Early Learning Coalition of Broward County

Slots and passthrough - the Early Learning Coalition of Broward offers school readiness (sr) and voluntary pre-kindergarten (vpk) services to qualifying families using government and local funding. The school readiness (sr) program offers financial assistance to low-income families for Early childhood education, the program facilitates families becoming financially self-sufficient and provides high quality child care to their children. 718 providers have contracted with the elc of Broward County to provide school readiness services during the 2019/2020 fiscal year. Voluntary pre-kindergarten (vpk) is a free program for 4 and 5-year-olds who reside in Florida participating children must be 4 year of age on or before september 1 parents can enroll their child in the state's free, voluntary prekindergarten (vpk) education program that year or wait until the following year when their child is 5.

Quality and education - the Early Learning Coalition of Broward is dedicated to increase the quality of Early care and education for all children in Broward County. The elc uses the nationally recognized classroom assessment scoring system (class), to assess and score child care programs. Coach specialists use class information to design a customized, evidence-based strategy for improving how teachers interact with children every day. The quality and education team also offers hands-on inclusion services and a wide array of group training and individualized support to child care center directors, classroom teachers and programs working to meet school readiness and vpk contract standards.

Eligibility, provider relations and payments - the Early Learning Coalition of Broward County provides program support services for subsidized child care including eligibility determination, provider contracting and provider reimbursement services. The elc offers child care resource and referral services(ccr&r), a free community service for all families in Broward County. Ccr&r assists parents with customized searches for child care providers, educational materials about choosing child care or parenting, and referrals to other community resources about Early childhood development.