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Investing ARP and PDG funds to address the Early Childhood Workforce Shortage

Part of the Resource Collection: Maximizing Federal Relief Funds Government Document
By: Office of Early Childhood Development, Office of Child Care, Office of Head Start in the Administration for Children and Families November 5, 2021
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The Office of Early Childhood Development (ECD), along with the Office of Child Care and Office of Head Start, in the Administration for Children and Families, released a Dear Colleague letter (Investing ARP and PDG funds to address the Early Childhood Workforce Shortage) that urges states, communities, and local programs to take bold actions to invest the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act funds and other sources of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) relief funding to address the current early childhood (EC) workforce shortage. The letter includes specific suggestions on how ARP Act funds can be used and an appendix with state and local program examples as well as links to Federal resources that will be highlighted on the ECD website.

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Early Childhood Systems Building: Whole Child, Whole Family, Whole System

Video April 3, 2025

Early childhood professionals recognize that the child- and family-serving systems that are not generally considered to be under the umbrella of the early childhood system—like housing, economic development, and transportation—are less often viewed as opportunities for or barriers to child and family well-being. Each of these systems, and how they interact with one another, impacts a child’s outcome. It is up to early childhood systems builders to identify the barriers to positive outcomes that result from an issue with any of the elements within the overall system. This is one of the early childhood systems builders’ greatest challenges, as these barriers are deeply interwoven with our country’s history and ongoing practice of discrimination and disinvestment. This video describes how BUILD views an Early Childhood System that focuses on the whole child, the whole family, and whole systems.