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Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Overview
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensures states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to more than 7 million eligible children and youth with disabilities across …
New GAO Report Highlights IDEA Early Intervention Programs
The report identified various challenges, including varying eligibility criteria, staffing shortages, and limited data collection, and concluded with several recommendations for Congress. The first few years of life are critical …
FFYF’S 2023 State Fact Sheets
Our new analysis of all 50 states and Washington, D.C. shows that child care and early learning programs have tremendous impacts on young children, their families, and the economy at …
Report Highlights Unequal Access to Special Education Services
Recently, the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) released “State[s] of Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education: Looking at Equity,” a report that finds that not all young …
Understanding Parents’ Complex Child Care Choices — or Lack Thereof
Parental choice is a fundamental value of our child care system. While all parents want their young children cared for in a safe and warm environment, they have varied needs …
Unprecedented Bipartisan Support for Robust Early Learning and Care Funding
As House and Senate appropriations requests come to a close, an unprecedented number of House members from both sides of the aisle have signed onto Dear Colleague letters calling for …
Report: States are Making Progress in Creating Integrated ECE Systems
Last week, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) released a state-by-state report analyzing the integration and efficiency of early care and education (ECE) systems. This report serves as a follow-up to …
How Has COVID-19 Impacted Infants and Toddlers’ Social Development?
Our nation’s youngest children have lived most, if not all, of their lives during a global pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic drastically upended the lives of parents and children in a …
Lawmakers on Both Sides of the Aisle Call for Robust Early Learning & Care Funding
The appropriations process is an important time for legislators to determine their priorities for the next fiscal year. Congress uses this process to allocate funding for federal programs, activities and …
Advocates Call for Increased Funding for Early Learning and Care Programs in FY2023 Appropriations
The First Five Years Fund (FFYF) and a coalition of national early education advocacy organizations have written to Congressional appropriators with a request for increased funding for the existing federal …
Appropriations and Budget Reconciliation: Understanding Federal Early Learning & Care Funding Opportunities
Updated March 15, 2022 Each year, millions of low-income children from birth through age five benefit from the array of federal early learning and care programs, including the Child Care …
