Result 3. All children are curious learners progressing towards their full potential

Indicator 3.2. % of licensed child care capacity with an accreditation

37.7%2022

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About the Data

This indicator includes all non-military childcare centers licensed by the Child Care Licensing (CCL) division of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). To be accredited, a childcare center must hold one or more accreditations recognized by the Texas Workforce Commission. The recognized Texas-specific (1) and national (2-8) accrediting bodies are: 1) Texas Rising Star (WSA), 2) National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), 3) National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA), 4) National Accreditation Commission for Early Care and Education Program, 5) Association of Christian Schools International, 6) National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), 7) Council of Accreditation (formerly the National After School Association), and 8) AdvancED Quality Early Learning Schools (QELS). Included centers must serve children in the infant and/or toddler age group. Excludes (Early) Head Start Centers and Public Pre-K programs.

All quantitative data and narrative related to the data on this page was prepared by CI NOW for ReadyKidSA.

Why Is This Important?

Participation in high-quality early childhood care and education programs can have positive effects on children’s cognitive, language, and social development, particularly among children at risk for poor outcomes. Quality is an important element of programs that have had strong impacts. High-quality programs do not just meet the basic needs of children, but also provide opportunities for meaningful learning activities and language development, and work to foster close, caring relationships between children and their teachers/caregivers. (Child Trends Databank, 2016)

Race/Ethnicity

OVERALL TREND: Bexar County

	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
# of Licensed Facilities	448	445	449	462	448	446
Licensed capacity	52,261	52,512	52,291	53,842	53,376	54,246
# of Accredited Facilities	71	84	84	105	133	128
Accredited Capacity	11,717	13,957	13,649	17,434	20,856	20,456
% of Facilities Accredited	15.8%	18.9%	18.7%	22.7%	29.7%	28.7%
% of Accredited Capacity	22.4%	26.6%	26.1%	32.4%	39.1%	37.7%

Geographic Distribution

Black Population Zips:

Hispanic Population Zips:

White Population Zips:

Story Behind the Curve

What factors are pushing up on the data?

More parents educated about quality
Focus on 0-5 children
Mentors for TX Rising Star
Incentives
- Subsidy reimbursement rates higher than WSA max rates
  - TRS & TSR (PK children)
  - 2Star – 5%, 3Star 7%, 4 Star 9% -
- Curriculum
- Professional development
Parental awareness/education

What factors are pushing down on the data?

Loss of funding (CCS)
# of children able to be served decreases when quality increases
- (ratio) (accreditation requirements)
- capacity issue
Cost of quality and affordability for both provider and family
Eligibility requirements for parents
Educational requirements for teachers

Partners

Alamo Colleges
All 7 TWC national accrediting entities
Child care facilities
Children’s learning Institute
- Houston-based
COSA-CCS
COSA Head Start PK4SA
DFPS/Child Care Licensing
Family Service Association

KLRN
Region 20
San Antonio AEYC/National AEYC
School districts
TEA
TX Agri-life extension
United Way
Workforce Solutions Alamo
WSA-QIA

What Works

Evidence-Based Practices

Establishing quality rating
Mentoring centers match system
Assessment tools CLASS, Bas, PAS,TRS, TSR
Subsidy program – stabilized revenue for CC facilities 12 month eligibility for subsidy families
CCD BG Act of 2014

Promising Practices

Accreditation Facilitation Project
# incentives for quality
State child care department that impacts policy & standards
Angels substitute program
- allows staff to improve education or spend time with a mentor
Parent fee discount for choosing an accredited center (Subsidy)_
Early Head Start child care partnership
Childcare fellowship program – scholarship in ECE in return for 2 yea retention commitment to facility
TEACH has similar program

No Cost Low Cost

New centers get info from the start
Director collaboration meetings

Off the Wall

MM standard to be a CC provider
Minimum standards increasing
Teacher pay increasing
CDA Certificate programs in high school
Expand fellowship and retention program for more than 2 years
- Make “fellows” trainers – Train the Trainer

Solutions and Strategies

System Change

Incentivize child care centers to focus on children age 0 to 2, and then help those centers to systematize as a pipeline for public Pre-K with 3 and 4 year olds
Partner with Pre-K centers to build a common level of quality and culture
For the purpose of highlighting the issue, generate a white paper that describes the cost gap/inequality between the rate of ECE reimbursement and the cost of accreditation
As a city and county, determine a new, widely-recognized title for accredited teachers to distinguish their level of credentials

Funding

Provide access to training for ECE Directors and ECE teachers
Provide support and incentives for centers to progress towards accreditation

Other

Implement a CDA certification program at the high school level as a career path
Increase parent/caregivers knowledge of ECE through YELP-type reviews of child care centers
Initiate a mentorship/service-learning opportunity with Texas Rising Stars and the community college system that includes a residency opportunity for students
Create a standard definition of what is meant by quality across RKSA partners and providers across the City
Create a Mayor’s Taskforce for quality childcare