTNOMAH COUNTY PRESCHOOL FOR ALL Sources: Frost, A. (2023). Parents and providers highlight successes of Preschool for All. Oregon Public Broadcasting. Multnomah County Department of County Human Services. (n.d.). Questions & Answers. Peel, S. (2023). Multnomah County’s Big Plans to Fund Universal Preschool Have So Far Produced Pint-Sized Results. Willamette Week.

In 2021, North Dakota enacted HB 1416, which merges offices and programs encompassing child care, preschool and pre-K, home visiting, early intervention and professional development into the Department of Health and Human Services’ Early Childhood Section. According to Kagan and Gomez (2015) consolidating early childhood programs under one agency can decrease duplication of services. Learn More: North Dakota Early Childhood Services Source:North Dakota Department of Human Services (2021). Introducing the New Early Childhood Division.  North Dakota Legislative Assembly (2021). HB 1416. Summaries of Fiscal Year 2023 Enacted Budgets Bipartisan Policy Center (2023). Integrated Efficient Early Care and Education Systems Kagan, L. and Gomez, R. (Eds.). (2015) Early Childhood Governance: Choices and Consequences. Teachers College Press.

Since 1993, Nebraska has allocated a portion of lottery ticket sales to the Education Innovation Fund, which is used to support grants from early childhood through adult education. As of July 2016, this funding allocation for education was just over 44% of the state’s lottery ticket sales. Learn More: Nebraska Early Childhood Education State Report Source: Nebraska Lottery. (2023). Proceeds Transferred Since 1993.

The Nevada Early Childhood Advisory Council’s Early Childhood Data Dashboard is a data visualization tool. It provides demographic and program information on the current status and trends of the state's population, workforce, child care, and economy for public use. Developed with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the tool is a part of the work of the Early Childhood Advisory Council, which was established in Assembly Bill 79 in 2021. Learn More: Nevada Early Childhood Dashboard

In July 2022, the State of Nevada IDEA Part C Office submitted a proposal to the Department of Health and Human Services Director’s Office for increased federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Fiscal Recovery Funds from the Governor's Finance Office to provide funding to develop an Early Intervention Personnel Center. The proposed personnel center would provide a credible and comparable alternative option for early intervention staff to meet their licensure requirements. This retention initiative was planned to be free for personnel, with all costs to be covered by the ARPA grant and/or the IDEA Part C Office. The proposal was accepted, and the Nevada Early Intervention Professional Development Center's first initiative is a Developmental Specialist Core Series (DS Series) that launched in April 2023 at no cost to professional learners . The DS series brings together a cohort of early educators who take 8 five-week courses that meet virtually once per week. The cohort will meet for approximately 18 months, and participants are expected to devote 35 hours per 5-week course to their studies. The courses cover required Early Childhood Special Education areas as determined by the Nevada Department of Education. Completion of the DS Series will meet the Alternative Certification requirements with the IDEA Part C Office and is deemed to be equivalent to an Endorsement for Early Childhood Developmentally Delayed. Learn more: Nevada Early Intervention Professional Development Center Sources: Nevada Early Intervention Professional Development Center. (2023). Program Catalog 2023-2024. Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Early Intervention FAQs.