Santa Cruz County Office of Education Receives David and Lucille Packard Preschool Planning Grant

This year the Child Care Planning Council, Santa Cruz County Office of Education and First 5 will lead a countywide effort to produce a comprehensive blueprint for offering voluntary preschool to all county children in the last two years before entering kindergarten. The Preschool Plan will:

• Present the mission and vision of county stakeholders for expanding preschool access
• Quantify the supply and demand for high quality preschool placements
• Identify the workforce development issues inherent in expanding high quality preschools slots
• Articulate the essential elements of high quality preschool
• Address the funding stream needed to establish and sustain preschool options
• Explore ways to expand access to preschool with current resources
• Prioritize county neighborhoods to receive resources for preschool expansion as funding is identified from public and private sources.

The Preschool Plan will ensure that Santa Cruz County is ready to move forward as state and/or local or private funding become available.

All meetings are open to the public for meeting times, dates and locations. View our meeting schedule. Your participation is welcome. Please join us at our next meeting!

Current News

Current projects of the Child Care Planning Council:

View the recently developed Professional Development Planning Toolkit for Early Care and Education Advisors, Students and Professionals.

Planning for the 2008 Central Coast Early Care and Education Conference began in September, 2007. View the Agendas and Minutes page for details on meeting times and locations.

The Planning Council has drafted a new Five Year County Master Plan for Early Care and Education and School Age Extended Learning. The Master Plan Committee will soon be taking this draft out to the community for input and to seek collaboration with other agencies in achieving these goals. View the draft Master Plan Principles, Goals and Strategies. Your feedback is welcome!

Functions of the Child Care Planning Council

• Conducts a five-year Needs Assessment and from that assessment, creates a Master Plan for child care and early education in the County. See the Reports page of this site for the latest Needs Assessment and Master Plan.

• Based on annual data collection and analysis, develops a Priorities Report for child care expansion funding from the state (pertains state subsidized programs only).

• Considers request for letter of support (both grant and non-grant). Download a request form for a non-grant related letter of support. Download a request form for a grant related letter of support.

• Meets periodically with local and state elected officials to inform them of the early care needs of Santa Cruz County's children and families.

• Hosts a variety of working committees designed to address current challenges and opportunities in the field of Early Care and Education and School Age Extended Learning.

• Advocates for family and child care friendly policies locally, state wide and on the national level.

• Engages and educates the public on issues relevant to Early Care and Education and School Age Extended Learning programs.

Click here for a list of commonly used Child Care Planning Council acronyms and terms.

Current Funding Opportunties

Current CA Dept of Education Funding Opportunities:

General Child Care and Development

Child Care Facilities Revolving Fund --General Facilities Application

California After School Demonstration Program - ASES & 21st CCLC

21st CCLC - Regional After School Technical Assistance System

After School Education and Safety - Regional Lead Technical Assistance System

Facilities Renovation and Repair