1. family and parenting
2. children

Early Care
and Education
in Chicago
Bringing Families
and Resources Together
Chicago Partners for Children
Contents
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Early Care and Education in Chicago
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
The Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Funding Streams and Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
A Range of Program Models and Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Collaborative Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Strengths of the Current System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Challenges and Future Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Appendix
Patterns of Access and Utilization in the City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A.1
A Utilization of Certificates and Availability of CDHS
and OPF Slots Among 0-2 Year Olds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.2
B Usage of Certificates, Enrollment in CPS Programs, and Availability
of CDHS and Ounce Slots Among 3-5 Year Olds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.4
C Total Children Age 0-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.7
D Child Care Certificate Utilization and Early Head Start Site, Age 0-2 . . . . . . . . A.8
E Total Children Age 3-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.9
F Child Care Certificate Utilization, Age 3-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.10
G Head Start Availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.11
H Children Enrolled in CPS Pre-K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.12
I Services Provided to Children in Various Early Care and
Education Program Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.13
J Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.14
Acknowledgements
This report was produced by the Chicago Partners for Children Data Committee, which is made up of representatives from DCACI, CPS, CDHS, academic institutions, service providers and advocates.
Special thanks to Maria Whelan and Mary Stonor Saunders (DCACI), Ngoan Le, Michele Piel, and Erin Yorn
(CDHS); Armando Almendarez and Ron Whitmore (CPS); B J Walker (Office of the Mayor); Linda Saterfield
(IDHS); Tom Layman (CMAEYC); and Gina Guillemette (OPF) for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of
this report.
Funding for this report was provided through a generous grant from the McCormick Tribune Foundation.
Author: Theresa A. Hawley, Ph.D. Data Source: Chapin Hall Center for Children; CDHS Children Services Division
Maps: Metropolitan Chicago Information Center Designer: Catherine Lange Illustrator: Jill Reid
Executive Summary
his report has been prepared by the
Chicago Partners for Children, a collaboration of the Chicago Department
of Human Services, Chicago Public Schools,
and the Day Care Action Council of Illinois,
funded by the McCormick Tribune Foundation, with the Metro Chicago Information
Center serving as the fiscal agent. The purpose of this report is to provide a detailed
overview of early care and education in the
City of Chicago. It is hoped that this report
will serve as a springboard for efforts to
develop a more comprehensive, effective and
efficient system of early care and education
services in the city.
• Demographic changes, including CHA
resident relocation, neighborhood gentrification, and immigration have left many
programs struggling to effectively reach
and serve families and children in need.
T
New Models: Blended
Funding Streams
To meet these challenges, it is essential that
the three primary funding streams of early
care and education work toward common
goals of increased access and quality. Committed
collaboration among the major programs will
lead to more effective use of resources and
provide a framework from which to coordinate the unique requirements of each program
and meet the needs of families and children.
Chicago has a long and distinguished history
of supporting early childhood education. For
more than three decades, Head Start, Child
Parent Centers, and (since the mid-1980s)
State Pre-Kindergarten programs have
helped prepare thousands of children for
success in school and later life. The child care
needs of families with young children have
also been addressed through the state-funded
Child Care Assistance Program.
$
The three primary public sources of funding
for early care and education in Chicago are:
Illinois Child Care Assistance Program:
Funded through the Illinois Department of
Human Services and administered by the Day
Care Action Council of Illinois, through contracts with the Chicago Department of
Human Services and other agencies.
Meeting Families’ Needs
Head Start/Early Head Start: Federally
funded through grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to
CDHS, the Ounce of Prevention Fund and
other agencies.
Yet more work needs to be done. Over the last
several years, Chicago’s loosely woven “system” of early care and education has faced
challenges in meeting the changing needs of
families and communities:
State Pre-Kindergarten: Funded by the
Illinois State Board of Education Early Childhood Block Grant and administered through
the Chicago Public Schools.
• More parents require full-day, full-year
child care and/or odd-hour care because
they work outside of the home (partly as a
result of federal policies requiring TANF
recipients to work).
In the past, these three funding streams have
operated independently from one another,
and most programs drew upon only one
funding source. Over the past decade, however, several collaborative models have been
developed to better meet the needs of children and families. By combining Head Start
• More families need child care for their
infants and toddlers, and new research has
demonstrated the significant benefits of
beginning early education and intervention in these very early years.
1
Early Care and Education in Chicago
and/or Pre-K funds with Child Care funds,
programs are able to provide higher quality
full-day, full-year care for families who need
it. While these collaborations provide an
important model for building a comprehensive early care and education system in
Chicago, they nonetheless contend with
important challenges that are highlighted in
this report.
• Increase early learning opportunities for
infants and toddlers: Currently, only a
small fraction of these youngest children
receive comprehensive services.
• Build a highly qualified workforce: There
is a critical shortage of bi-lingual teachers,
Type 04 certified teachers, and staff knowledgeable about infant and child development.
• Increase community-level coordination:
Networks of providers and community
organizations could help ensure that all
children receive appropriate services.
Challenges for the Future
Several challenges need to be addressed to
create an effective, efficient early care and
education system that meets the needs of
children and families:
• Increase our understanding of demand:
Currently it is difficult to know how many
children are eligible for (and how many families want) each type of early childhood service.
• Increase consistency of services: Currently, both the quality and range of services
available in programs ranges widely.
Chicago is at a critical juncture in the development of an effective, efficient system of
early care and education. Fortunately, we
have the commitment, leadership, and experience needed to rise to this challenge, and to
build a model system of early care and education that meets the needs of all our children
and families. A first step in this process is to
incorporate and expand the data found in
this report into planning that better allocates
resources and develops alternatives that work
for low-income families.
• Increase efficiency: When appropriate,
ensure that children are served through
the most restrictive funding source for
which they are eligible.
• Increase continuity of care: Building on
proposed IDHS rule changes, ensure that
children will not have to leave care because
of shifting eligibility (e.g., parental job
change).
2
Early Care and Education in Chicago
he last decade has seen dramatic
changes in the way young children in
the United States are cared for and
educated. A fast-growing majority of mothers
of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers now
work outside the home, and most young children regularly spend time in the care of
someone other than their parents. Thanks to
well-publicized research, the general public
now recognizes the critical contribution that
high-quality early learning experiences, both
at home and when in child care, make to
brain development and early learning skills.
Policy-makers at the national, state and local
levels are increasingly recognizing the value
of investing in early care and education for
the future.
T
These national trends are reflected in the city
of Chicago. Large numbers of parents are
seeking early childhood education for their
young children; in the 2000 Census, half of
Chicago’s parents of three- to five-year-olds
reported that they had enrolled their child in
some type of formal educational program.
Child development-focused services for
infants and toddlers and their families,
although still scarce, have also grown considerably in recent years. Interest in and support
for early care and education is expected to
continue and grow, as Mayor Richard M.
Daley has declared early education to be a
top priority for the city, and pledges to ensure
that every family in the city has access to
high-quality early learning opportunities for
their young children.
This report provides a comprehensive
overview of the current landscape of publicly
funded child care and early childhood education in Chicago. With both city-wide and
community-area-specific data, it provides a
detailed picture of the many types of child
care and early education services to which
low-income families currently have access. It
identifies the many strengths of this loosely
woven system, as well as the models that have
3
been developed to better meet the needs of
families and children. At the same time, it
also describes the considerable
challenges that families and
service providers face as they
cope with an often confusing
and sometimes conflicting
array of eligibility requirements, service options,
and funding restrictions. It
is hoped that this report will
serve as a springboard for further development of an integrated,
comprehensive system of early childhood
care and education in Chicago that meets the
needs of children and their families while
maximizing the use of public resources.
The Chicago Context:
A Commitment to
Early Care and Education
Chicago has a distinguished history of providing early childhood education to low income
children. Community-based agencies and
schools throughout the city established Head
Start classrooms in the earliest days of this
federally sponsored program, offering comprehensive services to children and their families. Chicago is also home to one of the first
Early Head Start programs, and has long
been a center of innovation in family support
services.
The Chicago Public School’s Child Parent
Centers, begun in 1967, were among the
nation’s first school-district sponsored programs aimed at preparing young children for
future success in school. The results have
been rewarding. Longitudinal research on
this innovative program demonstrates the substantial long-term pay-off for early investment
in children’s development and education.
