ELC Funding Update 

The Early Learning Coalition is happy to share that the Office of Early Learning has "re-obligated" $500,000 in School Readiness funding to Pinellas County.  As you are aware, the Coalition has been facing a deficit most of this fiscal year. Through a variety of strategies, we have decreased our projected deficit from $1.7 million to $495,000 (as of March 31). We did this without impacting services to any eligible children who were currently enrolled and without impacting provider reimbursement rates.  Still, families, providers, and Coalition staff have felt the pinch. With these additional funds, the Coalition is no longer projecting a deficit!

This puts us in the position to begin enrolling a limited number of children from the waiting list. The first round of letters were sent out this week. By July 1, we are planning to enroll approximately 200 economically disadvantaged children in the School Readiness program.  Once we are fully enrolled, we will continue to monitor utilization and enroll children on a one in/one out basis.  

Florida's 2014 Legislative session ended with increased funding for the School Readiness and Voluntary Prekindergarten Programs.  The budget is currently waiting for final approval by the Governor.  Unfortunately, the session ended without the passage of early learning legislation in HB 7069/SB 1702. Over the weekend the Tampa Bay Times mistakenly published that this legislation passed. The following is a summary of the budget highlights:  

Budget Highlights

• $54 increase to Voluntary Prekindergarten Base Student Allocation.  
• $3 million increase to the statewide SR budget for child care slots. 
• $10.5 million for development of a pilot program to support providers in quality improvements.
• $2 million provided to the University of Florida to develop a system of professional development programming to improve instructor quality for child care providers.  This will allow our staff to focus on more opportunities for technical assistance in the classroom.  
• $500,000 to continue using CLASS for SR observation-based program assessment.
• $3.9 million to support the Home Instruction Program for Preschoolers & Youth (HIPPY).
• $2 million to expand the Help Me Grow Florida Network to connect children and families with information, resources, and developmental services.

For more information, please review the 2014 Florida Legislative Session Highlights compiled by the Association of Early Learning Coalitions. 

Legislative Highlights