In 2023, Pennsylvania was home to 2,629,005 children and youth under age 18. Of that number, 808,061 were from birth to age five.
The early childhood education system
Early childhood education (ECE) is a complex system of programs and funding streams at the federal and state level. This tool considers how programs and funding may impact young children and families within the ECE system, beginning with federal and state agencies.
In Pennsylvania, ECE programs fall under the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), a collaborative effort between the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS). This tool also considers funding that may impact young children and families such as health and nutrition programs
About the map
Each line represents a program/funding stream that provides services and supports integral to Pennsylvania’s ECE system. The lines are intended to provide an overview of how public dollars support young children and families, as well as the services in the ECE system, demonstrating how the money flows from federal, state, and local levels to the program level.
The following funding breakout, map, and program and service descriptions are not exhaustive of all early childhood expenditures but are intended to be a primer on the state’s complex early childhood system. More details for each program/service are provided in the program description section. To see what the history of investments in early learning in Pennsylvania has been, please view our budget document (PDF).
Definitions for the Program/Service Provider
TYPES OF PROGRAM & SERVICE DESCRIPTIONS
Click for more detail
CHILD CARE
CHILD CARE (FEDERAL), CHILD CARE SERVICES, CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE
- What is the program/service?
Child Care (Federal): The Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provide federal funding to Pennsylvania’s Child Care Works (CCW) subsidy program for children under age 13 in families with low-income.
The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is a federal and state partnership program administered by states, territories, and tribes. In PA, CCDF funding is administered through the Early Learning Resources Centers (ELRCs) in order to provide financial child care assistance to families with low-income.
This funding also supports Pennsylvania's Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) for early and school-age care and education programs, Keystone STARS, and licensing. The SSBG provides flexible funds to states for activities that serve vulnerable populations, and this includes supporting subsidies for child care for families with low-income. PA DHS is responsible for administering the SSBG in Pennsylvania and funding is administered through the ELRCs to provide child care subsidies to eligible families. ELRCs provide a single point-of-contact for families, early learning service providers, and communities to gain information and access services that support high-quality child care and early learning programs.
CCW subsidies help families with low-income afford quality child care. Families with an income at 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) or below and who meet the work requirements are eligible to enter the program. Based on the 2025 guidelines, a family of four making $64,300 is at 200% FPL.
The Keystone STARS program uses research-based standards focused on: staff qualifications and professional development, programming (curriculum, classroom environment), partnerships with family and community, and leadership and management (business practices). STAR 3 and 4 are considered high-quality, which only 49% of Pennsylvania child care providers meet. - Who provides the funded services?
Agencies such as local governments and nonprofit organizations administer funds to support child care providers and families through the ELRCs.
Direct child care services are provided by operators of community-based early childhood centers, home-based care, and relative care providers who receive the CCW payments and Keystone STARS support. - How much funding is there and how is it used?
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2017, there was $1.1B of federal funding for child care in PA.
Public funds supporting child care in PA come from both the federal and state government. The majority of those funds go to pay child care providers for services, including the CCW subsidy payments for eligible children enrolled. Child care funding includes items such as a base rate for programs. In addition to child care programs, child care funding supports agencies administering CCW assist with tasks such as eligibility determination and case management, as well as management of waiting lists, payments, and funds. CCDBG is the primary source of federal funding for CCW.
Child Care Services (state line item): In addition to CCW subsidy payments, this funding stream supports Keystone STARS programs through Professional Development opportunities. CCDBG is the primary source of federal funding for Keystone STARS.
2024- 2025 funding for Child Care Services: $298,080,000
Child Care Assistance (state line item): This funding supports CCW subsidies for families receiving TANF, former TANF and SNAP benefits. These are federally funded through TANF, SNAP, and CCDBG and also supported by the state.
2024- 2025 Funding for Child Care Assistance: $123,255,000
As of January 1, 2022, $352 million in CCDF federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding supports lower maximum copayments for families eligible for CCW to 3-7% of family income, within the federal recommendation, and increased base reimbursement rates for providers participating in CCW to the 60th percentile compared to the private pay market rate. Effective January 1, 2025, the subsidy base rates, also known as the Maximum Child Care Allowance (MCCA) was increased to the 75th percentile. - Who benefits?