Documented benefits include a reduction in
children’s need for special education placement, lower grade retention, and a decline in
Early Care and Education in Chicago
later delinquent and criminal behavior
among participants.1
Chicago Partners for Children
Chicago Partners for Children (CPC) is
a collaborative effort funded with the
generous support of the McCormick
Tribune Foundation, with the Metro
Chicago Information Center serving as
the fiscal agent. It is comprised of the
three major institutions managing
early care and education services in
Chicago: the Day Care Action Council
of Illinois (in conjunction with the
Illinois Department of Human
Services), Chicago Public Schools,
and the Chicago Department of
Human Services. With the long-term
goal of ensuring that Chicago’s system
of early childhood services offers
access to quality early childhood experience regardless of income, Chicago
Partners for Children seeks to build a
framework of care that maximizes
existing resources and responds to
the changing needs of diverse communities. Through its Data, Finance,
and Program Models Committees,
which include participation from service
providers, advocates, and academics,
CPC is working to:
The state of Illinois has also long been recognized for its innovation and investment in
early education. In 1985, encouraged by the
success of Head Start, the Child Parent
Centers, and other early childhood
programs, the Illinois General
Assembly established a special
funding program for State PreKindergarten for children at
risk of academic failure. This
program, administered by the
Illinois State Board of Education
(ISBE), now serves over 52,600
children ages three to five throughout
the state, an increase of 125% over the past
decade. In FY99, funding for the State Pre-K
program was combined with two small programs (Parental Training and the Prevention
Initiative) that help parents of children ages
birth through five understand and promote
their children’s development. The combined
funding stream is now called the Early
Childhood Block Grant. Chicago received
37% (or $67.7 million) of the $183 million
appropriated in FY 2002.
Illinois has also had a long history of helping
low-income working parents access needed
child care services. The precursors of the
state’s current Child Care system began in
1973, with the goal of increasing access to
high-quality care and education. In 1997, as
part of a dramatic restructuring of state
human service agencies, Illinois created the
current Child Care Assistance Program.
Administered by the Illinois Department of
Human Services, this program provides child
care assistance to any income-eligible family
that needs child care while the parents work
(or while teen parents to go to school). This
program has received national recognition
for its streamlined eligibility process and its
elimination of waiting lists for services.
• Identify gaps in services and
barriers to early care and
education for families in Chicago;
• Develop and test new collaborative
models for providing high-quality,
educationally enriched child care
that meets families’ needs;
• Improve service coordination and
collaboration between the three
largest systems of early care and
education in the City of Chicago.
By providing a comprehensive
overview of the current status of early
care and education in Chicago, this
report represents an important
step in achieving CPC’s long term
goal.
While public support for early childhood
education in Chicago and Illinois initially
focused on children who are very low income
and/or “at risk,” interest in providing all children
with access to high-quality early learning
programs is growing. Research has confirmed
the benefits of high-quality early care and
4
The Chicago Context
Struggling to Meet Families’ Needs:
The “ABC Center” on Chicago’s south side has been serving children and
their families for over 20 years. In the last few years, however, the center
has been struggling to maintain full enrollment. Because the program
receives both Head Start and Child Care funds, participating families must
have incomes below the poverty line and be working at least 5 hours each
day to qualify for this full-day program. Many of the families that inquire
about the programs are not eligible by these strict requirements. Other
families have decided not to enroll their children because the center only
serves 3-5 year olds, and they have younger or older children who also
need care and they would like to drop off and pick up the children all in
one place. The center reports that many families have dropped out of the
program because they couldn’t afford the required co-payments; some
enrolled in a nearby Head Start-Pre-K program that doesn’t have any parent
fees. The program staff has worked hard to recruit more families, but they
are worried they may need to close some classrooms if they don’t enroll
more children soon.
education for children from all income levels.
Thus, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich and
Mayor Daley have both called for expanding
access to preschool for all children.
throughout the city have been compelled to
look for new ways to finance and provide
services that meet families’ changing needs.
Shifting demographics: The 1990’s also saw
two dramatic demographic shifts in Chicago
which impact the demand for and supply of
early care and education services for lowincome families. First, many community areas
have experienced a significant decline in the
number of low-income residents that
publicly funded early care and education programs were designed
to serve. The Chicago Housing
Authority’s Plan for Transformation, which calls for the
development of the existing
public housing stock into mixedincome communities, will affect
over 11,000 public housing households when fully implemented. Families
residing in units that are affected by the plan
have been either temporarily or permanently
relocated throughout the city and suburbs.
At the same time, many neighborhoods
underwent “gentrification,” leaving programs that had served impoverished neighborhoods for decades suddenly surrounded
by middle-to-upper income housing. For both
of these reasons, programs have begun serving families who live far outside their historical
recruitment areas. Many programs have con-
Families’ changing needs for child care: Up
through the early 1990’s, most publicly funded early education programs were half-day
and operated on a school-year schedule. This
worked well as most children in the lowestincome families were cared for exclusively by
their parents, and families did not need additional child care. However, as employment
became more common for mothers of young
children, and as welfare reform required parents receiving TANF to work or attend
school, more and more families needed fullday, full-year care for their young children.
For many families, changable work schedules
and non-traditional hours made it particularly difficult to make use of existing services.
As a result, some part-day programs have
been struggling to fill their classrooms as parents pursue arrangements that better meet
their child care needs. Although numerous
community-based organizations have been
offering full-day, subsidized care for lowincome working families through state-funded contracts with the Chicago Department of
Human Services for many years, the supply
of these services fell far short of the growing
demand. Early care and education programs
5
Early Care and Education in Chicago
templated relocating to provide eligible families more convenient access to their services,
but this is a time-consuming and costly
undertaking most organizations cannot
afford.
Quality Matters in Child Care
Quality child care is important for all
children, regardless of parental
Secondly, high levels of immigration have
changed the face of Chicago over the last
decade. The Hispanic population in Chicago
increased by 38% from 1990-2000 and now
comprises 26% of the city’s total population.
In addition, many neighborhoods have seen
large increases in immigrants from Asian,
African, Eastern European and Middle
Eastern countries. According to the 2000
census, over 35% of families in the city speak
a language other than English at home. In
some areas of the city, early childhood programs
report having almost as many languages spoken
as there are children in their classrooms.
Programs have struggled to provide culturally
appropriate services to children and their
families.
income or education level. Studies
of child care settings have consistently demonstrated that the quality
of early learning experiences provided to children has an important
effect on children’s school readiness and achievement in the early
school years. For example, the
recently released “The Children of
the Cost, Quality, and Outcomes
Study Go to School” reports on a
study of 800 preschool children who
were followed from preschool
through the second grade.2 The
Current Commitment: In 2000, Mayor Daley
announced an Early Child Care and
Education Plan that called for developing an
additional 5,000 slots of educationally
enriched, full-day, full-year child care slots
for children ages birth through five. That
goal has been met through new Head StartChild Care and Pre-K-Child Care collaborations. The Mayor is now focusing on increasing the quality of existing programs, and to
ensuring that all families have access to early
learning services for their young children.
Many organizations and coalitions are working toward these goals, both within the city
and at the state-wide level. Chicago Partners
for Children (see box on page 4), a
McCormick Tribune Foundation-funded collaboration of the Chicago Department of
Human Services, Chicago Public Schools,
and the Day Care Action Council of Illinois,
is working to create more accessible and efficient early care and education programs in
Chicago. Early Learning Illinois, a coalition
of child advocates funded by the Pew
Charitable Trust, is working to build public
will for increased investment in early care and
education and universally available preschool
throughout the state. The Birth to Five
Project, part of the four-state Build Initiative
study showed that children who
received poor quality early child care
scored lower on measures of cognitive and social skills throughout the
preschool and early school years.
Children’s cognitive development
(including math and language skills)
was directly related to the quality of
early childhood classroom practices.
Similarly, the NICHD Study of Early
Care has demonstrated that the
quality of early childhood education
and care that infants and toddlers
receive has an important effect on
their cognitive and social development.3 In both studies, the quality of
child care had a significant effect on
the development of children from
both low-income and upper-income
families.
6
Funding for Services for Three to Five Year Olds in Chicago
Funding for early care and education for three to five year old children in Chicago comes from three primary
sources: the IDHS Child Care Assistance Program, the Head Start Program funded by the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and the ISBE Early Childhood Block Grant. These funding streams
(either singly or in combination) support a wide range of services, including informal license-exempt child
care, center-based programs, and school-based preschool programs. This illustration provides a snapshot of
the most common program types and their possible sources of funding.
