North Carolina

Created in 2012, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services' North Carolina Early Childhood Integrated Data System(NC ECIDS) is a warehouse for data on education, health, and social services provided to children from birth to age 5. The warehouse, which began as a federated system (i.e., a data sharing system that does not consolidate all data in one warehouse), integrates demographic, program, and individual data on education, health, and social services to children birth to age 5 (e.g., data from NC Pre-K, Child Care Financial Assistance, NC Infant Toddler Program, Food and Nutrition Services, Child Protective Services, Work First Family Assistance, Head Start, Preschool Exceptional Children's Program, etc.). NC ECIDS provides individual data using unique identifiers to agencies or to qualified researchers or institutions that have requested data. It also provides public demographic and program data on the state’s Early Childhood Data Dashboards by program, fiscal year, gender, race, ethnicity, age, and county. NC ECIDS supports the state’s P-20 longitudinal data system.

The system has received federal funds from the Race to the Top–Early Learning Challenge Grant and Preschool Development Grant Birth Through 5 (PDG- B-5).

Sources:
North Carolina Department of Information Technology and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2020). The Roadmap to a North Carolina Longitudinal Data System (NCLDS)
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. (2022). NCDHHS Launches New Integrated Early Childhood Data Dashboards.
US Department of Health and Human Services, US Department of Education. (2016). The Integration of Early Childhood Data

In 2006, the North Carolina State Lottery was established and signed into law by the state legislature. The lottery proceeds include an Education Lottery Fund (about 20% of the overall proceeds), a portion of which is dedicated to Pre-K. In fiscal year 2022, 7.4% of lottery revenue, or just under $69 million, was directed toward funding preschool in the state.

Source: North Carolina Education Lottery. (2022). History of Lottery Fund Assignment.

North Carolina’s Infant-Toddler Educator AWARD$ Plus program provides supplemental pay to infant-toddler educators based on their education level and commitment to their early education program. This program is designed to retain and support the professional development of early childhood educators; in turn, this creates a more stable workforce with the skills needed to support young children's healthy learning and development. It also responds to inequities within the early education system, where infant and toddler teachers typically receive less financial and professional support than their colleagues who work with older children. Bonuses range from $600 to $4,000 per educator per year, with an average payment of $2,576. Amounts increase as educators obtain more formal education, and educators must remain in their early education program for at least six months to qualify for an award. In FY22, Infant-Toddler Educator AWARD$ Plus North Carolina provided supplements to 1,337 educators; turnover among recipients was 16%, which is lower than the estimated 26-40% turnover rate among educators in licensed child care programs nationwide.

Source:

Child Care Services Association. (n.d.). Infant-Toddler Educator AWARD$ Plus.

Child Care WAGE$ North Carolina provides supplemental pay to early childhood educators based on their education level and commitment to their early education program. WAGE$ is designed to retain early childhood educators and support their professional development; in turn, this creates a more stable workforce with the skills needed to support young children's healthy learning and development. Bonuses range from $450 to $6,250 per educator per year, with an average payment of $2,406. Amounts increase as educators obtain more formal education, and educators must remain in their early education program for at least six months to qualify for an award. In FY22, Child Care WAGE$ North Carolina provided supplements to 4,018 early educators; turnover among recipients was 14%, which is lower than the estimated 26-40% turnover rate among educators in licensed child care programs nationwide.

This program is part of the national Child Care WAGE$ project and is available in many counties across the state.

Sources:
Child Care Services Association. (n.d.). Child Care WAGE$®

Child Care Services Association. (n.d.). Child Care WAGE$ Results.