49,225 (24,292 infants and toddlers) children younger than five years are enrolled in the CCW program as of January 2025.
The data only includes children receiving CCW, not private pay families. The state does not have reliable data on all children served in child care younger than five years. As of 2023, 72% of Pennsylvania children younger than age six had all adults in their household in the labor force, so many more families need child care.Over the past two years, the General Assembly acted in a bipartisan manner to make child care more affordable for families through the enhanced PA Child and Dependent Care Enhancement Tax Credit Program as well as the Employer Child Care Contribution Tax Credit – helping the demand side of the crisis.
Even with federal and state funding, child care is still largely a private pay industry with families paying up to nearly $12,000 annually for infant/toddler child care. Only 19% of eligible children receive CCW subsidy and the subsidy reimbursement providers receive is only 60% of the market rate (which doesn’t account for the actual cost of quality care). - What's Needed? 128,485 children who are eligible for CCW remain unserved as of January 2025. According to Start Strong PA’s Child Care Crisis Survey (September 2024), out of 1,140 child care providers who took the survey, there were 3,038 open child care positions. If those positions were filled 25,320 additional children could be served by fully staffed early care and education programs across the Commonwealth. The child care staffing shortage is driven by low wages. With an average child care teacher wage of approximately $15 per hour, wages fail to meet the cost of living in every county in Pennsylvania.On Tuesday, February 4, 2025, Governor Shapiro delivered the 2025- 20256 Budget Address. Included in the proposed budget was the creation of a $55 million Child Care Recruitment and Retention line item. The proposed line item would provide each licensed child care employee participating in the subsidy program approximately $1,000 per year. This is a notable first step to implementing a publicly funded child care teacher recruitment and retention initiative to help alleviate the historic child care staffing crisis. While the PA House passed a budget that included the addition of a $55 million Child Care Recruitment and Retention line item, the Senate passed a version that flat funded spending and did not include the new line item. The 25-26 Pennsylvania budget is now more than two months past due.
- Advocacy: Start Strong PA advocates for affordable, high-quality infant and toddler child care in PA. Specific goals of this initiative include improving family access and affordability, securing sufficient payments to child care providers by paying providers in ways that reinforce stability, increase compensation for early learning professionals, and ensure accountability, oversight, and evaluation of the statewide early learning system.
SOURCES
Start Strong PA. 2025. “Facts about Child Care in Pennsylvania.”
The Annie E Casey Foundation. 2023. “Children under age 6 with all available parents in the labor force in Pennsylvania.” Kids Count Data Center.
PA Office of the Budget. 2021. “Commonwealth Budget.” Budget.PA.gov.
Start Strong PA. 2024. “Child Care Crisis September 2024 Survey Results”.
Definitions for the Program/Service Provider
For the purposes of this tool, the program/service providers are meant to represent the settings that public investments go toward in order to provide the service to families and children. These explanations are intended to provide clarity for the setting, and are not all official definitions.
Center-based Child Care: Care and education provided to more than seven children in a center that is certified by the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL).
Home-Based Child Care: Includes Family Child Care and Group Child Care Homes
Family child care homes: One caregiver who provides care and education for three to six children who are not related to them in a home setting that is certified by OCDEL.
Group child care homes: Care and education provided for up to 12 children in a home (or commercial setting) that is certified by OCDEL.
Relative Care Providers: One caregiver who provides care and education for no more than three related children in a home setting who may be eligible for subsidy reimbursement. Relatives are defined as grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings. All relative providers must be 18 years of age or older and live in a residence separate from the residence of the child for whom they will provide care.
Head Start Programs: Stand-alone programs providing Head Start to eligible 3- and 4-year olds and their families. These programs may also have Pre-K Counts classrooms.
Licensed Nursery Schools: Preschools licensed as private licensed academic nursery schools by the Department of Education (PDE).
K-12 Schools: Public schools across Pennsylvania who serve students in kindergarten through grade 12. Some public schools may also have pre-k classrooms.
Home Environment: The family’s home environment is inclusive and encompasses all settings that families call home. Some early childhood services/programs may receive funds to serve children and their families directly in a home environment.
Hospitals, Clinics, and Community-based settings: These settings are inclusive of the various entities that carry out or receive funds for the health, nutrition, and child development programs received by families and their young children.
Sources