Head
Start
(DHHS)
Early
Childhood
Block Grant
(ISBE)
1/
2
Pr Da
e- y
K
He 1
ad /2
St Da
ar y
t
Co C
lla hi Pr
bo ld era Ca K/
tio re
n
He
Co C ad
lla hi S
bo ld tar
ra Ca t/
tio re
n
Li
c
Ce ens
nt ed
er
Li
ce
Ho nse
m d
e
Li
Ex cen
Hoem sem pt
e
PROGRAMS/SERVICES
ADMINISTERING AGENCY
MAJOR FUNDING SOURCES
$
Child Care
Assistance
Program
(IDHS)
Note: The Ounce of Prevention Fund is also a Head Start grantee funded directly by the federal government.
7
Early Care and Education in Chicago
through the Child Care Assistance Program
(approximately 37,000 through certificates
and 8,000 through site-administered programs) at a cost to the state of approximately
$120 million. The Illinois Department of
Human Services administers the Child Care
Assistance Program, which is funded by the
federal Child Care and Development Block
Grant, TANF funds, and State General
Revenue. The purpose of the program is to
ensure that low-income parents have access
to affordable child care so they can remain in
the workforce and, ultimately, to ensure that
families have access to high-quality early care
and education, regardless of family income or
geographic location. In order to qualify for
assistance, a family must have an income
below the state guidelines (currently 50% of
the 1997 State Median Income, or $25,975
for a family of four) and be engaged in an
allowable activity (such as work or certain
education and training activities, including
high school for teen parents). The subsidy
will pay for care that is provided during the
hours reasonably associated with the parent’s
work/school schedule, including transportation and study time. Reimbursement is made
at a half-day rate for less than five hours per
day of care, and at the full-day rate for more
than five hours. Thus, to qualify for a full-day
center-based program, parents must be
engaged in an allowable activity for at least
five hours per day. Eligibility is typically redetermined every six months, and families
can lose eligibility due to increased income or
job loss. All families are required to contribute a co-payment for their child’s care
that is based on their income and the number
of children they have in care who also receive
a subsidy. This co-pay can be more than 12%
of the family’s gross income; a single mother
who earns $1,850 per month and has two
children in care would have to contribute a
co-pay of $234 each month.
funded by the Early Childhood Funders’
Collaborative, is working state-wide to create
a more comprehensive and coordinated system of programs, policies and services that
are responsive to the needs of children and
families and effective in preparing children
for a successful future. Each of these initiatives and collaborations are helping to move
Chicago toward its goal of ensuring that
every family can access the early care and
education services needed for young children
be eager to learn and ready to succeed in
school and later life.
Funding Streams
and Requirements
As we work to create more a accessible, effective, and efficient system of early care and
education, it is critical to first understand the
existing array of services. Early childhood
education and care services in Chicago are
provided in a wide variety of settings and
program models, ranging from informal care
by relatives and neighbors to school-based
programs. Public support for these services is
provided through three primary funding
streams: the Illinois Child Care Assistance
Program, Head Start, and State Pre-K. Each
of these funding streams has its own eligibility criteria and program requirements that
grow out of the distinct goals of the funders.
Eligible parents in Chicago can access subsidized care through either of two primary
entry points: DCACI’s Child Care Resource
and Referral service, or Site-Administered
Child Care programs. If parents enter
through DCACI, they receive a Child Care
Assistance “certificate” and can choose from
a wide range of child care services, including
Child Care Assistance Program: In FY02, a
monthly average of approximately 45,000
Chicago children under age six were served
8
Funding Streams and Requirements
necessary paperwork for determining families’ eligibility for assistance. These programs
receive the regular reimbursement rate plus a
small per-child stipend to cover the costs of
administrative work.
licensed center-based care, licensed family
day care homes, or license-exempt care (usually care by a relative or care in the child’s
own home). Providers must meet all state
licensing standards, or in the case of licenseexempt care, pass a child abuse and neglect
background check and medical screening.
IDHS pays a daily rate to child care providers
that varies by the type and location of the
providers. This ranges from a low of $9.48
per day for license-exempt home providers to
a high of $37.15 per day for a center-based
program serving infants and toddlers in the
greater Chicago area. This rate is reduced by
the amount of the required parent co-pay; for
example, if the parent co-pay was $25 per
week, a license-exempt caregiver would
receive $22.40 per week from IDHS for fulltime care of a preschooler, and a licensed center would receive $96.70 per week. Payment
is made only for those days children actually
attend and parents are engaged in an allowable activity (centers are reimbursed for all
days the child is eligible as long as the child
maintains 80% attendance).
Head Start and Early Head Start: In 2002,
approximately 1,100 children ages birth
through two and 17,742 children ages three
through five were served through Early Head
Start or Head Start respectively in Chicago.
Total federal funding for all Chicago
programs combined is approximately $120
million. These federally funded programs
provide a comprehensive set of educational,
health and social services to young children
and their families in an effort to “break the
cycle of poverty” and improve children’s
chances for success in school and later life.
Early Head Start serves pregnant women and
children ages birth to three, and Head Start
serves children from age three to school
entry. Participants’ household income must
be below the poverty line or they must be
receiving TANF or SSI cash benefits to qualify for the program, although once a child is
enrolled he or she can remain in the program
until age three (EHS) or kindergarten entry
(HS) even if the family’s income rises.
Parents can also access subsidized care by
applying through a Site-Administered Child
Care program. These center-based programs
have a contract with IDHS (the majority of
which are administered through CDHS) to
provide child care and to complete all the
Head Start and Early Head Start must comply
with the Head Start Performance Standards—federal regulations which require the
A Need for Full-Day Care and Special Services:
Tamara Baker is the single mother of four-year-old Jeremy. Tamara works
full time as a receptionist at an office in the Loop. Last year, she brought
her child to the local public school for an evaluation because she was
concerned that his speech development was delayed. They told her that
Jeremy was eligible for Pre-K and speech therapy services, and recommended that she enroll him in the Pre-K program in her neighborhood. However,
the Pre-K program was only half-day, and the licensed family child care
provider that cares for Jeremy wasn’t able to bring him to school and pick
him up each day. She wasn’t able to arrange for speech therapy, either, as
it is provided only during the day at the school. Tamara looked into a nearby full-day Head Start program that offered on-site speech therapy services,
but found that she was over the income requirements for that program.
So for now, Jeremy is not receiving any speech therapy or preschool,
and Tamara worries that he will not be successful when he starts
kindergarten in the fall.
9
Early Care and Education in Chicago
provision of a wide range of health, nutrition,
mental health, special needs, and social services to enrolled children and their families.
Programs typically hire several staff members
in addition to classroom staff in order to provide these services. In most cases, federal
funds cover the cost of a half-day (3.5 hours/
day, 4 days/week) center-based program. To
provide full-day, full-year care, programs
must draw funding from other sources, such
as IDHS Child Care funds. Some Head Start
and Early Head Start programs employ a
home-based model or work through partnerships with licensed home day care providers
to provide comprehensive services to children and families. Head Start programs are
not permitted to charge families a fee for
Head Start services, but they may charge
families for services which are provided outside of the hours of the Head Start program,
such as in a collaboration program where the
state requires families to pay a co-payment
for the Child Care Assistance portion of the
day.
A Need for a More
Flexible Program:
Anita and Juan Ramirez have
two young children, Pedro, age
4, and Lisa, age 2. Juan works
weekdays at a sandwich shop in
the Loop, while Anita works 3
days per week as a housekeeper
at a nursing home. They would
very much like to enroll their
children in an educationally
enriched early childhood program so they can begin learning
English and be ready for school,
but so far have not been able to
find one that will accept the
children just three days per
week. They are only eligible for
Child Care Assistance on the
days that they are both working, and the centers they have
talked to have said they cannot
afford to have part-time children, especially in the two-yearold room. Anita considered
increasing her hours to work full
time, but then the family would
be over-income for Child Care
Assistance, and they would not
be able to afford the full cost of
the center-based program. She
also looked into the local partday Head Start program for
Pedro, but the neighbor who is
currently caring for the children
was not able to bring him there
and pick him up each day. So,
for now, the Ramirez family does
its best to help the children
prepare for school, but they
are worried that their children
are not learning all they could
during these early years.
The majority of Head Start funding in
Chicago flows through Chicago Department
of Human Services, a Head Start “supergrantee,” to community-based agencies and
Chicago Public Schools throughout the city
(termed “delegate agencies”). The Ounce of
Prevention Fund is also a Head Start grantee,
and operates programs both directly and
through partnerships with other agencies in
the city. In adddition, CDHS, the Ounce, and
several other agencies in Chicago are also
Early Head Start grantees funded directly by
the federal government.
