Megan Kluth of the University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research told the Kansas Children’s Cabinet Early Childhood Recommendations Panel on May 16 that work funded through the federal Preschool Development Grant (PDG) continues and will proceed "full steam ahead" unless the federal picture changes.

The update summarized 29 initiatives the PDG supports, regional roundtables on child-care systems improvement, expansion of a substitute staffing model to 18 counties and 52 child-care facilities, a health-insurance reimbursement pilot supporting 171 providers, and Baby Steps enrollments that added 42 providers enabling care for 44 infants in high-need areas. Kluth also said CPPR is developing a monitoring framework so partners can track progress on goals in the All In for Kansas Kids strategic plan.

Why this matters: PDG-funded programs and the strategic plan are intended to shore up Kansas' early childhood care system by increasing provider capacity, improving workforce supports and tracking system-level progress. The panel was asked to help promote regional events and to expect a detailed demonstration of the monitoring framework in June or July so members can identify where to plug in.

At the meeting, Kluth outlined recent activities and impacts. She said Child Care Licensing’s child-care systems improvement team has hosted three regional roundtables and planned a fourth in Garden City, with additional events being scheduled for Hays and southeast Kansas. Kluth highlighted three partner efforts:

- A substitute staffing model started by Robin Hanson’s Customized Early Education expanded from Abilene and Dickinson County to 18 counties and is partnering with 52 child-care facilities to provide temporary staffing coverage, intended to relieve workforce shortages and give providers time for professional development and personal leave. Kluth described this expansion as "a really big deal."

- Thrive Allen County’s model is helping providers get reimbursement for health insurance; Kluth said the program currently supports 171 child-care providers, with roughly two-thirds home-based providers and about one-third center-based, and that for some participants this is the first time they have had health insurance.

- Child Care Aware’s Baby Steps work has added 42 child-care providers through PDG and helped place 44 infants into care in very rural, high-need communities.

Kluth described two recent regional care conferences (Garden City and Hays) as a significant positive development, saying the events drew 75 attendees, featured 28 resource tables and brought together traditional early childhood providers with health, mental-health and wellness partners. She said the gatherings were designed as a “third space” for families and professionals to connect and share experiences.

On potential federal changes to PDG funding, Kluth said the state team had "not heard anything directly at the federal level that implies that we should change anything" and that the team will continue implementation "as of 9 a.m. on May 16" while monitoring developments. Panel members offered to serve as a rapid communication network if federal funding decisions require a coordinated state response.

Kluth closed by saying CPPR will bring a colleague in June or July to demonstrate the monitoring framework so panel members can see how progress on strategic-plan goals will be tracked and where the panel could support specific actions.

The panel did not vote on any PDG-specific motions during the update; the presentation was informational and generated questions about federal funding risk and requests for continued communication if the federal status of PDG changes.

Panel members and staff encouraged promotion of roundtables and conferences and requested follow-up materials; Kluth said flyers and additional information would be shared by email.