Access Needs as Defined by the EEC Wait List

Board MeetingSeptember 18, 2012

Goals

To review the information available in the wait list to determine the needs for access to child care as defined by data in the waitlist

To establish policy priorities for serving children and families on the waitlist

To determine the average amount of time children are on the waitlist by age group

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KinderWait Overview

KinderWait is EEC’s web-based central waitlist system that was launched in summer of 2011 in order create a single database for collecting information statewide

Main functions include: Application intake for Income Eligible children. Performs an eligibility check and identifies the

Eligibility (No Eligible Program, Income Eligible, Head start)

Waitlist management:• Tracks family application status.• Supplies Providers with information

regarding families that meet their enrollment criteria.

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KinderWait access

Who has access to KinderWait? EEC Regional Offices Contract Providers CCRRs Mass211 Coordinated Family and Community Engagement

Programs KinderWait client access is available to those families

that are on the waitlist. When families are added to the waitlist they are

offered online access to a self service tool. They can update their application as needed and

access their information. A future KinderWait release will add the ability for

families to view their status and to see from whom they have received available funding notifications.

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Age Groups Definitions

Data presented falls into the following age groups: Infant: 0 to 14 monthsToddler: 15 to 32 monthsPreschool: 33 to 59 monthsSchool age: 60 months and above

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Number of Active Children on the Wait List by age group

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Note: Data represented is self reported need as indicated by a parent, guardian or family member

Number of Active Children on the Wait List by age group

Month Infant Toddler Preschool School age

Total

Aug 2011 3,738 5,386 7,238 8,059 24,421

Sept 2011 3,797 5,513 7,504 8,793 25,607

Oct 2011 3,716 5,573 7,630 9,271 26,190

Nov 2011 3,759 5,766 8,060 9,711 27,296

Dec 2011 3,720 5,957 8,496 10,199 28,372

Jan 2012 3,413 6,153 8,957 11,013 29,536

Feb 2012 3,358 6,511 9,668 11,723 31,260

March 2012 3,618 6,733 9,963 12,006 32,320

April 2012 3,988 7,443 11,176 13,522 36,129

May 2012 3,993 7,781 11,881 14,495 38,150

Jun 2012 4,043 7,970 12,487 15,576 40,076

July 2012 4,138 8,285 13,003 16,352 41,778

Aug 2012 4,388 8,691 13,575 17,477 44,1317

Number of Active Children on the Wait List by EEC Region

Age Western MA (1)

Central MA (2)

Northeast (3)

Central MA (4)

Southeast & Cape (5)

Metro Boston (6)

Total

Infant 606 457 1070 689 569 997 4388

Toddler 1272 813 2148 1362 1229 1867 8691

Preschool 1638 1246 3449 2410 2282 2550 13575

School Age 2288 1694 4664 3082 2799 2950 17477

8 Data is as of 8/1/2012

Duration on Wait List prior to enrollment (Aug 2011 to Aug 2012)

Age Number enrolled in last year

Average Days (Months)

Std Deviation (Months)

Median

(Months)

Infant 570 152 (5.1) 142 (4.8) 122 (4.1)Toddler 1266 175 (5.9) 171 (5.7) 119 (3.9)Preschool 3331 124 (4.1) 142 (4.7) 66 (2.2)School Age 3505 107 (3.6) 151 (5.0) 43 (1.4)

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Number Available Funding Letters Sent by Age Group in the Last Year (Aug 2011 to Aug 2012)

Age Group Number enrolled in last year

Number of Children sent Funding Letters

Number of AFLs sent

Infant 570 2,049 2,745

Toddler 1266 3,252 4,103

Preschool 3331 7,364 11,247

School Age 3505 4,669 6,247

Total 8672 16,862 24,342

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Access needs for Gateway Cities

11 As of August 2012

Access needs for Gateway Cities..continue

12 As of August 2012

Access needs for Gateway Cities..continued

13 As of August 2012

Access needs for Gateway Cities..continue

14 As of August 2012

Summer 2012 Wait List information

Summer Only Wait List children refer to School Age children only (60 months of age or older)

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2011 2012

Number of Children on the Wait List with priority code of Summer Only

402 1289

Number of Available Funding Letters sent

310 1194

Number of Children that were enrolled in Summer from Wait List

38 139

Notes:•2011 numbers are lower due to newness of KinderWait application (launched in 2011)•Summer Only Care EMB was sent on June 15,2012

Number of siblings of children enrolled on the Wait List by region

Age Western MA (1)

Central MA (2)

Northeast (3)

Central MA (4)

Southeast & Cape (5)

Metro Boston (6)

Totals

Infant 139 88 208 98 110 216 859

Toddler 211 151 292 115 197 290 1256

Preschool 430 275 578 244 352 575 2454

School Age 1310 731 1714 812 1259 1701 7527

16As of August 2012Note: Sibling Access was opened 4/12/12 and closed on 5/2/12

Number of children enrolled in last 90 days (May 2012 - Aug 2012)

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Average time on wait list for children enrolled in last 90 days

Infants had the lowest waiting period(5.3 months) while Toddlers had the highest (8 months)

(May 2012 - Aug 2012)

Children that may be eligible for Head Start and Early Head Start

Number of Children

Average days (months)

Standard Dev

Median

Head Start 12,417 300 (10 months)

188 300

Early Head Start 3,950 271 (9 months)

204 248

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As of August 2012

The Head Start Program is a nationally funded program that promotes school readiness through quality early educational experiences and services including: Health, Mental Health, Nutrition, Social Services and Parent Involvement.

Early Head Start program was established to serve children from birth to 35 months of age. Early Head Start Program promotes healthy prenatal outcomes, healthy families and infant and toddler development.

Conclusion and Next Steps

Continue to monitor the amount of time children are on the waitlist prior to receiving services

Understand parent choices for program types and geographic preferences vs. residence

Understand the impact of policy decisions on waitlist reductions

Review the access to care as a result of attrition in contracted slots especially when vouchers are closed

Currently EEC has one year worth of Wait List Data and anticipates better trending in year two of data collection/analysis

The renewal process will help keep the information accurate by reaching out to families annually to confirm their needs

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Appendix – Extra Slides

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School Age distribution for children on the Wait List

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School Age  Number of Children

5 4819

6 3305

7 2535

8 2349

9 2044

10 1765

11 1435

12 1115

13 91

Above 13 4

TOTAL 19462

As of August 2012