Illinois State Board of Education State PreKindergarten Program: In 2002, approximately 20,000 children were served by
Chicago Public Schools Pre-K programs
through ISBE funding of $68 million. CPS
receive an Early Childhood Block Grant
from ISBE to provide Pre-K programs to
three and four-year-old children who are at
risk of academic failure. The goal of the program is to prepare children for success in
school. Eligibility is determined by a range of
risk factors, including early developmental
delay (as determined by developmental
screening), limited English proficiency, low
10
A Range of Program Models and Services
family income, and low parental education.
There is no specific income eligibility cut-off
for this program and there is no requirement
for parents to work. There are no parent fees or
co-payments.
Pre-K programs must provide high-quality
education services, with children being
taught by a Type 04 (Early Childhood) certified teacher for at least 2.5 hours per day,
four to five days per week. Comprehensive
health, nutrition and social services are not
specifically required. Funding typically covers the cost of half-day, school-year services,
and programs must draw funding from other
sources to provide full-day, full-year care.
CPS also operates the Child Parent Centers,
which are federally funded through Title I.
Child Parent Centers provide half-day early
childhood education combined with extensive parent involvement and parent education to approximately 2,100 children.
receive reimbursement through the Child Care
Assistance Program as long as the provider
cares for no more than three unrelated
children at one time (including the provider’s
own children) or only cares for children from
one family. Providers are required to pass a
child abuse and neglect background check.
They are not expected to provide any specific education, health or nutrition services to
children. Although many providers regularly
read to children and engage them in stimulating activities, there is no requirement that
they do so. In fact, research has shown that
license-exempt providers are significantly less
likely to engage children in learning activities
than are licensed care providers. Outreach
programs such as DCACI’s Quality Counts
and License-Exempt Quality Enhancement
initiatives seek to raise license-exempt
providers’ awareness of the benefits of early
learning activities, and to provide them with
the skills, resources and support necessary to
provide these enriching experiences.
A Range of Program Models
and Services
Young children are cared for and educated in
a wide variety of settings in Chicago. Parents
choose child care and early education programs and services for many reasons, including their comfort level with the provider,
need for specific hours of care, desire for an
educationally enriched setting, convenience
of the location, and affordability of the services. For some parents, work schedules and
an inability to afford co-payments and other
fees substantially limit the type of child care
and/or early education services they can use.
Each type of program or service has advantages to offer families and children, as well as
potential drawbacks.
License-Exempt Home Care: During an average month in 2002, approximately 23,000
Chicago children age birth through 5 were
cared for in license-exempt homes receiving
payments from Illinois Child Care Assistance
(10,700 age birth–2 and 12,300 age 3–5). A
license-exempt provider is typically a relative,
neighbor or family friend who cares for the
child either in the child’s home or the
provider’s home. No licensing is required to
Known as “kith and kin care,” or “familyfriend-and-neighbor care,” it is important to
note that this type of child care offers many
benefits and fulfills an important need for
many families. Parents can arrange for care at
odd hours, such as weekends or night shifts,
11
Early Care and Education in Chicago
home safety inspection, keeping required
records of children’s immunizations and
physical exams, and receiving certification in
first aid and CPR. In addition, licensed home
providers must complete at least 15 clock
hours of professional development each year.
and providers can accommodate the variable
work schedules that are common among lowwage jobs. Many parents feel most comfortable leaving their children in the care of family and friends, particularly when their children are babies or toddlers. For non-Englishspeaking families, license-exempt care may
be the only type of care available where the
provider speaks the family’s language and
shares their culture. License-exempt care can
also be the most affordable for parents, as
some license-exempt providers (especially
Like license-exempt providers, licensed
home child care providers may be able to
meet parents’ need for odd-hour care or
changing schedules, and may be conveniently
located in the family’s neighborhood.
However, licensed providers do tend to be
more formal than license-exempt providers,
and may require parents to commit to a regular, full-time schedule. Licensed providers are
not specifically required to engage in learning
activities with children, though they must
have developmentally appropriate toys and
books available for children. In Chicago,
many licensed providers are part of networks
that provide high-quality early learning materials and training for caregivers in how to
effectively support children’s development.
Licensed Center-Based Care: Approximately
13,000 children ages birth through five
receive subsidized care in full-workday centerbased child care programs in Chicago
(including collaborative programs, see
below). These programs are operated by a
wide range of not-for-profit community
organizations, faith-based organizations,
small for-profit businesses and large corporations. Like licensed home care providers,
center-based programs must have appropriate books and toys available for children.
Lead teachers are required to have at least
one year of college including six semester
hours in child development or early childhood education and one year of experience as
a teacher assistant (or a two-year college
degree). Center directors must have at least
18 semester hours in child development or
early education. Programs are not required to
provide any health or social services for children and families, although often child care
centers are linked with a “parent” organization that provides a wider range of social
services and supports.
family members) waive the parent’s co-pay
and charge only the minimal funding provided by the IDHS Child Care Assistance.
Some families who use license-exempt child
care also enroll their preschool-age children
in formal early education programs.
Administrative data show that approximately
15% of three to five-year-olds in licenseexempt care are also enrolled in a CPSadministered Pre-K, Head Start, or Child
Parent Center program. Although the numbers
cannot be calculated with currently available
data, presumably there are additional children who are enrolled in both license-exempt
care and other Head Start programs administered by CDHS.
Licensed Home Care: Approximately 5,000
children ages birth through five in Chicago
are cared for in subsidized licensed home
care. Licensed home child care providers can
legally care for up to 8 children (or up to 12
with an assistant) in the provider’s home.
They must meet requirements established by
the Illinois Department of Children and
Family Services (DCFS), including passing a
Center-based programs provide parents with
a reliable source of child care, particularly for
those parents who work a traditional full12
Collaborative Models
time schedule. Program operators typically
have rich, deep ties to the communities they
serve, and are able to identify and respond to
changing needs among families. However,
center-based programs often have little flexibility to support the changeable and non-traditional work schedules associated with many
low-income jobs.
programs must fulfill all of the requirements
of each funder, including participant eligibility
requirements, staff credentials, and required
services. These sometimes conflicting requirements can create significant challenges for
program administrators, including recruiting
and retaining eligible families, collecting
required co-payments, and recruiting and
retaining qualified staff.
Most center-based programs strive to provide
developmentally appropriate, educationally
enriching care for young children. Yet many
center-based programs report that it is very
difficult to do so using only parent co-pays
and IDHS Child Care Assistance funding.
These limited resources force programs to pay
very low wages and provide few fringe benefits, making it difficult attract and retain
experienced staff who are trained to meet the
developmental and educational needs of children, especially from multiple-risk backgrounds. Tight budgets can also preclude comprehensive staff development activities or
enough developmentally appropriate toys,
books, and art supplies for children to use.
Head Start and Child Care: Approximately
8,900 children ages 3 through 5 participate in
these programs that receive funding from
Head Start and IDHS (either through certificates or a site-administered contract). Often,
these programs convert a half-day Head Start
program into full-day by adding Child Care
funds. Alternately, existing full-day centerbased child care programs can sometimes
apply to become a Head Start delegate or
partner by expanding services to include all
the components required by Head Start.
Programs new to Head Start often need to
increase the educational level of their staff to
meet the expectation that at least half of the
teaching staff will have a minimum of a Child
Development Associate credential.
Half-Day Pre-K and Head Start: Many Head
Start, Pre-K, and Child Parent Center programs still operate on a traditional half-day
schedule, serving approximately 23,000 children ages three to five in Chicago. As noted
above, at least 15% of children ages three to
five who are cared for in subsidized licenseexempt care while their parents work are also
enrolled in a half-day early education program. Increasingly, half-day programs are
serving immigrant families in which children
are cared for exclusively by parents or other
family members. They report a critical shortage of well-trained bi-lingual staff to work
with these children and families.
Participants in Head Start-Child Care collaborations must have incomes below the poverty line to be income eligible. At the same
time, they must be engaged in an IDHSallowable activity at least 5 hours per day to
qualify for the full-day IDHS subsidy rate.
Programs report that it can be difficult to
recruit families who meet both of these criteria as even entry-level jobs in the city tend to
pay more than the $5.85 per hour wage that
places a single mother working 40 hours per
week with one child over the Head Start
poverty guidelines. Another challenge for
these collaborations is that they are required
to charge parents a co-pay for their services
that can be as high as 12% of the family’s
monthly income, making it difficult for many
families to afford.
Collaborative Models
New collaborative program models that
blend Child Care funds with Early Head
Start, Head Start and/or Pre-K funds have
been developed to provide educationally
enriching full-day, full-year services to children in low-income families. The three most
common types of collaborations are Head
Start and Child Care, Pre-K and Child Care,
and Head Start and Pre-K. Collaborative
Pre-K and Child Care (Pre-K Subcontracting): Approximately 4,200 children participate in these programs that receive funding
from CPS and IDHS and are typically located in a community-based child care center.
