Early Childhood Provider Council

Children First is supporting the launch of the Early Childhood Provider Council. The Council will also work to ensure that racial equity is embedded in all aspects of quality improvement: the definition of quality, improvement supports, monitoring, and accountability.

The impetus for creating the Council came from a 2020-2021 research project that gathered input from more than 300 local early childhood providers, 16 quality improvement organizations, and the city’s early childhood funders and developed recommendations to strengthen quality improvement efforts in Philadelphia. The creation of an Early Childhood Provider Council is at the heart of the recommendations.

THE EARLY CHILDHOOD PROVIDER COUNCIL WILL:

1. Create a shared definition of program quality for Philadelphia providers.
2. Identify solutions that address the policy and operational systems gaps found in the Philadelphia’s Early Learning Community Speaks Out: An Action Plan for Quality Improvement report.
3. Create an organization model that will ensure that the Council remains diverse, representative of all provider types, and becomes self-sustaining over time.
4. Give input and guidance into the design and operation of the quality improvement systems contracted by the state and city.

DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE PROVIDERS

• 90% female, 10% male
• Over 90% are providers of color, 80% Black/African American, 6% White, 6% Latino/Hispanic, 4% Asian, 2% mixed race, 2% Black/African-American, White/Caucasian, Latino or Hispanic

STAR LEVEL BREAKDOWN OF COUNCIL MEMBERS

PROGRAM TYPE

REPRESENTATION

• All types of funding streams are represented:
  • PHL-prek
  • Pre-K Counts
  • Child Care
  • Head Start
• Geographic breakdown (see map below)

PROVIDER COUNCIL ROSTER