Human Services News

National Women's Law Center

As state-funded prekindergarten investments continue to grow across the country, it is more important than ever that policy makers take advantage of existing child care and other early childhood settings to offer families—especially families with parents in the workforce—options that can meet their diverse needs.

Currently, the large majority of state prekindergarten programs are offered in public school settings. However, most states allow prekindergarten to be offered in settings outside public schools, including child care centers and Head Start programs. One-third of children enrolled in state prekindergarten programs are served in settings other than public schools.

To explore the most effective ways to involve child care centers in providing prekindergarten, the National Women’s Law Center conducted a series of interviews and held a meeting with selected center directors to get their perspectives on what they gained by offering prekindergarten, what barriers they faced, and how they overcame these barriers.

The lessons learned through the experiences of these and other child care centers can do much to inform ongoing efforts at the state and local level to include child care centers as full partners in providing prekindergarten and to ensure that prekindergarten initiatives are effective overall.