Programs must meet the requirements of the
state Pre-K program, including providing all
13
Early Care and Education in Chicago
A Flexible Balance:
Gloria Robbins is a single parent of two young children, ages 7 and 4. Her
son D’Juan is in second grade and her daughter Keisha is enrolled in the
Pre-K program at the same elementary school. Gloria works as a check-out
clerk at a grocery store where her work schedule varies from week to week
and includes many evening and weekend shifts. Luckily, her sister is able
to care for D’Juan and Keisha while Gloria works, and can drop off and
pick-up D’Juan and Keisha at school when necessary. The family receives a
subsidy through the IDHS Child Care Assistance Program for this licenseexempt child care. Gloria is happy that her daughter is able to participate
in an enriching pre-school program each morning, and she likes the fact
that it is at the same school that she will be going to for kindergarten.
children at least 2.5 hours per day of instruction
by a certified teacher. To fulfill this requirement, a variety of models are employed,
including placing a full-time certified teacher
in each room or having one certified teacher
serve part-time in more than one classroom.
It can be extremely difficult to find certified
teachers to work in these programs, especially those who are also bi-lingual.
Head Start-Pre-K-Child Care Collaborations:
A small but growing number of programs
throughout the city now combine funds from
all three of the major early childhood care
and education funding sources. Like the
Head Start-Pre-K collaborations, this model
is very comprehensive and requires highly
qualified staff. The increased levels of funding help such programs attract and retain
appropriate staff and provide on-going training to ensure high-quality services. However,
these programs require that parents be eligible for Child Care Assistance and/or Head
Start and contribute a co-payment. As such,
they must contend with all the struggles
described above for Head Start-Child Care
and Pre-K-Child Care collaborations.
As in the Head Start-Child Care collaborations, participants in Pre-K-Child Care collaborative programs must be engaged in an
allowable activity at least five hours per day
to qualify for full-day care, and they must
contribute a co-pay as determined by IDHS.
Because the Child Care Assistance program
only reimburses programs for days when the
parent is actually working, programs have a
hard time serving families with varied or nontraditional work schedules. Because the PreK program does not have income guidelines,
family income only needs to meet IDHS’s
cut-off, but children must qualify as at-risk of
school failure as previously described.
Strengths of the
Current System
The loosely woven system of early childhood
education and care in Chicago has many
important strengths.
• Commitment: The commitment of leadership, including the Mayor, the Commissioner
of CDHS, the CEO of the Chicago Public
Schools, and IDHS and ISBE officials, is a
critical strength as the city works to
expand access to and improve the quality
of early education. Similarly, the three
largest funding agents in the city, CDHS,
CPS and DCACI, are committed to working together through Chicago Partners for
Children toward this goal. Several private
Head Start–Pre-K Collaborations: A small
number of programs operated by CPS combine
Head Start and Pre-K funds to provide fullschool-day, full-year services to approximately
700 children in the city. This model is exceptionally comprehensive, offering all of the Head
Start mandated services and employing a certified teacher in every classroom. Such programs do not charge a co-pay, and are able to
serve children whose parents are attending
school or training rather than working.
14
Challenges and Future Directions
Challenges and
Future Directions
foundations and advocacy groups have
also demonstrated a long-standing commitment to ensuring that every child has
access to high-quality early learning experiences.
Like all communities throughout the state,
Chicago faces important challenges and
opportunities as it works to develop a coordinated, comprehensive system of early childhood education and care. Chicago Partners
for Children and other collaborative initiatives are working to address the following
objectives:
• Experience: There is a large base of highquality center-based early education and
child care programs, particularly for children ages three to five. A wide range of
program models have been developed to
meet the needs of children and families.
Because of the community’s long-standing
commitment to early education, there are
many highly experienced and dedicated
professionals who understand the needs of
low income families and their children
working in programs throughout the city.
Increase Consistency: Currently, there is little consistency as to the quality and comprehensiveness of services that children and families who participate in publicly funded early
care and education in Chicago receive. Some
programs are staffed by certified or master’s
level teachers, while others have lead teachers
with the minimum six college credits in early
childhood education. Some programs provide a full range of health, mental health,
nutrition and social services, while others
provide only early education. Some children
are enrolled in programs that expressly seek
to prepare them for success in school, while
others receive child care that is primarily
focused upon keeping them safe while their
parents work. Yet research clearly demonstrates that all of Chicago’s low-income children under age six could benefit from highquality, comprehensive services. By efficiently combining funding streams and, perhaps
in the future, drawing upon increased funding from state and/or federal sources, more
programs can provide comprehensive, highquality services for young children and their
families.
• Linkage with Other Community Services:
The participation of a wide range of community-based organizations in the current
system is another key strength.
Community-based organizations typically
work with families to address challenges in
many different aspects of their lives, such
as housing, employment, and social services. Thus, they are able to understand how
child care and early education fit into the
“larger picture” of families’ lives. Often,
these community-based organizations are
able to draw upon multiple sources of
funding to develop services that best meet
the needs of the families they serve. In
addition, the staff of community-based
agencies generally reflects the cultural
make-up of the communities they serve.
• Choice: Parents can use their Child Care
Assistance certificate to access the care
that works best for their family schedule
and preferences. The availability of child
care subsidies for all low-income working
families, regardless of previous TANF
receipt and without waiting lists, is an
important advantage of the system in
Chicago and Illinois. Parents can apply for
assistance either through DCACI or
through one of the site-administered programs that contract with CDHS, and typically receive an eligibility determination
within ten to fourteen business days.
Increase Efficiency: Because of the complex
and often conflicting requirements of federal
and state funding streams, it is difficult to
make use of all available public funding.
Head Start programs, in particular, struggle
with low enrollment in changing city neighborhoods, while a majority of participants in
Pre-K programs (which have less stringent
income eligibility requirements) may in fact
be eligible for Head Start services. New
strategies must be developed to ensure that
Chicago makes the best possible use of avail-
15
Early Care and Education in Chicago
Infant-Toddler Services in Chicago
Early Head Start: Early Head Start is a
federally funded program that provides
infants, toddlers and pregnant women
comprehensive services with the goal
of preparing children for success in
school and later life. Currently, there
are about 1,100 “slots” for Early Head
Start services in Chicago, administered
by several grantees. These grantees
have adopted a range of program
models, including home visiting, centerbased services, and family child care
home networks. Most of these
programs (except the home visiting
programs) have a child care component
and require parents to be eligible for
the IDHS Child Care Assistance and
require a parent co-payment. As such
they face the same challenges as
Head Start–Child Care collaborations.
Although early education for three- to
five-year olds has been supported on a
large scale in Chicago for
decades, services for
infants and toddlers
and their families
are not as widely
available. Research
has clearly shown
that child developmentfocused services for
very young children
can have a positive,
long-lasting impact on
their success in
school and later life.4, 5
Nevertheless, while mothers of
children under age three now work
outside the home at about the same
rate as mothers of older preschool
children, very few infants and toddlers
in the city are enrolled in educationally
enriched center-based child care
programs such as Early Head Start.
The “system” of services for very
young children is in many ways as
complex and confusing as that for
three- to five-year-olds, with numerous
programs and funding streams serving
the same target group of families.
Home Visiting Programs: In addition
to Early Head Start, there are a few
other home-visiting programs that
serve infants and toddlers and their
families. Parents Too Soon serves
approximately 550 Chicago children
and their teenaged parents with home
visits and parent group services
designed to enhance parents’ ability to
meet their children’s developmental
needs. Healthy Families Illinois
provides home visiting services for
670 families with very young children
in Chicago with the goal of improving
parent-child relationships and
preventing child abuse. Both of these
programs are funded by IDHS. The
Chicago Public Schools program Cradle
to Classroom provides 3,000 teen
parents with home visiting services
designed to help them remain in
school and effectively meet their
children’s developmental needs.
Child Care Assistance: Families with
infants and toddlers can receive
assistance with child care through the
same program that serves older
children. As described on page 8, this
program allows parents to choose from
a wide range of child care services,
including license-exempt care. Parents
contribute a co-payment based on their
income and the number of children
receiving care. In Chicago, about twothirds of children receiving Child Care
Assistance are in license-exempt care.
16
Challenges and Future Directions
relatively rare. Early Head Start programs
(both home- and center-based) serve only a
tiny fraction of eligible children and families,
despite impressive evidence of the effectiveness of these services for promoting healthy
child development. Significant attention
must be given to increasing both the supply
and quality of early learning opportunities for
children ages birth through three.
able resources for early education and care.
