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Suburban Counties

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Are we making progress?

Do you know how affordable child care is in your county? Or how many families of at-risk children are able to access quality care that will get their children ready for kindergarten? Children First’s 2016 report, LEFT OUT: The Status of Children, follow trends since the Recession on domains of poverty, early childhood, K-12 education and Health in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties and provide a set of recommendations for improvement.

Left Out: The Status of Children in Bucks County

Left Out: The Status of Children in Chester County

Left Out: The Status of Children in Delaware County

Left Out: The Status of Children in Montgomery County

Finding child care and pre-k in your community

The best resource for searching for child care is the state’s COMPASS website for early learning. You can search by city or zipcode, and by age and other specific needs and preferences. Note that some Federally-funded head start sites are NOT included in COMPASS.

Children First has also made a this Google Map of child care locations in the suburban counties. Click on each point for more info. Note that the map shows licensed providers regardless of quality. After August 1, 2017, all programs not enrolled in Keystone STARS were automatically assigned to STAR 1. Programs with 3 or 4 STARS or national accreditation are considered high quality. Head Start locations are included here.

Advocacy tools: The unmet need for high quality, publicly funded Pre-K in your community

A Path Forward is an interactive map from Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children that lets you search your community — by state representative district, state senate district, or school district – to see which of the existing high quality early learning providers are enrolled in a publicly funded program (Head Start, Pre-K Counts or child care subsidy).

These county fact sheets summarize the extent of unmet need for publicly funded pre-k.:

The facts sheets below pull together the information by legislative district, for your State Senator or Representative.
Print this handy sheet before you write or call your legislators!

Bucks County

Chester County

Delaware County

Montgomery County

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Summary of Early Care and Education Across the Suburbs

All families want their children to be ready to learn when they start school. Children who start behind their peers often fail to catch up. High quality pre-k gets children ready to learn, teaches them valuable social-emotional skills and cuts special education costs for schools. Although a growing share of suburban families depend on child care because both parents work (70%), many parents cannot afford the cost of good quality care.

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Resources for Bucks County

PCCY Report on Early Care and Education in Bucks County

PCCY finds that only 18% of licensed child care programs in Bucks County are considered high-quality.  For low-income families who receive publicly subsidized care, only 28% attend a high care program.

Click here to download the report.

Pre-K for PA Fact Sheet for Bucks County

Young children get one chance to benefit from high-quality pre-k, and delayed investments mean not only lost opportunities, but higher costs to our children and our society for missing those opportunities.

Click here to download the Pre-K for PA fact sheet for Bucks County.

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Resources for Chester County

PCCY Bottom Line Report on Early Care and Education in Chester County

PCCY’s report finds that in Chester County, only 15% of the 285 licensed child care programs are considered high-quality.  Across the county, only about 6% of children under five attend a highly rated child care program.

Click here to download the report.

Pre-K for PA Fact Sheet for Chester County

Young children get one chance to benefit from high-quality pre-k, and delayed investments mean not only lost opportunities, but higher costs to our children and our society for missing those opportunities.

Click here to download the Pre-K for PA fact sheet for Chester County.

Learn More

Resources for Delaware County

PCCY Bottom Line Report on Early Care and Education in Delaware County

PCCY’s report finds that just 4% of children under the age of five in Delaware County attend a high-quality child care program.  The report found that just 24% of low-income families who receive public subsidy for child care can send their child to a high-quality program because of a lack of availability.

Click here to download the report.

Pre-K for PA Fact Sheet for Delaware County

Young children get one chance to benefit from high-quality pre-k, and delayed investments mean not only lost opportunities, but higher costs to our children and our society for missing those opportunities.  Below is a list of the counties with download links for PDF Fact Sheets.

Click here to download the Pre-K for PA fact sheet for Delaware County.

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Resources for Montgomery County

PCCY Bottom Line Report on Early Care and Education in Montgomery County

PCCY’s report finds that only 20% of licensed child care programs in Montgomery County are considered high-quality.  As a result, only 7% of children under five in Montgomery County attend a high quality child care program.

Click here to download the report.

Pre-K for PA Fact Sheet for Montgomery County

Young children get one chance to benefit from high-quality pre-k, and delayed investments mean not only lost opportunities, but higher costs to our children and our society for missing those opportunities.  Below is a list of the counties with download links for PDF Fact Sheets.

Click here to download the Pre-K for PA fact sheet for Montgomery County.

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Related Publications

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Testimony on Family Childcare Tax Deduction Legislation – PA House Bill 2035

Left Out: Regional Reports on Child Well Being

Research