Provider Financial Supports

Provider Financial Supports

The ELCHC continues to incentivize and motivate School Readiness providers to successfully adhere to School Readiness state requirements for child care performance standards, implement developmentally-appropriate curricula and related classroom resources that support curricula, provide literacy supports and professional development opportunities which improve the overall consistency and quality of School Readiness programs throughout Hillsborough County.

The Hillsborough Infant/Toddler Initiative was funded in 2019-2020. Programs selected to participate in the Hillsborough Infant & Toddler Initiative were recruited in areas identified as high-needs areas/ communities. These 11 early childhood programs agreed to increase their enrollment of children receiving School Readiness funding by opening new infant/toddler classrooms or enhancing their current classroom environments. It was later expanded with a grant to unincorporated Hillsborough County and added another six early childhood programs.

Participating programs apply for grant funds through the program to enhance children’s development through their access to safe play spaces and age-appropriate learning materials. The ELCHC awards the funds to each program once action plans are developed, which state the purpose of the grant funds and how materials and furnishings will be used once they are received. Updates to the action plan are required by each program, and before and after photos will also be used to document classroom environment changes. See Page 9 for more.

School Readiness providers on a Quality Improvement Plan had the opportunity to apply for a Support Grant. These providers agreed to participate in classroom observations using the Environment Rating Scales (ERS). Based on the results of the ERS, providers could order classroom materials if developmentally-appropriate as approved by ELCHC staff.

The ELCHC provided T.E.A.C.H. scholar participants and their program sponsors with a stipend to reward their educational pursuits during the 2019-2020 funding year. School Readiness Scholars enrolled in T.E.A.C.H. as of July, 1, 2019, employed by the same program that sponsored their continuing education, received a monetary stipend to acknowledge continued educational goals which helps improve the overall quality in our early learning programs.

The Child Care INCENTIVE$® FLORIDA Project (formerly WAGE$®) is designed to increase stability and improve child care quality by reducing turnover and encouraging continued education of early childhood educators working in child care centers or family child care homes. This program provides educationbased salary supplements for low-to-moderate wage earners who work with young children, ages birth to 5, in School Readiness contracted sites. It was the ELCHC’s second year participating in the program; between July 2019 and June 2020, 765 teachers participated. Early childhood educators working directly with children for at least 20 hours per week, earning less than $25 per hour, may be eligible for a salary supplement if they have some formal child care training and/or education beyond a high school diploma. The Children’s Forum is the licensee for Child Care INCENTIVE$ in Florida and administers this program in participating counties in partnership with local funders.