These could include developing coordinated
recruiting efforts among programs to ensure
that families are aware of all of their options
for early childhood care and education. In
addition, in programs that meet both Head
Start and Pre-K standards, children could be
“assigned” to either or both funding streams
based on their eligibility in a way that is invisible to participating families.
Build a Highly Qualified Workforce: Programs of every type report difficulty attracting and retaining qualified staff, most notably
bi-lingual staff, infant-toddler teachers, and
Type 04 certified teachers. Low reimbursement rates for subsidized child care contribute to this problem by forcing programs
to keep salaries very low. In addition, there
are significant obstacles in the current higher
education system to educating and training a
sufficient number of highly qualified early
childhood teachers. Efforts at the state level
to develop an early childhood career lattice, a
professional development information system, and a tiered reimbursement system that
rewards programs for hiring more highly
qualified staff need to be incorporated into
Chicago’s early care and education goals and
strategies.
Increase Continuity of Care for Children:
Currently, families who receive subsidized
Child Care Assistance must apply for a redetermination of their eligibility every six
months. Frequently, if a parent receives even
a small raise, the family loses eligibility for the
subsidy. Similarly, if the parent is out of work
for more than 30 days, the family may no
longer be eligible for Child Care Assistance.
Research has shown that children fare best
when they have a stable child care arrangement. Effective early education requires that
children participate in a program for an
extended period, optimally two years or
more. Frequent disruptions in early care and
education place children at risk for social and
emotional difficulties and for academic failure in elementary school and beyond. Thus,
every effort should be made to minimize
attrition from early care and education programs. To help promote stability of care,
IDHS recently has proposed rule changes
that will allow programs operating as a collaboration between Head Start or Pre-K and
Child Care to adopt a one-year re-determination interval. These rule changes will also
provide participants in a collaboration-type
program 90 days of eligibility for a job search
after a job loss. Another strategy that could
be helpful is placing a “freeze” on the
amount of the family co-payment for as long
as the child is participating in a given early
education program, and requiring no co-payment for families at or below the Federal
poverty level.
Increase Community-Level Coordination:
Currently, many early childhood education
and care programs work in isolation from
other programs in their community area.
Networks of early care and education
providers could be formed throughout
Chicago with participation from the local elementary schools, home visiting and family
support programs, park district programs,
libraries, faith-based organizations, and others who are interested in early learning and
child care. These networks would coordinate
recruitment efforts to ensure that all families
are aware of the early learning programs
available in their communities. They would
also focus on integrating license-exempt care
providers into the early education and care
system. In addition, they can coordinate their
educational programs to achieve the most
highly valued child outcomes, so that children served by any of the community institutions will arrive at kindergarten eager to learn
and ready to succeed.
Increase Early Learning Opportunities for
Infants and Toddlers: There is a severe shortage of educationally enriching infant-toddler
child care throughout the city. Home visiting
programs that strengthen parent’s ability to
support their child’s early learning are also
17
Early Care and Education in Chicago
been developed that effectively serve many
families. However, many children in the city
still do not receive the high-quality early care
and education services they need to prepare
them to succeed in school and later life.
This report detailing the current landscape of
early care and education in Chicago represents an important step in the process of
developing a more effective, efficient system.
Chicago Partners for Children (CPC) will
continue to gather and analyze data about the
availability and use of early care and education services in the city. At the same time,
CPC will work in partnership with providers
and advocates to develop effective program
models for meeting the needs of children and
families, and to develop strategies to ensure
the most efficient use of available federal and
state funds. Strong commitment and leadership from public officials, advocates, administering agencies, and program staff will
enable Chicago to benefit from a system of
services that truly meets the early education
and care needs of all young children and their
families.
Improve Planning and Resource-Allocation
with Better Data: Although this report provides a great deal of information about the
publicly funded early care and education
services available in the city, there is much we
still do not know about how and why families
use these services. Because the data for each
of the different systems represents different
points in time, and because children may be
counted as participants in more than one system, we cannot meaningfully combine numbers to come up with any total number of
children who are currently being served.
More importantly, we do not know how
many families want to enroll their child in an
early learning program but are unable to
because of their work schedules, lack of available programs in their neighborhood, or
inability to pay co-payments required in collaboration programs. Further study of
demand and usage will be critical if we are to
develop a more responsive and efficient system of early care and education in Chicago.
1
Reynolds, AJ, Temple, JA, Robertson, DL, & Mann, EA
(2001). Long-term effects of an early childhood intervention
on educational attainment and juvenile arrest. JAMA, 285,
2339-2346.
2
Cost, Quality and Child Outcomes Study Team (1999). The
Children of the Cost, Quality and Outcomes Study Go to
School, Executive Summary, Frank Porter Graham and the
National Center for Early Development and Learning at
UNC-Chapel Hill. www.fpg.unc.edu
3
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (in press). The
relation of child care to cognitive and language development: Results from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care.
Child Development.
4
Love, J. M., et al. (2002). Making a Difference in the Lives of
Infants and Toddlers and Their Families: The Impacts of
Early Head Start. Child Outcomes Research and Evaluation,
Administration for Children and Families, Department of
Health and Human Services.
5
Ramey, C. T., et al. (2000). Persistent effects of early childhood education on high-risk children and their mothers.
Applied Developmental Science, 4, 2-14.
Conclusion
The city of Chicago faces a moment of great
opportunity for developing a comprehensive,
efficient, and effective system of early childhood education and care. Rapid shifts in
families’ needs and in neighborhood demographics have forced programs to redesign
their services to better meet current needs.
New collaborative program models have
18
Appendix
Patterns of Access and
Utilization in the City
based child care centers in September
2002, listed by provider site;
The charts on pages A.2 through A.6 give the
best available information about access to
and use of publicly-funded early care and
education in Chicago. The data from the
charts is also shown graphically in the maps
on pages A.8 through A-13. Together, the
charts and maps show how the supply and
use of early care and education varies by
community area. Some areas have a large
number of Head Start slots, while others have
many fewer. Pre-K enrollment and use of
child care certificates also varies widely
across the city. Community-based organizations may find the data on their own community area particularly helpful as they plan to
develop or modify early childhood care and
education services.
The data presented in the proceeding pages
was compiled from the following sources and
includes the following programs:
• IDHS Child Care Assistance “Certificates”:
Use of IDHS Child Care certificates
administered by DCACI for licensed (center
or home) and license-exempt care during
one month (June, 2002 for ages 0-2; in
June, 2001 for ages 3-5; total number of
children served in an entire year would be
higher), listed by provider site;
• Chicago Public Schools: Enrollment in
CPS Head Start, Pre-K, and Child-Parent
Center programs in September 2001, listed
by child’s address;
• Chicago Department of Human Services:
Funded enrollment (i.e., available “slots”)
in Early Head Start, CDHS administered
part-day Head Start, full-day Head StartChild Care collaborations, and community-
• Ounce of Prevention Fund: Funded
enrollment in Ounce of Prevention Fund
administered Early Head Start and Head
Start programs in September 2002, listed
by provider site.
While this data provides some insight into
the variety of services available and used
throughout Chicago, it is important to
acknowledge some of the limitations of the
data related to variations among the three
funding streams. First, each funding
stream/administrative agency maintains separate databases. As a result, the data presented
here is taken from different points in time,
quantifies different aspects of capacity and
utilization and does not provide unduplicated
counts (e.g., some children are counted in
both “certificate use: licensed care” and “collaborations”). Secondly, what data can be
retrieved and geographically coded differs
among these databases, as does the date of
the most recent available data. Therefore, the
numbers in each category cannot be directly
compared, and no total number of children
served in a given community area can be
derived from the available data. Similarly, it is
not possible to calculate the number of children
who are eligible for the various programs
given the complex and varied eligibility
requirements. As such, caution should be exercised when using this data to draw conclusions.
It is clear, however, that more information is
needed as we strive to build a comprehensive
and efficient system that meets the early care
and education needs of families. A central
goal of Chicago Partners for Children is to
work with key stakeholders throughout
Chicago to meet this end.
