Strategies to Guide the Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Relief Funding for Early Care and Education

The purpose of this brief is to highlight some of the strategies states are pursuing to address equity in allocating their ARPA child care funds. It also provides a framework to support decision making around how to use recovery funds that focuses on the needs and preferences of families—particularly families that face barriers to accessing high-quality ECE. Strategies include: (1) Conducting town halls with families, providers, and other early childhood stakeholders to inform state priorities for allocating the funding.(2) Partnering with intermediary organizations to conduct outreach and technical assistance around the stabilization grants with ECE providers. (3) Using the Social Vulnerability Index to distribute grants to ECE providers that serve the communities most in need within their state.

Resource Details

• Population: Youth and Young Adults
• Setting/Context of Implementation: Community
• Topics of Practice: Policy Change/ Development
• Outcomes of Interest: Advancing Racial Equity|Partnership Building
• Level of Evidence: Best
• Tools or Materials Included in Resource: Yes
• Social Determinants of Health: Education Access and Quality|Social and Community Context
• Outside of US: No