Helping children reach their promise
 If every child is Pennsylvania’s future, Pennsylvania needs to help
every child reach his/her promise. Pennsylvania supports quality early
learning by certifying the health and safety of child care programs,
setting the foundation of quality early learning through the
Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards, and supporting quality early
learning programs through Head Start Supplemental Assistance, Early
Intervention, Keystone STARS and the Accountability Block Grants. Click
on the links below to learn more about individual programs.
Pennsylvania’s Certification Services
Bureau certifies and inspects family and group child care
homes as well as all child care centers in Pennsylvania to make sure
that they meet basic health & safety standards.
For parents of children ages birth to five with special needs, Pennsylvania’s
Early Intervention (birth-3
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ages 3-5) program provides individualized support and
assistance for both child and family.
Pennsylvania's
CHIP
(Children's Health Insurance Program) makes it
possible for every child in Pennsylvania, regardless of their
family's income, to receive health care.
Pennsylvania's
Early
Learning Standards
for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten
(and soon infants and toddlers) outline
academic, social, and physical skills that a child should develop
throughout the course of the year and provide guidance for
activities to support this development in the classroom and at home.
Head Start
provides comprehensive early learning services to children and
families who are most at risk of academic failure.
Keystone STARS/ Early Learning Keys to
Quality supports child care and Head Start programs that
are committed to continuous quality improvement and offers families
a valuable tool to gauge quality in early learning programs.
Programs may enter Keystone STARS at the Start with STARS level and
earn a STAR 1 through STAR 4 rating based on research-based
standards for staff education and professional development, early
learning environment, and business management. Child care programs
receive professional development, technical assistance and, when
eligible, targeted financial supports to continue to improve the
quality of the early learning they provide. As of December 2006,
nearly 4,300 child care programs are enrolled in Keystone STARS.
Quality pre-kindergarten
prepares children for reading and math, but also for paying
attention, following directions, and getting along with others.
Pre-kindergarten gives children a chance to learn, become excited
about school and be better students. Through the
Accountability Block Grants,
more than 4,000 of Pennsylvania’s 3 and 4 year olds participate in
pre-kindergarten programs. Governor Rendell’s proposed investment of
$75 million in
Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts,
as a new component of the Accountability Block Grant, will provide
funding for more than 11,000 of our 3- and 4-year olds to attend
quality half- and full-day pre-kindergarten in schools, Head Start,
child care centers and nursery schools in the 2007-2008 school year.
Full-Day Kindergarten has
been recognized as an effective way to prepare children for school,
both academically and socially. Full-day kindergarten offers
teachers the necessary time to build both pre-academic and social
skills in children that a half-day program cannot offer. Through the
Accountability Block Grants, approximately 55% of Pennsylvania’s
five year olds participate in full-day kindergarten.
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