A.1
Appendix A
Utilization of Certificates and Availability of CDHS
and OPF Slots Among 0-2 Year Olds*
Community Area
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
Rogers Park
West Ridge
Uptown
Lincoln Square
North Center
Lake View
Lincoln Park
Near North Side
Edison Park
Norwood Park
Jefferson Park
Forest Glen
North Park
Albany Park
Portage Park
Irving Park
Dunning
Montclare
Belmont Cragin
Hermosa
Avondale
Logan Square
Humboldt Park
West Town
Austin
West Garfield Park
East Garfield Park
Near West Side
North Lawndale
South Lawndale
Lower West Side
Loop
Near South Side
Armour Square
Douglas
Oakland
Fuller Park
Grand Boulevard
Kenwood
Washington Park
Hyde Park
Woodlawn
South Shore
0-2 Child
Population
2722
3055
1822
1623
1059
1702
1502
1525
398
1257
888
729
736
2883
2424
2718
1349
560
4130
1455
2167
3948
3874
3563
5625
1181
1001
1678
2239
5405
2736
199
493
418
1125
395
155
1560
635
787
705
1312
2750
Day Care Action
Council of Illinois
LicenseLicensed
exempt
100
62
129
31
6
12
0
5
1
0
2
2
12
42
27
25
8
1
42
21
19
57
115
36
465
28
49
25
74
8
3
30
9
1
29
0
8
34
19
12
15
58
177
A.2
118
23
120
18
20
5
26
162
0
0
4
0
9
23
28
33
6
8
87
58
35
100
490
171
1062
322
278
332
626
109
56
0
65
11
230
49
25
302
48
186
34
257
410
CDHS Programs
Early
Head Start
Child Care
20
0
15
0
0
13
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
15
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
15
55
70
0
81
65
42
0
30
0
0
0
15
10
0
10
24
0
0
0
10
10
0
30
0
0
30
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
96
132
48
0
29
24
175
11
67
0
0
0
36
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Ounce of
Prevention
Early
Head Start
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
91
0
0
0
0
0
Appendix A (continued)
Utilization of Certificates and Availability of CDHS
and OPF Slots Among 0-2 Year Olds (continued)
Community Area
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
Chatham
Avalon Park
South Chicago
Burnside
Calumet Heights
Roseland
Pullman
South Deering
East Side
West Pullman
Riverdale
Hegewisch
Garfield Ridge
Archer Heights
Brighton Park
McKinley Park
Bridgeport
New City
West Elsdon
Gage Park
Clearing
West Lawn
Chicago Lawn
West Englewood
Englewood
Greater Grand Crossing
Ashburn
Auburn Gresham
Beverly
Washington Heights
Mount Greenwood
Morgan Park
O’Hare
Edgewater
Totals
0-2 Child
Population
Day Care Action
Council of Illinois
LicenseLicensed
exempt
CDHS Programs
Early
Head Start
Child Care
Ounce of
Prevention
Early
Head Start
1417
382
2051
141
462
2077
371
731
1236
1635
640
360
1383
568
2866
831
1437
3388
698
2469
903
1434
3399
2226
2102
1687
1705
2363
860
1004
709
931
347
1860
123
74
117
9
62
189
28
56
0
117
2
0
40
2
11
8
5
19
0
20
1
2
204
142
57
92
101
249
42
152
0
66
0
3
212
31
225
22
55
337
49
95
1
298
17
3
57
11
62
8
33
305
7
85
2
31
398
682
541
343
69
445
14
176
3
102
3
0
0
0
24
0
0
10
0
15
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
10
0
0
0
6
0
15
0
7
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
12
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
12
0
0
63
20
0
26
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
125,161
3,792
10,668
577
825
91
In 2002, there were 427 HHS direct funded Early Head Start slots administered by other agencies that are not accounted for in the
above chart.
Sources of Data:
1. Child Population Data: 2000 Census Data, US Census Bureau.
2. DCACI Child Care Subsidy Utilization: Illinois Department of Human Servies, June 2002.
3. CDHS Early Head Start and Site-Administered Child Care Funded Enrollment, 2002-3: Chicago Department of Human Services
4. Ounce Early Head Start, Funded Enrollment 2002-3: Ounce of Prevention Fund
*Note: Data is based on the locations of the providers
A.3
A.4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
Rogers Park
West Ridge
Uptown
Lincoln Square
North Center
Lake View
Lincoln Park
Near North Side
Edison Park
Norwood Park
Jefferson Park
Forest Glen
North Park
Albany Park
Portage Park
Irving Park
Dunning
Montclare
Belmont Cragin
Hermosa
Avondale
Logan Square
Humboldt Park
West Town
Austin
West Garfield Park
East Garfield Park
Near West Side
North Lawndale
Community Area
2,989
3,188
1,971
1,685
1,119
1,804
1,596
1,730
421
1,320
933
760
761
2,992
2,538
2,825
1,421
583
4,268
1,502
2,251
4,108
4,311
3,748
6,730
1,419
1,208
1,947
2,693
3-5 Total
Population
68
27
27
1
4
3
2
7
50
46
56
94
17
108
19
50
106
130
26
499
37
42
21
84
118
80
Licensed
Care
103
36
115
17
19
8
21
218
1
1
3
9
30
27
33
5
5
93
49
38
110
589
223
1,249
405
343
383
780
LicenseExempt Care
DCACI Certificates
33
2
28
2
13
1
2
10
26
1
4
5
98
23
107
8
77
78
62
Head
Start
244
148
361
192
128
157
44
65
70
132
83
21
54
373
215
354
100
10
404
210
284
649
579
590
731
216
142
203
325
Pre-K
CPS Programs
3
67
1
2
237
7
7
2
2
2
6
22
119
55
222
54
47
271
Child-Parent
Centers
156
128
20
34
102
68
34
20
71
190
570
562
788
20
190
476
324
Head
Start
80
25
250
40
20
20
20
226
59
80
140
237
120
423
80
360
455
858
Collaboration
CDHS Programs
Usage of Certificates, Enrollment in CPS Programs, and Availability of
CDHS and OPF Slots Among 3-5 Year Olds*
Appendix B
92
40
236
10
9
40
21
17
59
91
298
134
40
26
200
6
Child Care
Only
333
-
-
43
Head
Start
Ounce of
Prevention
A.5
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
3-5 Total
Population
5,576
2,814
215
576
430
1,357
477
186
1,888
748
949
791
1,580
3,325
1,707
462
2,352
170
551
2,514
440
830
1,274
1,955
771
377
1,485
591
Community Area
South Lawndale
Lower West Side
Loop
Near South Side
Armour Square
Douglas
Oakland
Fuller Park
Grand Boulevard
Kenwood
Washington Park
Hyde Park
Woodlawn
South Shore
Chatham
Avalon Park
South Chicago
Burnside
Calumet Heights
Roseland
Pullman
South Deering
East Side
West Pullman
Riverdale
Hegewisch
Garfield Ridge
Archer Heights
3
2
64
22
76
6
18
28
4
32
66
115
120
111
200
3
65
207
19
83
155
3
47
5
Licensed
Care
111
34
24
102
22
295
59
33
356
82
212
42
266
471
187
26
277
21
57
349
66
97
1
301
28
5
76
8
LicenseExempt Care
DCACI Certificates
781
307
4
34
107
147
31
62
171
93
85
95
119
274
140
59
195
28
59
291
71
178
297
277
68
114
77
9
Pre-K
(continued)
197
109
1
21
54
13
57
1
10
1
54
58
2
6
1
92
26
2
-
Head
Start
CPS Programs
3
1
1
1
16
51
13
114
23
80
2
86
28
19
4
7
2
7
10
14
5
94
1
-
Child-Parent
Centers
697
714
136
54
68
216
88
68
276
10
204
384
34
102
94
-
Head
Start
120
422
12
96
280
160
160
646
180
180
339
60
34
323
294
20
120
20
150
40
-
Collaboration
CDHS Programs
21
110
60
93
43
137
153
21
69
36
135
90
36
-
Child Care
Only
42
187
43
-
Head
Start
Ounce of
Prevention
Usage of Certificates, Enrollment in CPS Programs, and Availability of CDHS and OPF Slots Among 3-5 Year Olds (continued)
Appendix B (continued)
A.6
Sub-Total
Grand Total
Brighton Park
McKinley Park
Bridgeport
New City
West Elsdon
Gage Park
Clearing
West Lawn
Chicago Lawn
West Englewood
Englewood
Grt. Grand Crossing
Ashburn
Auburn Gresham
Beverly
Washington Heights
Mount Greenwood
Morgan Park
O’Hare
Edgewater
Unknown
138,116
2,942
851
1,475
3,695
724
2,556
945
1,485
3,835
2,690
2,539
2,041
1,914
2,857
955
1,212
751
1,077
364
1,990
38
3-5 Total
Population
12,370
5,099
17,469
54
15
45
415
4
72
8
23
432
828
673
414
66
490
34
182
6
86
2
-
LicenseExempt Care
53
45
3
16
61
7
204
91
135
170
75
367
60
304
2
138
3
Licensed
Care
1,674
8
4
36
65
6
2
3
4
7
82
46
2
4
52
68
Head
Start
15,718
19,359
282
98
185
682
18
319
78
69
336
470
439
222
191
388
76
183
47
120
35
223
Pre-K
CPS Programs
1,967
52
1
12
25
86
43
7
22
3
4
2
2
Child-Parent
Centers
8,752
102
210
136
40
102
340
380
306
68
170
Head
Start
Sources and Dates of Data:
