Cyd Oppenheimer, J.D.

The early childhood years are a time of rapid cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and motor development. However, Connecticut's funding for infant and toddler care does not adequately address parents' needs for high-quality care, and the state's funding for preschool expansion is insufficient. In particular, state funding does not take into account the obstacles to expansion -- in particular the need for reliable and increased reimbursement rates for under-funded child care providers.

Connecticut can improve quality and access to its early care system by: increasing per-child funding for all state-subsidized early care and education programs to a rate based on the actual cost of providing high quality programs; fully funding both the rating and improvement elements of a Quality Rating and Improvement System; increasing funding for professional development and scholarship assistance for child care staff; continuing to expand School Readiness so that all eligible children have access to programs; expanding consultation and wraparound services in the areas of children’s health, mental health, and social-emotional development; and helping parents afford to stay home and care for their own children in their earliest years of life, through paid family leave. (March 2009)

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