Needs Assessment

The Early Childhood Advisory Council recognizes the importance of continuous feedback from families and providers of early childhood programs and services. With funding from the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5), the Research, Evaluation, and Measurement Center (REM Center) at the University of South Carolina’s College of Education conducted a series of needs assessments from 2020 through 2023 to gather insights from families, early childhood educators, and other stakeholders. These assessments are a crucial part of the plan’s iterative nature, which requires continual improvement based on community feedback.

To understand the needs of young children and their families, the REM Center conducted an online survey with a total of 2,727 parents and caregivers from all 46 counties in South Carolina. The findings provide insights into the most pressing needs of families across areas of health and wellbeing, family support and community, and early learning and development. Large percentages of survey participants expressed a need for “some” or “a lot” of help in:

75% Knowing what to do for my child to be ready for kindergarten

73% Finding community programs or services that support early learning

73% Finding resources or materials to help my child learn at home

71% Paying for high quality early care and education programs

For the full report and all needs assessment results: earlychildhoodsc.org

Key Accomplishments

Over the past year, South Carolina has seen a number of successes in improving outcomes for young children and their families. Each state agency and public entity represented in the Early Childhood Advisory Council, as well as its Interagency Collaboration Committee, has taken action to advance the goals outlined in South Carolina’s Birth through Five Plan. The following is a list of noteworthy achievements that have had a statewide impact, affected a significant percentage of the population, and improved accessibility or effectiveness of services for parents. While not exhaustive, this list highlights important accomplishments achieved in the last 12-15 months.

Improved Health Care Access for Children

• Extended Medicaid coverage for new mothers from 60 days to 12 months postpartum. This change, which is projected to affect up to 5,000 families each year, ensures access to necessary health monitoring, care coordination, and treatment for new mothers, and supports the healthiest possible start for infants.

• Increased referrals to BabyNet, South Carolina’s interagency early intervention system for infants and toddlers under three years of age with developmental delays or conditions associated with developmental delays. There was a 23% increase in referrals to the BabyNet program from FY 2020 to FY 2021, and a projected 15% increase from FY 2021 to FY 2022. At this pace, the BabyNet program is on track to receive over 21,000 referrals this year. Generally, 45-48% of referred children are eligible for BabyNet services.

Increased Access to Early Care and Education

• Expanded state-funded, full-day four-year-old kindergarten through the Child Early Reading and Development Education Program (CERDEP). Now, all eligible children across the state may participate, regardless of where they reside.

• Launched First Steps 4K+ to automatically qualify siblings of First Steps 4K students for child care scholarships through the Department of Social Services.

• Increased child care scholarship eligibility to families earning up to 300% of poverty.

• Increased payments to child care providers to reduce the difference between market and subsidy rates.

Streamlined Services for Parents and Families

• Launched First Five SC, including information about more than 60 early childhood programs and an interactive form that checks a child’s eligibility for 44 of these programs. In its first year, First Five SC attracted over 100,000 unique visitors. Of those who completed the eligibility screener, 78% qualified for at least one program available in their community.