1. Child Population Data: 2000 Census Data, US Census Bureau.
2. DCACI Child Care Subsidy Utilization, June, 2001: Chapin Hall Center for Children.
3. Chicago Public Schools Enrollment September, 2001: Chapin Hall Center for Children
4. CDHS Head Start and Site-Administered Child Care, Funded Enrollment 2002-3: Chicago Department of Human Services
5. Ounce Early Head Start Funded Enrollment, 2002-3: Ounce of Prevention Fund
*Note: DCACI, CDHS and Ounce data are based on location of providers; CPS data is based on the addresses of the enrolled children
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
Community Area
DCACI Certificates
8,069
19,437
200
20
175
150
155
60
80
40
40
Collaboration
CDHS Programs
2,616
60
40
8
60
25
40
60
Child Care
Only
921
59
146
30
-
Head
Start
Ounce of
Prevention
Usage of Certificates, Enrollment in CPS Programs, and Availability of CDHS and OPF Slots Among 3-5 Year Olds (continued)
Appendix B (continued)
Appendix C
A.7
Appendix D
A.8
Appendix E
A.9
Appendix F
A.10
Appendix G
A.11
Appendix H
A.12
A.13
■
■
■
■
■
■
■ Mandatory
▲
■
■
▲ Optional
■
■
■
▲
▲
■
■
■
■
▲
▲
■
▲
▲
▲
■
■
▲
▲
■
Mental
Health
■
■
■
▲
▲
■
▲
▲
▲
■
■
▲
▲
■
Linkages to
Other Social
Services
■
■
■
▲
▲
■
▲
▲
▲
■
■
▲
▲
■
Special
Needs
Certified Teachers
Certified Teachers
Certified Teachers
Certified Teachers
Certified Teachers
Certified Teachers
Certified Teachers (Type 04)
2 yrs. college; 6 semester hrs.
in ECE/CD
2 yrs. college; 6 semester
hrs. in ECE/CD
CDA
CDA
CANTS Background Check**
15 Hours per year of training
CDA
Lead Teacher
Minimum
Qualifications
CDA: Child Development Associates Degree
■
■
■
▲
▲
■
▲
▲
▲
■
■
▲
▲
■
Health and
Dental
* Ratios are for ages 3 to 5; lower ratios apply for infants and toddlers
** Child Abuse and Neglect Tracking System Background Check is required of all providers in all settings
1/2 Day Pre-K
Child Parent Center
1/2 Head Start
Full Day/full Year—Title I
(+ Head Start
Full School Day/School Year—
Pre-K + Head Start
Full School Day/School Year—
Head Start
■
■
■
▲
▲
Child Care—Part Day
School-based
▲
▲
▲
▲
■
▲
▲
■
■
■
■
▲
▲
■
■
▲
▲
■
■
▲
▲
■
Nutrition
1/2 Day Head Start
Full Day Collaboration—
Child Care + Head Start
Full Day Collaboration—
Child Care + Pre-K
Child Care—Full Day
Center-based
License-exempt Child Care
Licensed Child Care
Head Start (parent and child at home)
Home-Based
Program Model
Parent/Child
Education
Services
Services Provided to Children in Various Early Care and Education Program Models
Appendix I
20:2
20:2
20:2
20:2
20:2
20:2
20:2
20:2
20:2
17:2
17:2
3:01
8:01
17:2
Child/Adult
Ratio*
Appndix J
Glossary
CCR&R
This quick reference identifies the roles various organizations play in the field of early
care and education in Chicago, and defines
many terms as they are used in this field.
“At-Risk”
A child is considered “at-risk” of school failure if he or she has one or more characteristics that have been statistically linked with
poor school performance, including developmental delay or disability, low family income,
low parental education, limited English proficiency, and other factors. Children qualify
for Pre-K based on their at-risk status.
CDHS
Chicago Department of Human Services;
Head Start and Early Head Start grantee that
administers contracts for Site-Administered
Child Care Assistance programs in the city.
Certificates
Child Care Assistance (subsidy/certificates)
administered in Chicago by the Day Care
Action Council of Illinois; parents can use for
all types of legal care, including licenseexempt, licensed home care, and centerbased care.
CMAEYC
Child Care Resource and Referral; IDHSfunded system for providing child care referrals to parents and training to child care
providers. Administered in Cook County and
Chicago by DCACI.
Child Parent Centers
CPS program for at-risk preschoolers funded
through federal Title I; includes center-based
preschool and extensive parent involvement.
Coalition of Site Administered Child
Care Providers
Coalition of site-administered programs providing subsidized child care services through
contracts with IDHS.
Collaboration
Child care program that combines at least
two of the major early care and education funding streams to provide enhanced care both in
terms of quality and hours of operation.
CPC
Chicago Partners for Children; a collaboration of CDHS, CPS, and DCACI, funded by
the McCormick Tribune Foundation, with
the goal of improving service coordination
and collaboration among early care and education providers and enhancing access to
quality early care and education.
CPS
Chicago Metro Association for the Education
of Young Children; professional organization of
early childhood care and education providers.
Chicago Public Schools; administers ISBE
State Pre-K and Child Parent Centers, both
directly and through subcontracts with community-based agencies.
Child Care Assistance Program
DCACI
Illinois Department of Human Services program that subsidizes child care for lowincome working families; funded through
combination of federal Child Care &
Development Block Grant and TANF funds
and state General Revenue; also know as
“child care subsidy” and certificate program.
Day Care Action Council of Illinois; administers Child Care Assistance Program (certificates) and CCR&R in Chicago and Cook
County.
Child Care Networks
Organizations of family child care providers
(sometimes includes centers) that jointly plan
professional training, provide referrals for
parents, etc.
DCFS
Department of Child and Family Services;
state agency with primary mission of protecting
children from abuse and neglect; responsible
for licensing child care centers and family day
care homes.
A.14
Appendix J (continued)
Early Childhood Block Grant
Mechanism for funding school districts and
other organizations to provide State Pre-K,
Parental Training, and Prevention Initiative
programs.
Early Head Start
US Department of Health and Human
Services-funded program for children in
poverty; provides education, health, nutrition
and social services to eligible pregnant
women and children ages birth through 2 and
their families.
Head Start
Parental Training &
Prevention Initiative
Programs funded through ISBE Early
Childhood Block Grant and administered by
school districts with goal of helping parents
of children ages birth through five effectively
serve as their children’s first teachers.
Poverty Level
Poverty level is determined annually by
federal government; the Head Start Bureau
publishes family poverty guidelines that
determine income eligibility for Head Start
and Early Head Start.
US Department of Health and Human
Services-funded program for children in
poverty; provides education, health, nutrition
and social services to eligible children ages
three through kindergarten entry and their
families.
Pre-K
IDHS
Site Administered Program
Illinois Department of Human Services;
Bureau of Child Care and Development
administers Child Care Assistance Program
statewide.
Child care center that contracts with IDHS
(either directly or through CDHS) to provide
subsidized child care and to determine family
eligibility on site.
ISBE
SMI
Illinois State Board of Education; administers
Pre-K program, Parental Training, and Prevention Initiative through Early Childhood
Block Grants to school districts across state.
State Median Income; eligibility for Child
Care Assistance is set at 50% of the 1997
state median income.
Illinois State Board of Education-funded
Prekindergarten program for Children at
Risk of Academic Failure). Begun in 1985, it
now serves 20,000 children in Chicago
(56,000 statewide).
Subsidy
Kith and Kin
Child care provided by relatives and friends,
also referred to as “informal care” or “family,
friend and neighbor care.”
Child Care Assistance for low-income working families.
TANF
Care provided by a center or home that has
been licensed by DCFS.
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families;
“welfare.” It requires parent to work and
provides some funding for Child Care
Assistance Program.
License-exempt Care
Type 04 certification
Care provided by a center or home that is
legally exempt from DCFS licensure.
ISBE-issued certification of early childhood
teachers (birth through grade 3).
Licensed Child Care
OPF
Ounce of Prevention Fund; Head Start and
Early Head Start grantee.
A.15
Chicago Partners for Children
c/o Day Care Action Council of Illinois
4753 North Broadway, Suite 1200
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 561-7900